Championship entrant Nathaniel Lane was the fastest Jewish runner at the Flora London Marathon, crossing the line in 2:24 — 19 minutes behind the winner, Kenyan Martin Lel.
The 32-year-old solicitor used to run for England at Under 20, 23 and student levels and finished in 32nd place overall.
Having completed the 2006 race in 2:31, the Cardiff Reform Synagogue member said: “It was a seven-minute personal best. I was reasonably happy with my time.”
Raising funds for Bnei Brith, he intensified his training regime three months before the race, racking up 80-100 miles a week. He recently took bronze for Wales at the Amateur Athletics Championships in Edinburgh.
Norwood were once again the best represented Jewish charity with a team of 20 helping to raise £80,000 which will go towards supporting children and adults living with learning disabilities or coping with social problems.
Trustee Ronnie Harris hopes to raise £30,000. The Wimbledon resident, who has spent 10 years as Norwood’s fundraising chair, completed his eighth marathon in 5:26. He said: “It was a very hard marathon due to the rain and getting severe hiccups from mile 14 but, nevertheless, another fantastic event.”
Marathon veteran Flora Frank combined powerwalking and jogging to cross the line in 5:59. The great-grandmother from Edgware completed her 12th London run and 17th marathon in total, raising £12,000 for Norwood and Emunah. She said: “The atmosphere was electric and I am grateful to God that he gave me the energy to finish.”
Kevin Wootton, from Essex, ran dressed as Mr Incredible and raised £2,500 after finishing in 3:59.
Lee Jacobs (3:23) has so far raised £16,000 and hopes to reach the £20,000 mark. Jacobs was asked to run for Norwood by his uncle, Peter, who works for PricewaterhouseCoopers and is a major donor. In order to increase the fundraising total, Peter decided to shave off his moustache, which he has had for 32 years.
The best time of all Norwood runners was achieved by North-West Londoner Andrea Fraquelli (2:54). The other runners were: James Altman (5:53), Martin Fine (3:52), Adrian Cohen (6:03), Robert Dagul (4:09), Simon Goldstein (3:37), Nigel Henry (3:37), Daniel Hertz (3:59), Barry Hollis (4:21), Paul Huberman (4:06), Daniel Lewis (5:22), Daniel Lipshaw (4:08), Simon Lipshaw (4:08), Lillian Mayer (4:45), Neville Newman (4:15), David Rosenfeld, (3:54), Andrew Shaw (4:21), Matt Welck (4:38).
Jewish Care’s best finisher was 27-year-old tax consultant Richard Cahill (4:19). He raised £2,000 which one sponsor doubled.
James Garner (4:31) was glad that he was “still alive” and needed to “take a day off work to rest my bones”. The charity’s youngest runner, Lee Benson, 19, finished in 5:30. Homeopath Karin Hirsch rewarded herself by “having a day off work to relax in a spa” after finishing in 7:24. Seven runners raised more than £12,000 for special-needs charity, Kisharon. Oliver Sanders was the fastest team member, crossing the line in 3:26 and finishing in the top 4,000.
Eli Black, 19, flew over from Israel for the race and completed the course in 5:24.
Kisharon’s other runners were: Joseph Maxwell (4:54), Aaron Morris (4:37), Philip Selby (4:33), Brian Resnick (4:55), Meyer Fhima (4:42). Emunah’s delegation were in the wars but soldered on to raise £25,000 for a 24-hour hotline in Sderot. Aryeh Richman finished in 5:33, despite his knee popping out of joint in his third marathon for Emunah. He expects to raise more than £3,000. Gary Perlmutter received a stress fracture to his leg at the 13th mile and was taken to hospital.
Eleven-time entrant Martin Fine (3:52) and Adrian Cohen (6:03) completed their line-up.
Lance Joseph raised £50,000 for London-based charity Jewish Blind & Disabled. Having finished in 4:08, his efforts will fund the development of two full mobility wheelchair flats in one of the charity’s projects.
He said: “The atmosphere is a memory I will have for life, the crowd and all the other runners were tremendous. Helping others is a great motivational force when you come to the 20th-plus mile.”
Nightingale’s magnificent seven saw 51-year-old Simon Itkin first home in 4:16. He raised £2,500. Michael Stokes, a physiotherapist for the charity, finished in 4:48 and raised £1,562. Their other participants were Adam Clyne (5:02) who hopes to raise £5,000. Other runners were: Cathy Buckingham (4:39, £2,500), Laura Jane Jackson (4:46, £1,700), Leeds-based Rabbi Henry Soussan (4:30, £800), Sam Feller (4:27, £1,500).