It's been a busy few weeks, with our athletes in action from 60m sprints to marathons.
Pride of Loughton AC Joanne Ryan bagged a bronze in the 4 x 200m relay at the Masters Indoor Track & Field World Championships in Toruń, Poland, having reached the finals in her individual events (60m and 200m).
Joanne said: “I was over the moon with how well I'd done for my first ever World Championships; however, I had to re-focus as I had the relay to run with my team.
“I was the first leg runner and I handed over the baton with our team in first spot - we had an amazing race where we ended up placing third and bringing home a world bronze medal.
“I could not believe it: all that hard work and training I put in has finally paid off; we were a great team. All I could think was 'I’m a world medallist!'”
At the other end of the distance spectrum, Jenny Richards, Steve 'Wirral' Worrall and Nico Strydom successfully completed marathons this month in Brighton, High Lodge and Paris - with Jenny dipping under the magic 4-hour mark. Meanwhile, Mary Johnson was in action half marathon action in Southampton, and Michelle Hurley and Nick Barker both notched up PBs at the London Landmarks half marathon. Nick will look to continue his excellent season when he runs London at the end of the month.
Back on the track, some of Loughton AC's youngsters tested their early season form at the Orion Pentathlon. Lizzie Knapman (U17), Henry Hurley (U15) and Arthur Hurley (U13) all took home silverware. Congratulations to them!
Loughton athletes turned out in force at the St Clare 10k in tribute to clubmate Michaela, who died in January. The team demonstrated what Loughton AC is all about, with Zoe Oldfield taking victory in the women's race in a PB of 39:30 while new recruit Julia Walker successfully completed her first ever 10k - huge congrats to her! Most importantly, we raised £700 for St Clare Hospice through our sponsorship page.
Loughton's athletes will look to build on their successful month with a good showing at the Essex road relay championships this weekend. Watch this space for results! And good luck to our London Marathoners on 23rd.