GEE WHIZZ! DAMO AND GLYN MAKE CLUB HISTORY

Say the word Chester to different people in Badgers and it can stir up all kinds of emotions but the over-riding one this weekend was one of pure pride as two runners made club history together. In their short existence, only four Badgers members have made it into the prestigious sub-3 club but never have two runners achieved distance running’s holy grail in the same race. In almost perfect dreamy conditions, Damo Taylor set about dismantling the 26.2-mile Chester marathon in typically belligerent fashion. The endurance athlete was in just his third full marathon having experienced terrible fortune with both poor directions and excessive heat in his previous two attempts at the distance, so he was very hoping for it being third time lucky. There are few, if any, in the club that work as hard as the Polesworth based star and here he took his chance with both hands, setting an aggressive tempo from the off and hanging on determinedly through the final 10K despite fatigue setting in. Incredibly, he finished in a jaw-dropping 32^nd place out of almost 3000 runners in an international field with a fully deserved nine-minute PB of 2:40:42 to boot.

In addition, Badgers key-man Glyn Broadhurst, affectionately known as “Gee”, stunned his team mates when he made his marathon debut in Milton Keynes 18 months ago and here, in just his second attempt at the distance, clocked a truly phenomenal 2:56:44, an eight minute PB that enabled him to become just one of five members to break the elusive three hour barrier whilst at the club. Running tactically very similarly to Taylor, the 42 year stalwart took the race by the scruff of the neck from the off and managed to limit his losses superbly in the final few miles as tiredness crept in, pulling off arguably the finest race of his career since hanging up his football boots. The Wood End man even finished within two minutes of the legendary Matt Tonks’s vets club record, a veritably marvellous achievement.

A dozen other Badgers were also in action with Matt Green also recording a PB of 3:31:55 in his 23^rd marathon, a fantastic effort from the long-striding Southend supporting veteran. Cheryl Dewis made a brilliant start to her marathon career with a superbly measured 3:42:18, running a consistent pace the whole way round, she also found the resolve to make her final mile her quickest as she romped to a Good For Age London time by over ten minutes. The younger yet more experienced Abbie Liddle was hot on her heels in a PB time of 3:43:23 which too enabled her to meet the qualifying standard for the 2020 London event, a fantastic run. Alan Argyle was next home aiding debutante Judy Parkes to a terrific time of 4:21:19, again executed with the discipline expected of someone far more familiar to the rigours of 26.2 miles. The incredible Karen Thompson ran the 50^th marathon of her career to date alongside the popular Liz Peel who made it to 48 of her own with times of 4:27:59. John Dulson has worked hard in the lead up to his first marathon and emerged pleased as Aldi punch with a tremendous 4:34:07 on the day. Simon Currier emerged from his self-enforced nine-year marathon hiatus to run 4:37:20 (PB) while Zoe Cope and Maggi Savin-Baden both improved on their debut efforsts with a tandem run of 4:56:28 in the race which crosses over the Welsh border.

In the metric marathon at the same event, Rachael Shelton clocked an impressive 2:11:30 in the 26.2K race. This was good enough to bag her 27^th place overall, a fine effort with Sam Starkey just behind in 2:14:27 and veteran Nicki Bowman a brave 2:23:13, which was maybe even a little too brave.

At Draycote Water in the Run for Rotary 10K, giant-striding Rob Boland stormed to a spectacular PB of 41:25 and with it a fantastic second place finish in the popular annual event while new-dad Chris Baxter travelled to Derbyshire to run in the Shelton Striders 10K, grabbing a top ten finish and a quality time of 35:50 in the process.

Even closer to home, there were a host of Bagers in action at the fast and flat Tamworth 10K. Ron Mahoney was first back in a great time of 38:25, good enough to the triathlete 15^th place in the field. Neil Clemons finished 30^th in 40:09 with Ashley Taylor showing his skills in 43:41. Gavin Crockwell dipped below 45 minutes for the first time in 44:49 with Ian Orton (45:50), Jake Bradford (47:38), Lee Millership (49:52), club v50 one mile record holder John Hanson (50:03), Richard Hill (51:45), Jenna Shaw (52:11), Nicola Prestwood (52:16) and Jason Clover (52:22) all in hot pursuit. Ladies Captain Sarah Jane Chetwynd showed great pace to clock 52:24 with Amy Stredder (52:47), Sharon Jackson (53:05), Kerry Clover (53:19), Dawn Cross (55:11), Nicola Stanley (60:46), Mandy Hanson (65:20), Jason Husselbee-Orwin (65:57) and in her first ever 10K Sarah O’Donoghue (71:26) all putting in great performances. Tim Gould put his injury woes behind him and stormed to an age category win and 8^th place overall in the Beacon Hill trail 10K while David Earp ran the Beacon Hill trail half marathon and finished in a time of 1:53:30 and Andy Smith conquered the Warwickshire Sprint Triathlon in 1:25:05.

At parkrun, it was once again a tale of the two Chris’s as Chris Horton recorded the fastest time of the weekend as he took second place at Kingsbury in 17:36 while team-mate Chris Baxter went one better finishing first at Conkers in a comfortable 17:45. Alan Argyle, Karen Missen, Stuart Batchelor and Kerry Clover all made the Conkers trip while at Wakefield Thornes, it was very much the Gunn-show as Gail Gunn shot round to finish in 29:57 up north. Paul Restall was the sole Badger in action at Walsall in 25:20 while Jonathan Davies returned a time of 24:22 at Worcester. Husband and wife team of Jared and Emily Karim both got around at Yeovil Montacute parkrun while Paul Grubb put on the afterburners at Bedworth as he finished first Badger back in 24:55, closely followed by Rich Hill (25:21), Paul Bruce (26:27), Sarah Vine (27:10), Lucy McElhone, Zoe Cope and Adam McElhone.

The biggest turnout was again at Kingsbury where Mark Repton ran a fine 19:57 to take 7^th place in far from perfect conditions. The cold, wet morning did little to dampen Colin Lees’ enthusiasm as he hared round in 22:41 with team-mate Pete Boardman finishing next in 24:04. John Hanson is gradually working back to some of his best form with another encouraging display in 24:24 while Dean Bowd, John Restall and David Craig all broke 25 minutes. Darryl Johnson ran 26:23 before Holly Matts showed some real graft in achieving a PB of 26:47, accompanied as ever by run-leader Andy Smith. Other runners included Amy Stredder, Fiona Meldrum, David Dugmore who ran a nice PB of 28:28, Mandy Hanson, Tracy Piper, Ann-Marie Dittman, Liz Peel, Karen Draper and Eileen McElhone.