Superb Matt finish (From Andover Advertiser)

Superb Matt finish

6:51pm Tuesday 16th June 2009

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Andover AC road race athlete Matt Lane entered the Halstead Marathon after the huge disappointment of not getting an entry for the Flora London Marathon.

Over the past eight months Matt has lost two stone in weight in a bid to achieve a target time of three hours 15 minutes. This was a real stretch target as Matt has already made eight previous attempts to beat 3hr 30 out of the ten marathons he has completed. Serious training for the Halstead Marathon started back in September for Matt, sticking strictly to a bespoke training plan specifically designed for him.

The weather on the day was sunny and hot, not ideal conditions for marathon running however he soon found his pace and started to tick off the miles all according to the race plan he had been set, making the half way point in 1:36:40, just 20 seconds inside the planned pace. By the 20 mile marker Matt was still inside 3:15 pace and 30 seconds ahead of schedule. The last 6.25 miles were very hard and made even more difficult by the undulations of the beautiful Essex countryside. Despite the final challenges, Matt continued to rise to the challenge crossing in a fantastic new personal best of 3:13:46, beating his previous best by 20 minutes. Matt was the 31st to finish out of a total field of 463.

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