Marathon man Derek makes his mark in London

Derek was running for Team Great Britain in the World Para Athletics Marathon World Cup and finished third in the T45/T46 class.

This was by far his best marathon performance to date against the world’s leading runners in his class.

The two athletes who finished ahead of him were Alex Pires Da Silva (Brazil) 02:28:20 and Abelhadi El Harti from Morocco 02:29:38.

In 2016 they were ranked second and fourth in the world and Derek was ranked eighth.

Derek’s 2017 run could move him up at least two places in the world standings.

In each of his London Marathons to date Derek has recorded personal best times.

Derek’s long term aim is to gain selection for Team GB for his second Paralympic Games in Tokyo in 2020.

The run clearly indicates the British number one continues to make progress.

Also involved in London were a shoal of Anster Haddies.

First Haddie over the line was Mike Reilly in 3:22m25s securing a pb and Sarah Hutchison who also scored a pb in a time of 5:10m21s.

Away from London, this week’s Haddie park runners are Colin McKie 18m21s who ran a fantastic race to pick up first mj11-14and first overall, Gordon Halliday first MV 20m4s, Bill Simpson first MV60 22m50s, Jas Baillie first MV55 19m54s, Catrina Duncan 25m14s third FV60 and Karen Cunningham 27m10s.