STEADY BADGERS BEAST BENIDORM

Badgers have been flying high for some time now but this weekend they literally took to the skies as over a dozen members undertook their annual pilgrimage to Benidorm to compete in the international 10K race there. On his birthday weekend, it was esteemed former club secretary David Craig who battled through the pain barrier to emerge back in a splendid time of 47:17, but quickest on the day was fellow V50 star Colin Lees who helped himself to a wonderful personal best time of 43:36. Richard Hill clocked a respectable 52:18 with the steady Judy Parkes first back for the ladies in 54:46. Zoe Yeatman ran an impressive 57:00 with Leesa Dennis close behind in 57:58, one of her very best times. Yvonne Faulkner ran 58:16 while it was very much a case of the steadier the better as top coiffeurs Rachel Hudspith, Clare Whetton and Vicky Cawley worked together to get round safely in 67:00. Men’s captain and club poster boy Adrian Payne gallantly tried to fight his way out of the Benidorm mixer, alas this time in vain, brave but maybe a little too brave. Other runners included Sarah Vine and brothers in arms Alan and Terry Argyle along with honorary Badger for the trip, Merv Jones. As a result, the squad picked up a steady trophy for the fifth best represented outfit in the race which attracts thousands of participants each year.

Closer to home, Keir Hardy was without doubt the star of the show at the Clowne half marathon where he shot to a personal best time of 91:11, rounding off a super 2018 of running for the Atherstone man. His wife Jo was also in action, managing a fine 2:10:05, just behind team mate Kerry Clover who dug deep for her 2:06:31. Eamon Thawley was the pick of the litter at the Weston Park 10K, coming home in style thanks to his time of 54:39 on the challenging off road course. Helen Morgan ran a steady 67 minutes in the Coventry 10K to put the icing on her cake following on from her 34:16 PB time at Kingsbury parkrun the day before.

Chris Baxter was back to winning ways as once again he triumphed at Conkers parkrun. His time of 17:10 was steady indeed and marked the 16^th win of his career at the south Derbyshire course an incredible achievement for the 29-year-old who recently became a father for the first time. Not wanting to be outdone, Paul Grubb hit his fourth consecutive PB in as many weeks as he ran a breath-taking 22:24, which must leave him wondering just when his purple patch will come to an end. The improvements have been significant too, rather than a second here and there which makes his achievement even more spectacular.

Chris Horton ran the quickest parkrun of the weekend as he turned out at Kingsbury Water Park, bidding for a hat-trick of wins. However, despite running the fourth fastest time of his career (17:03) he found himself playing second fiddle to both England pace ace Lloyd Biddell and canicross star Chris Lockhart who narrowly edged the win. Dave McGowan was very much the Debbie McGee to Horton’s Paul Daniels magic show, conjuring up a top run of 18:09 to take a hard-earned 7^th place and with it an impressive new PB – he liked it, although not a lot. Seasoned campaigner Tim Gould (20:18) led a trio of Badgers including Graham Engley (20:40) and Bagers manager of the month Matt Green (20:48) home in under 20 minutes with young yorath Matt Jackson clocking a steady 21:04. The Steed of Speed Gavin Crockwell continues to go from strength to strength as he powered back in 21:11 (PB), Lee Millership also keeping up his excellent form of late in 23:07. The dependable Eamon Thawley put up a stoic performance ahead of the steady canicross and marathon-running brainbox Liz Peel. Charlene Dunn was first unassisted female Badger back in 25:27 with Adam McElhone showing he is not solely an authority on poor parking and dog fouling in the CV9 postcode district but a pretty nifty runner to boot too with a steady 25:59.

After a spell on the side-lines, Shaun Coyle was back in action once again with a steady run and Fiona Meldrum, Evie Whitehead, Karen Missen and Lesley Palmer all went well. Other runners included David Buck, Amanda Gould, Tracy Piper, Clare Thomas, Anna Savin-Baden (her last parkrun before heading out for a ski season), veteran academic Maggi Savin-Baden, born-again Pete Boardman, kit guru Dave Bailey, mother and daughter combo Eileen and Lucy McElhone, Ian Orton, Andy Smith, the steady Holly Matts, Jared Karim, Peter Black, Teresa Buck and Hannah Coogan.

Many were in support of the latest batch of beginners to graduate at the weekend and they included Natasha Hole, Glen Thomas, Robert Allsopp, Jill Miller, Olivia Spong, Rachel Spong, Nicola Orton and Joanne Haddon.

Elsewhere, the athletic Rachael Shelton finished 5^th lady at Sutton Park thanks to her terrific time of 23:50. Jenna Davies was first Badger back at Cannock Chase while Jon Davies featured at Worcester. John Dulson enjoyed a steady one at Burnham on Sea while Long Eaton saw John Hanson rolling back the years with a speedy 22:03, wife Mandy also following through in a steady 32:49.

Mark Cox was back in action with a steady 22:45 at Holkham parkrun while Dug and Alex Ladkin had steady performances at Rickmansworth, Dug clocking 24:55 and Alex a more sedate 37:19. At Bakewell in the peak district, steady Sam Starkey bagged a top ten finish thanks to his steady 18:48 landing him 6^th place on the day while Bedworth parkrun saw a steady run from Janet Crumpton (28:41) and Pamela Bridgwood too was steady (35:18) as the club steadily continue to go from strength to strength.