Bradford College

Marathon Ran, Despite Odds!

Thousands of runners gathered in Millennium Square, Leeds to take part in the Gaz de France Leeds Half-Marathon on a damp and overcast Sunday morning. More than 5,000 people signed up for the 13.1 mile event, and an estimated 3,800 took part in the main run.

Amongst those taking part, were a team of five from Bradford College: Jacqui Tankard, Lou Armour, Rob Whittaker, Sally Fisher and Tony Gill.  The team nearly did not compete on the day, with a runner short. Despite this, team organiser Tony Gill, did not allow it to come in the way of the team completing the marathon. 

Tony explained:  “At ten past nine on the Sunday morning, I didn’t have a clue what we were going to do.  I thought how are we going to get round this?  The only option we had, was for me to run two legs, and Rob to run two legs.  I couldn’t do that as Sally had parked her car at Kirkstall. It would have meant I would have run the first leg, then jog all the way back into town, then jog all the way back to Kirkstall. Thankfully Jacqui and Lou turned up after initially mistaking the meeting place. This meant a quick change in leg order, with Jacqui going first, Lou second and Rob doing third and fourth.  Rob volunteered to do two legs so we were sorted at the last minute.”

The team managed to complete the race, despite the odds.  Finishing 10th out of 95 teams! Tony expressed his delight at completing the run.  Tony said:  “I think we finished tenth … everything that could go wrong did go wrong - but we did it!”

Seasoned race veteran, Tony Gill, is no stranger to competing in marathons; he takes it all in his stride.  In previous years, Tony has won the Leeds Half-Marathon, also coming second and third over the years at the annual event. Tony said:  “I love running.  You can just switch off… it’s a real stress relief. No matter what’s going on you’ve got a hobby that helps you to switch off.” 

Tony has also come 29th in the Great North Run, taking 66 minutes to complete the half marathon, where thousands of people take part every year.  In 2001 Tony also ran a marathon 150 mile trek, in just five days along the Leeds, Liverpool Canal to raise money for a family friend suffering from the incurable muscle wasting disease, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. 

Completing leg one of the marathon, team member Jacqui Tankard said:  “It was my first experience of taking part in such a fantastic event! What a fantastic atmosphere! I came away feeling exhilarated and enjoyed speaking to other people who were competing. I would definitely recommend it!”

Jacqui continued:  “I didn’t realise we’d get medals and t-shirts.  I gave mine to my little girl.”

Team member Lou Armour competed leg two of the marathon.  Lou said:  “I rather enjoyed the leg I had to run since it was pretty much uphill all of the way.”  Lou joked:  “I only ran because I was going out for a loaf of bread!”

Stepping in at the last minute to complete two legs of the run, Rob Whitaker said: “Lou arrived and handed me the timing chip and I was off.  It was like running through a shopping centre on a Saturday afternoon; the road was full of athletes pacing themselves for the full distance with me dodging my way through them.  As we were one man down, I ran two legs of the race which was mostly on the grass as the paths were too narrow to pass people.  I really enjoyed it, and it was nice to meet fellow runners from the College.”  Rob added:  “My times for the first two miles were 11minutes and 30 seconds.  I completed the next two legs, in 12 minutes and 10 seconds.”

Rob is no stranger to competing in sporting events.  Rob is a world championship triathlete, competing in the prestigious Ironman triathlon.   The competition involved Rob completing a two and a half mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and a 26.6 mile run.  Rob completed the course in 11 hours and 12 minutes, coming 208th overall, in a triathlon where over 1500 people took part!

Completing the fifth leg of the run, Sally Fisher said:  “I enjoyed running the penultimate leg, as the athletes running the whole of the half marathon were tiring, I was able to stride past quite a large number of club runners, who I wouldn’t normally get near!”

Tony ran the sixth leg.  After completing the marathon, Tony added: “I was really chuffed that we did it.  Everyone who ran, really enjoyed it.  They all said they’d be up for it again next year.  I think that’s a real positive thing to take forward.  It was nice to finish, and the College did it in the end, despite all the odds!”