The 5 top Arena club marathon times for 2019

Now marathon season has kicked in and being an endurance athletics club we thought it would be a nice idea to add the 5 best times for men and women to the results page so we can see how they stand at the end of the year. We don’t feel enough attention is given to the marathon as the club records are so difficult to break due to the international calibre of past members. So for the start we have the men’s and women’s best as set out below. There have only been 4 women having run a marathon so far this year hence the 4 places. If you feel we have missed any and they should be added then please get in touch so we can amend it. We’ll keep these updated as we go through the year to get the final 5 at the end of the year.
Top of the class for the men is probably one of the most improved athletes of 2019 so far and that accolade goes to Tim Lodge. His very impressive 2.51.47 at Manchester was a bit of an unknown quantity for Tim as had not run a marathon previously so it was all a new experience for him. With no expectations he went side by side with Mark (AKA Paula Radcliffe) O’Gara at Manchester until Mark had to make a side step which left Tim out on his own to record his superb time.
(Update to the above: I have been informed that this was not Tim’s first marathon but in fact this was his first sub 3 marathon).
For the ladies it’s lovely to see the very hard-working Jo Marshall on top of the leader board with her wonderful 3.44.44 also set in Manchester as she took a staggering 20 minutes off her previous best time.  
Of course we have Brighton coming up this weekend followed by London two weeks later so I’m sure there will be some additional names being added somewhere here.
Men’s Marathon Times for 2019
1. Tim Lodge – 2:51:47 – Manchester – PB
2. Mark O’Gara – 2:54:31 – Manchester
3. Kevin Price – 2:56:03 – Manchester – PB
4. Ricky Coleman – 3:00:01 – Manchester – PB
5. Kevin Martin – 3:07:22 – Manchester
Women’s Marathon Times for 2019
1. Jo Marshall – 3:44:44 – Manchester – PB
2. Nicky Yeates – 3:58:17 – Barcelona
3. Martha Sacree – 4:15:28 – Manchester
4. Tam Coleman – 5:30.17 – Moyleman Trail