Ethan has a great run in the Mini Marathon whilst Bev raises much needed funds

The London Marathon weekend was the focus for two Bury AC members. On the Saturday Ethan Statham represented the North West in the Mini Marathon. Competing in the Under 14 Boys race, Ethan produced a stormer, taking a brilliant 13^th place against the very best youngsters in the country. Ethan, who has not yet turned 13, had to start in the rough and tumble of the main field. He battled his way through at the start and made his way through the field, finishing in front of several of his main rivals. He covered the 2.7 km course in 8.21 and was the second counter for the North West, helping the team secure fourth place.

The following day, Bury’s women’s team captain, Bev McAuley competed in the main race. Her primary objective was to secure sponsorship to raise funds for the club but she also had the honour of competing in a race where the two hour barrier was broken for the first time with Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe running an incredible 1:59.30. Bev’s finish time of 4:43.01 may have been quite a way outside her personal best, but more importantly she has currently raised over £900 for the club. Having passed the half way mark in 2:01.07, it was clear that Bev found the second half really hard, especially in the warm weather, but showing great determination she got around the course to secure the much needed funds for the club which operates as a charity. If readers would like to support Bev’s fundraising they can do this through 2026tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com and look for Beverley McAuley’s page.

In an otherwise very quiet weekend of competition, a number of Bury AC members competed in local parkruns. At Heaton Park Jack Griffiths placed second, just outside his PB with 17.05. Rachel Marshall was first woman finisher again with 19.44. Other Bury finishers included young Chester Theakstone (20.23), Sarah Johnson (20.58) and Robert Butterworth (21.06) on a recovery run following the previous weekend’s Manchester Marathon.