Newbury endurance athletes go the distance as Franklin wins in Scotland and Sheridan up for top award

Newbury Athletic Club’s endurance athletes have been putting the club firmly on the national map this week.

Jess Franklin was representing the England Masters team in the open race of the British and Irish Masters International in Glasgow.

Leading from the gun to the tape, Franklin produced a dominant performance as she was the first woman to cross the line, leading England to victory in the overall event.

Meanwhile, Mike Sheridan has been nominated in the best British male masters athlete category in the Athletics Weekly athletes of 2023 awards.

Sheridan’s richly-deserved nomination is in recognition of his magnificent performance at the London Marathon in April.

His chip time of 2:59.13 made him the first person over 70 to run a sub-three hour marathon, while also breaking a British record that had stood since 1996.

At the time, Sheridan told the Newbury Weekly News: “I’ve been working a long time for it, so to get there is great.

“I’m a rhythm runner and I just couldn’t find my rhythm. We were soaking wet, there were puddles everywhere and runners were pretty packed together. It was chaos.

“A Newbury runner disappeared off past me into the distance and I thought I might just jog in. I knew if I did that, I’d have regretted it for the rest of my life. I just went for it.

“Thankfully this time it was worth it.”

Sheridan is in esteemed company. Quadruple Olympic gold medallist Sir Mo Farah is also amongst the nominees after he retired from competitive running following the Great North Run in September.

Readers can vote for Sheridan via the Athletics Weekly website.