ALEX & HIGHGATE MEN RAISE THE BAR
Highgate Harrier Alex Lepetre ran a time of 2hrs 15min 01sec to improve massively on his personal best time of 3hrs 03.18 that he ran in 2014. His run on Sunday meant he was 3rd in the mass start and beat several international runners, as well as breaking the old listed Highgate club record of 2:19:07, achieved by Dougie Gunstone in 1977. At the time Gunstone was competing for Highgate on the track and ran for Scotland as cross-country runner. Lepretre did a club record for a half marathon of 63:28 in Copenhagen last year. Alastair Aitken the Highgate Harriers Press Officer, who ran in the first 19 London Marathons' remarked that as far as the race went, he could not recall that as many as six Highgate Harrier men achieved a time inside 2hrs 40 in the London, on the same day in the race, that started in 1981 but they did this year; which was in the same conditions as the first one in 1981, with a lot of light rain Those six runners were Alex Lepretre 2:15.01; Alex Bampton 2:24.22; Sam Jinks 2:25.54; John Gillfedder 2:2:31.01; Dan Higgins 2:34.34 (Over 40' and been running Under 2:50 for 15 of those years. He has run the event since 2005); Alex Holley 2:39:17. and Sean Renfer 2:39.32. Renfer's wife Jemima Renfer did 2:56.39 and his sister Molly Renfer did 2:52.13. Two other men got inside 2:55.0 and they were Ross Dunsmore 2:54.57 and James Johnson who ran 2:45.44 and is an over40 runner. Over 60 runner James Thompson ran round in 3:27.26.