ONE HUNDRED AND ADIE!

KING KIRKHAM IS A 100 MARATHON MAN

Long serving Badgers ace Adie Kirkham finally achieved a long-held dream at the weekend as he completed the 100^th marathon of his career at Holme Pierrepoint in Nottingham. The veteran painter and decorator endured an emotional 2018 after losing his beloved father Oscar to cancer just a few weeks ago but supported by several club colleagues, the 49-year-old completed the 26.2-mile lakeside course in a time of 4 hours 27 minutes. With so many events now under his belt, it is entirely understandable that he could not pick just one out as the most memorable but his top three races in the ton were Snowdonia for it’s stunning scenery, London for its unrivalled support and carnival atmosphere and finally the excellent Chester marathon where he set his fastest time of 3:28:20 back in 2014. Kirkham wasn’t the only Badger involved in the race as Ron Mahoney finished a superb 21^st overall in 3:09:20 as he achieved a qualifying standard and old soldier Alan Argyle battled his way round to chalk up the 20^th marathon of his career.

Men’s team captain Adrian Payne was very nearly the main man at the Bromsgrove based Bumble Bimble 10 miler but ended up finishing a gallant second despite a cracking time of 75:42 over the challenging off road circuit. The speedy Chris Baxter was back to his best form, going rapidly like his darts namesake Ronnie The Rocket, at the Skegness 10K. The Ashby flier clocked a remarkable 35:48 at the seaside town to end up 7^th overall in a quality race. John Hanson weighed in with another season’s best, this time at the Centurion Grand Prix 5-mile race at Chelmsley Wood. The popular Spurs fan bagged a quality 37:12 in 32^nd place ahead of team mate Adam McElhone who helped himself to a PB in marvellous 42:21. Hannah Coogan was back in action, this time at the Chasewater Christmas Pudding 10K Dash where she ran a respectable 58:19 while at the Bedford Harriers half marathon, Holly Matts helped Andy Smith record a new distance PB of 2:10:09.

Chris Horton secured the 30^th parkrun win of his career with a comprehensive display of dominance in the wet at Bedworth. His time of 17:29 was almost a full two minutes clear of second place. Veteran Stefan Martin also put in a decent performance as he stormed to an impressive 5^th place in 20:55 while Paul Grubb continued his purple patch with a course best time of 22:44 to threaten his PB on a course not best suited to the very fastest of times, the recently qualified veteran hitting the giddy heights of 13^th place. The experienced Gail Gunn registered a great time of 29:47 with Charlotte Phillips going strongly in 31:10.

Chris Baxter (17:55) was unable to add to his club-leading tally of 39 parkrun wins, narrowly missing out at Newark and having to settle for second place in a closely fought contest. Ryan Bennett made a rare parkrun appearance, this time at Preston Park near Brighton and was similarly just run out of honours in a tight race, the club marathon and 10K record holder taking third place in a brisk 17:52.

Glyn Broadhurst found himself in Tewkesbury and managed a quality performance in truly treacherous conditions. His time of 20:43 enough to earn the popular chip-swayer fourth place, ruing his choice of footwear for the occasion but thankfully got round safely and lived to run another day. Thx hun x. Nicki Bowman finished fifth lady at the same event in 26:21, a great effort from the reigning Badgers quiz champion.

New boy Graham Engley was in action at Dudley parkrun and waded in with a healthy top ten finish in 21:37. Stuart Youngs ran Braunstone in 25:38, Jon Davies (26:28) featured at Worcester and Richard Hill ran 26:34 at the fledgling Sutton Park event.

The bulk of the Badgers were once again at Kingsbury Water Park where Sam Starkey was back near the front once again, emerging as second man back in a respectable time of 18:59. Regular readers of these pages will not be surprised to see Matt Jackson break the 20 minute mark, the 14 year old helping himself to a deserved PB of 19:44 in less than perfect conditions following heavy rain during the build-up. Fellow youngster Cameron Barnes also ran a PB (21:06) as he continues his excellent late season form. The Steed of Speed Gavin Crockwell refused to miss out by running a terrific 21:07 as the PB’s fell with the regularity of a Gary Anderson maximum. Matt Green, aka the Southend Scribe, turned in a class 20:38 and Colin Lees 21:38 before John Hanson stormed home in 21:54, a time he would have believed unthinkable 12 months earlier. Pocket rocket Monika Lampart was first lady back in 22:18 and second overall with Lee Millership going well in 23:19. Liz Peel ran 24:46 and Adam McElhone is enjoying his new lease of life as he ran his first of back to back PB’s over the weekend in 24:53 with fellow veteran Paul “PB” Bruce following suit with a PB of 25:14.

Other runners included the popular Sarah Vine (not to be confused with the hateful Daily Mail journalist of the same name), David Craig (equally no relation to Craig David), Fiona Meldrum, the improving Evie Whitehead, Terry Argyle, Rachael Shelton, Glen Thomas, Leesa Dennis, Sam Klucis, the good-looking Dave Bailey and Mick Judd. Tracy Piper ran 31:35, a PB with Lisa Barnes also impressing with her PB of 32:48. Lesley Palmer marked her 50^th parkrun with a time of 32:08 with Mandy Hanson, Andy Smith, Vikki Smith (no relation), Anne Devenney and Izzie Bradford all featuring.

Next week sees the third instalment of the Derby Runner Cross Country League at Bradgate Park where both the Badgers men’s team and mixed team currently top their respective divisions with the ladies sitting pretty in second place behind Poplar RC.