Brighton Belles

You would be forgiven for thinking Gemma and Bailey were planning an endurance ski event in Switzerland from the photos of the hotel room they stayed in on Saturday night. In fact Brigton's famous seafront saw the first competitive Team Ellis event of the season in the Sussex Beacon half marathon.

Along with six thousand other runners, the girls set off and passed the pier, smiling their way through the first of their thirteen miles. They raced into town, negotiating their way through the smaller streets before flying out onto the seafront again.

Team Ellis were putting in a good early pace which they managed to sustain to the halfway point before begining to push for home. Driven on by the prospect of personal bests, Bailey finished in a fantastic 1.38 and thoroughly enjoyed her celebratory Hot Chocolate. Gemma managed to smash a whole twenty minutes off her previous time and clocked in at an amazing 1.50. Training in Richmond Park is obviously going very well.

As we discussed at the finish, the girls have laid down a serious challenge for the boys to match in Hastings next month. The pressure is on chaps.

The race was a great success and goes to show if you want to be a record breaker, dedication is what you need, either that or the prospect of chips at the finish! You can see all the photos on the flickr site, click any of the photos on the justgiving page (www.justgiving.com/teamellis)

Well done Sarah and Gemma, great efforts. Roll on April.