Angie Sadler celebrates reaching 200 Marathons
Tewkesbury’s international long distance running star achieves 200 marathons
Angie Sadler celebrates reaching 200 at the Gloucester Marathon, 20th January 2019
Tewkesbury RC’s former England international long distance runner Angie Sadler, 59 and who lives in Forthampton near Tewkesbury, is about to achieve yet another remarkable running ‘milestone’ when she completes her official 200th marathon at the Gloucester Marathon on 20th January. Being selected 5 times for England at distances from 50km to 24 hours, including winning a Commonwealth 100km Championships Team Gold medal, her running career is one of Gloucestershire’s outstanding athletic records.
Angie has always been a keen runner, starting when at school in Stroud and becoming a strong cross country and 1500m competitor. Since then running has been an integral part of her lifestyle and an enduring passion which she has pursued throughout a subsequent marriage to husband Phil of now over 33 years and the arrival of two children Jason and Kaylee (who is about to make Phil and Angie grandparents for the first time). Phil has always totally supported Angie in her quest to excel at her chosen sport and she cannot thank him enough for enabling her to devote the time needed to reach her goals.
She spent 13 years as a member of Cheltenham Harries for whom she competed at first in the shorter and fast distances of up to half marathon, twice winning the female annual season-long Gloucestershire County Championship. Migrating up to the longer 26.2 mile distance her distinguished marathon career took off after completing her first London in 1999. She has so far completed London 18 times, once starting on the elite runners’ line, 5 times on the championship line and on every other occasion as ‘good for her age’, regularly recording sub-3hrs 15mins times with a marathon personal best of 3hrs 3mins. When asked about breaking the magical 3hr barrier, although clearly capable of beating it, she has always maintained this was never a target objective.
She has nevertheless been 1st woman and/or 1st woman veteran in many road, trail and ultra-marathons, with just one highlight being winning the British Masters Women’s Marathon title with a new course record in the Anglesey marathon in 2008. She is still winning overall and veteran female titles despite now approaching 60 years of age.
Her real running metier, however, and to which her running developed on joining Tewskesbury Running Club 15 years ago, has been proven to be in much longer distances than the ‘mere’ standard 26.2 miles of the marathon, being particularly competitive as a long distance trail runner. After
successful proving her worth in several international selection trial races, although by now a ‘veteran’ status runner, she made a first international long distance running appearance in an England vest at a 50km race in Holland. This was followed with selection three more times for England at 50km (once) and 100km (twice). In this latter discipline she won a Commonwealth Championships Gold Team medal and was 4th woman overall and was also a Gold Medal Team winner in the annual Anglo Celtic Plate held in Ireland where she finished as 2nd woman and won the British Masters Women’s 100km championship title.
During this period she made the step up to 24 hours racing, entering - ‘just as training’ for an up-coming 100km selection race! - the East Hull 24 hour track race. Despite never having run the distance before she won the race outright, beating all the men as well – several of whom already had significant 24 hour performances to their name. On the back of this she was selected to run for England in an international 24 hour race in Scotland, finishing 5th overall, 1st woman and being the top England female 24 hour runner for that year with a World Championships selection standard distance of over 128 miles.
She has also competed 4 times with distinction in the famed international 56 miles Comrades marathon in South Africa, which commands fields of over 20,000 runner and in which she has twice finished in the top 20 women and always finished well within 8 hours. Although as with most runners who compete in the Comrades, it becomes an all-time favourite race, other events that stand out for her are the Snowdonia Marathon and the 70miles over 2-days Isle of Wight coastal circuit race in which she was once the 1st lady. Other races abroad that are memorable to her include marathons in Calgary, New York, Berlin and La Rochelle.
Back in the UK, a recent outstanding result was to finish as 1st lady in the Cotswold Centenary Run, a 106mls non-stop race along the Cotswold Way from Chipping Camden to Bath. In 2018 she still shows no signs of slowing down significantly and is still winning female veteran marathon first place awards with road marathon times consistently around the 3hrs 40mins/3 hours 50mins mark.
Her achievement on 20th January will be marked by running the course with a number of running friends followed by a celebration with drinks and mandatory cakes at the Quedgeley event HQ. Angie would like to thank organisers Anne and Norman Wilson of ‘Beyond the Limitations’ events for their support for her special occasion and for allowing the celebration to be held at the race HQ following the race. Present will be many fellow members of the exclusive UK 100 Marathon Club to which she has belonged for some years as a 2nd claim member to her 1st claim Tewkesbury RC home-town allegiance.
Even in the relatively rarified atmosphere of runners completing 100 marathons, Angie's has surely already been an outstanding marathon running career.. Most of us can only sit back and admire the dedication and commitment - not to mention the talent! - needed to achieve such a string of successes.
* The Gloucester Marathon on 20th January 2019 is organised by ‘Beyond the Limitations’ team of Anne and Norman Wilson, himself a former world class marathon runner. See details on their website www.beyondthelimitations.org.uk/ Registration and the event HQ is located at Severn Vale Sports Centre School Lane, Quedgeley Gloucester. GL2 4PR and the race starts at 10.20am.
* The 100 Marathon Club is a club whose members must complete 100 ‘distance approved’ marathons or ultra-marathon races in order to become a member, although runners who have achieved 50 or more are allowed to join as associate ‘wannabes’
* There are currently well over 700 members, including the UK record holder Brian Mills with over 1,300 marathons and fellow Gloucestershire runner Steve Edwards, who in 2010 became the first person in the world to run 500 marathons all averaging a time of under 3 hours and 30 minutes. * See the website www.100marathonclub.org.uk for more details
For more information contact: Phillip Howells 01531 636752 or 07802 260906 email phillip@edandphil.co.uk
Angie Sadler 01684 275257 or 07837 189312 email angisadler@gmail.com
