LADIES LEAD THE WAY AT LEICESTER 5K

The fourth and final instalment of the popular Leicester Summer 5K Series at Victoria Park on Wednesday saw BADGERS enjoying more success as this time it was the turn of their Ladies team to take the team prize on a delightful late summer evening in the city. The trio of Judy Parkes (26:56), Yvonne Faulkner (27:12) and Helena Rean (27:30) beat off all comers to earn all the plaudits, particularly from team mates Sam Starkey who ran well to finish 8th overall in 18:27 and birthday boy Ashley Taylor 21:46. Even more impressive was that the classy Rean stormed to yet another V60 club record as like a fine wine she improves with age.

Another V60 star in 5K action this week was Alan Argyle who clocked a PB at the age of 65! His time of 23:10 was a tremendous achievement as he raced home in the Cork HBAA, Musgrave S&S 5K event in the Republic of Ireland. John and Anne Devenney were far from home as they tackled the Torbay Five Bays challenge down in Devon while top professor Maggi Savin-Baden clocked a fabulous and determined 2:06:17 in the Kimbolton half marathon as she finally earned her club standard times for the season.

With less than a week to go before the big local event the BADGERS Atherstone 10K, closely followed by the concluding race of an exciting league campaign, many BADGERS opted for a parkrun over a Sunday race at the weekend, yet there were still plenty of excellent performances across the board. At Braunstone, Chris Horton ran hard from the off to take first place by nearly half a minute in a healthy time of 17:08 while at Bedworth, fellow club stalwart Danny Warren followed suit with a comfortable first place of his own in 17:40 with BADGERS rising star David McGowan also making the podium in 18:57. Hard-man and BADGERS enforcer Mark Cox made the top ten running 20:14 with London marathon ace Paul Bruce (25:25) also impressing. The improving Charlene Dunn was first lady back in 25:53 with Charlotte Phillips (27:24) also featuring.

At Conkers, Chris Baxter was once again the quickest BADGER of the weekend but his rapid time of 17:01 was only good enough for second spot as he got pipped on the run in to the line. Hard grafting Jonathan Vardy bagged 9th place on his Conkers debut with wife Emma earning herself a PB with a great time of 25:15. Paul Grubb, Katrina Dawson and Jason Husselbee-Orwin also featured. Sam Starkey was in good form again as he grabbed third place in the inaugural Sutton Park parkrun, the Tamworth based speedster recording a fine 18:34. Rachael Shelton also featured.

Kingsbury Water Park saw a host of BADGERS on show, led home by men’s captain Adrian Payne in 18:38 and 3rd place. Keir Hardy joined him in the top ten, hanging on to 5th place thanks to his gutsy PB of 19:40. Mark Repton ran 20:27 to finish 9th with Matt Green, the indestructible David Craig and Cameron Barnes all out in force. Monika Lampart ran a quality 21:33 to finish third lady in the field with the indefatigable Esther Holyoak a fantastic 5th in 22:25. Seasoned campaigner John Restall ran a very respectable 23:33 with Colin Lees, the popular Eamon Thawley, Adam McElhone and David Bailey (season’s best) all in hot pursuit. Sam Klucis continues to improve, setting yet another PB this time of 26:58. Other runners included “Mr KWP” John Hanson, Karen Missen, Amanda Gould, Leesa Dennis and Terry Argyle. Top local hairstylists and beauty therapist trio Rachel Hudspith, Clare Whetton, Leanne Farrington-Deeley all performed well while fellow Bagers Pete Boardman, Clare Thomas, Peter Black, Paul Cooper, Karly Cooper and Lesley Palmer also featured.

Ian Orton and wife Nicola turned out at Aberystwyth in Wales with Ian bagging himself a new PB of 22:24. Neil Clemons featured at Exeter parkrun, Jonathan Davies at Worcester and Charlotte Oliver at Poolbeg in Eire. Alan Argyle also got in on the Irish action as he broke 25 minutes at the Bere Island event across the water. John and Anne Devenney turned out at Torbay Velopark while Andy Smith featured a little closer to home as he ran 26:26 at Leamington Spa. Finally, Holly Matts found herself in East Riding so took part in the iconic Humber Bridge parkrun, managing 29:53.