Wallasey Athletic Club's Brian Woolford lined up with the best of Britains marathon runners last Saturday to compete in the A.A.A. championship over the classic distance of 26 miles 385 yards and achieved the distinction of finishing in third place behind the great internationals Brian Kilby and Basil Heatley.
This was a truly great achievement by Woolford in what was only his second race over the marathon distance. The measure of his performance is that his time of 2 hours 23 minutes is over five minutes faster than the time of the great Jackie Holden, who won so many marathons for Britain not so long ago.
As had been hoped, Woolford produced his usual even-pace running. Following on a steady start he put on the pressure after the 6 mile stage and passed over 20 runners in the next few miles, to be seen among the leading runners at the 10-mile point, when he was in seventh place.
Sustaining his effort, he was in fourth place after 12 miles when he was over two minutes behind North Staffs' runner Don Shelley, who was occupying third place behind Kilby and Heatley.
By 20 miles Woolford had almost caught Shelley and when he took third position a mile or two later he seemed assured of one of the place positions.
Sure enough, he continued to run in the unrelenting manner familiar to Wallasey Athletic enthusiasts and although the pace and distance took their toll over the last few miles, he held on magnificently to finish a clear third.
Woolford's success was thoroughly deserved as he has trained single-mindedly for this race for the past six months, and this performance in conjunction with his recent run in the Northern Counties Marathon Championships undoubtedly puts him in the front rank of British marathon runners.
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Source - Wallasey News - Saturday, 24/08/1963 by R.M.C.
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