Week Ending - 2023/12/10

RARE BADGERS DOUBLE AT KINGSBURY PARKRUN

Chris Tweed added his name to the ever-growing list of Badgers to have finished first at Kingsbury parkrun on Saturday and completed one half a rare Badgers double which saw the club boast the winner of both the male and female category with speedy Megan Griffiths coming out on top overall in the ladies. Wet underfoot conditions determined the event would be especially slow in terms of times achieved and Tweed’s winning mark of 20:23 represented the slowest winning time in the 452 times the event has been run and was well over a minute shy of his course best, not that the Dordon dad minded one jot, his aim was to beat off the opposition and he did that with aplomb. 

Griffiths enjoyed a larger margin of success with her winning time of 24:09, her eighth success at the Water Park yet somehow, the third time she has been part of a Badgers double after previous successes alongside Ryan Preece and Adrian Payne, more than anyone else from the club – the double feat having been achieved just eight times altogether. 

In ninth place overall came the most improved male Badger of 2023, Chris Young, who stormed home in a quality 23:02, his highest-placed finish to date. Janey Barrett (4th) and Jill Miller (8th) also enjoyed top-ten finishes. Other Badgers gracing the event included Lee Millership, Bill Gutheridge, Martin Graham, Paul Cooper, Sharon Jackson, Nicola Bowman, Anna Savin-Baden, Stephanie White, Nivette Chester, Vikki Smith and Ross Kilburn. 

At Sence Valley Country Park, Liberty Underhill bagged yet another first place with an easy (for her at least) run in 25:49. Sam Starkey secured the course age category record with his outstanding effort at Battlestead Croft parkrun near Burton on Trent. His 22:18 was good enough to take 8th on the day with his wife Laura also reaching the giddy heights of the top ten with her 10th place. Colin Lees managed 7th at a muddy Market Bosworth, in 25:04. Dave Hill took third with the fastest run of the weekend, clocking 17:17 at Rushcliffe parkrun with key man Glyn Broadhurst taking 6th in 19:45. 

East Park in Wolverhampton saw a trio of Badgers taking positions 6-7-8 as Jo Hardy, Kerry Clover and Jo Davies ran the 5K together. Wayne Repton travelled to Oaklands, Adrian Parkes was at Beacon parkrun in Lichfield while David Grant and Yvonne Faulkner-Grant both ran well at Holbrooks. 

Maggi Savin-Baden was the furthest flung Badger if there is such a thing, turning out in South Africa at Durbanville parkrun. Clare Whetton led the way at Poolsbrook with Merv Jones, Karen Draper, Janet Crumpton and Leesa Dennis all showing great support. Andy and Holly Smith were in action at Babbs Mill along with Peter Mann, Fiona Reidy, Kate Rathbone, Sara Hawkins and Gail Gunn who were all there to celebrate Vicki Brunsdon making her 100th parkrun event. Last but by no means least, Jim Cottom clocked a respectable 22:13 at Walsall Arboretum. 

There were a handful of runners taking part in races outside of parkrun at the weekend, most notably Matt Scarsbrook, in the colours of Birchfield Harriers, who took on the famously fast Telford 10K race along with many of the top athletes in the UK. His reward was a big new personal best time of 30:57, nearly two minutes quicker than Dave Hill’s Badgers club record, which will still stand as second claim athletes, of which Scarsbrook is now one, are precluded from club records, much to the relief of the aforementioned yet still ultra-rapid, Hill no doubt!

The Sneyd 5-mile pudding run saw David Grant take third in his age category with a time of 37:29, wife Yvonne ten minutes further back in 47:54. Anne Devenney improved on her 2022 Chasewater 10K time with a 71:06 performance in this year’s vintage. Ivana Babicova got very wet on the Keyworth Turney Trot half marathon, coming back in 2:36:31 while Liz Peel managed 2:06:51 over the same distance at the Star Wars Snowspeeder Half, her 50th, at the Caldecotte Lake venue near Milton Keynes, somewhere she has circumnavigated more times than she would care to remember. Finally, in far-flung Portugal, Justin Haywood was the first Badger back in the arduous Alcoutin Trail do Falao Real 16K race, a mix of off-road paths and serious ascents.