Week Ending - 2022/03/20

ASHBY 20 ACTION SEES COX SATISFACTION

An incredible 41 Badgers took part in the belated 30^th anniversary running of the Ashby 20 road race at the weekend with some exceptional individual performances amongst them.

Leading the way was hard-hitting Stoke Golding man Mark Cox, who is no stranger to long distance events. Having covered more miles than any other Badger in the previous 12 months, his appetite for hard graft could not be questioned and his reward for all that consistent effort was a stunning personal best time of 2:11:13. To add some context to just how impressive this was, his previous best on the course was some 39 minutes slower, when he was five years younger! Finishing in 33^rd place from over 1000 runners, it showed that a sub three-hour marathon is now a very real possibility for the dad-of-two should he opt to pursue that particular running route. Next back was a genuine sub-three merchant, Mark Repton. The Tamworth based star, another dad of two, finished a second over the 2:14 mark with an excellent run while Chris Tweed made his distance debut with a top-quality performance of 2:21:43, the first Badgers veteran to finish. Men’s captain Carl Savage is another Badger to really have put some hard work in over the last few seasons and here he ended up inside the top 100 with a cracking effort of 2:24:45.

The popular Ashley Taylor has an eye on the Manchester marathon in a fortnight’s time and he managed a time of 2:32:34 here, a big confidence boost ahead of the big one for him. Veteran ace Stefan Martin ran an exceptional 2:37:00 even pipping experienced teammate Jimmy Dewis who himself ran a gutsy 2:41:14. Wayne Repton was next back, again with a new PB to his name care of a splendid run of 2:44:51 with Bill Gutheridge just behind in 2:50:12. V50 8-mile club record holder Rob Crow showed his distance versatility with a tremendous personal best time of 2:53:59 in another highlight during a day packed full of them. First lady back for the club was Emma Woolrich who at 2:58:45 was the only female to break the three-hour mark, a fine achievement especially given it was the longest run of her career to date. V40 star Russell Lomas ran a respectable 3:03:03 before Emma Masser emerged from the pack to clock 3:11:42

A slew of Badgers then poured home, Andy Altoft (3:13), ladies skipper Lil Souter (3:14), club founder Nivette Chester (3:14), 100-marathon club inductee Karen Thompson (3:17) and the industrious Sarah-Jane Chetwynd (a superb PB of 3:20) all crossing the line in rapid succession. Janet Crumpton continues to amaze, here she ran her furthest distance to date and in a hugely impressive time of 3:25, with Lynne Gould, John Dulson and Judy Parkes (3:26 - PB) all right behind her. Charlotte Oliver followed through next with Jo Davies (3:42), Jo Hardy, Clare Whetton and Karen Draper (all 3:47) flying the flag in fine style for the V40 ladies. Jill Miller and Sharon Jackson both managed 3:52 before the only club record of the day was set, this time by V60 runner Christine Morris who took time off Gail Gunn’s previous mark set at Draycote Water in 2020. Her time of 3:53:50 would have been even quicker had she not looped back a few times to reconnect with her running buddy Averil Caton who herself managed a wonderful time.

The action didn’t end there though as Eileen and Adam McElhone, Anne-Marie Dittman, Chloe Brown, Vikki Smith, Ivana Babicova, Juliette Trollope, Anne Devenney and Paul Cooper all completed the undulating two lap course to rapturous applause.

Away from the Ashby action, Adrian Payne was featuring prominently in the Dark and White Events White Peaks 10-mile trail race near Buxton. The intrepid bachelor managed a superb 3^rd place overall from 179 runners, earning yet another podium finish with another high-quality off-road performance. The evergreen Sam Starkey successfully paced his wife Laura to a personal best half marathon time in 1:43 at the Hampton Court half while Liz Peel clocked 2:10 over the same distance at the Cakeathon Half race in Yorkshire.

As ever, there were parkruns being run across the land with Badgers in the thick of it. At Kingsbury Water Park, there was a bumper turnout as the latest batch of beginners completed their 5K graduation on a bright and sunny morning. Among those in the club to help cheer them on were run leaders Cameron Barnes, Matt Green, Colin Lees, Tim Gould, Jo Davies, Judy Parkes and Paul Cooper. They were joined by Neil Thorne, Bill Gutheridge, Mick Bailey, Steve Perry, Jill Miller, Karen Draper and Kerrie Dickens. Andy Altoft took the opportunity to run a PB of 23:45 while Wayne Repton, Any & Caroline Smith, Charlene Dunn, John Restall, Matt Smith, Merv Jones, Paul Wallace, Mark Reynolds, Paul Restall, Paul Grubb, Nicola Stanley and the co-operative Dave Bailey all helped make a grandstand finish.

Elsewhere, Ian Orton ran 22:34 at Torbay and Sam Starkey once again broke 20 minutes, this time at Nonsuch parkrun. Faster still, at Walsall, was stocky veteran ace Dave Jackson who chalked up yet another season’s best, his time of 18:51, like anal bleaching, certainly not to be sniffed at. He finished ahead of V60 star Adrian Parkes who ran a brisk 23:49. Yvonne Faulkner ran at Beeston and Ivana Babicova went to Markeaton, Zoe Yeatman was in action at Woodgate Country Park and Holly and Andy Smith both found themselves running at Trentham Gardens in the Potteries. Finally, Chris Horton recorded the 43^rd win of his parkrun career with a hard-fought encounter at Bedworth, holding off a spirited challenge from former Badger, now Nuneaton Harrier Luke Melling in 17:39, edging through by just seven seconds. Gail Gunn was also running and also in attendance as was V70 club record holder Ted Franklin, visibly glad back to watch the action unfold despite his ailing health.