Week Ending - 2019/03/03

BADGERS MEN WIN BACK TO BACK CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE TITLES

For the second year in succession, Badgers men’s team were crowned county champions with another dominant display at the Market Bosworth cross country event on Sunday. They went into the concluding race of the 2018/9 season with a three point lead over their nearest rivals, newly promoted West End Runners who went unbeaten in their division last year. However, they managed to increase their margin of victory further with yet another maximum points haul as skipper Adrian Payne lifted the trophy to become the most successful captain in the club’s short history. The only time this term that Badgers have failed to score maximum points was in the Bradgate Park race in early December, when they had to settle for second place. The women’s team earned themselves a promotion back to the top flight with their golden generation once again providing the catalyst for the upward momentum. They finished a comfortable second in their league and as a consequence ensured that the mixed league was an incredibly close run thing. Points were tied after the race but sadly, Badgers narrowly lost out on countback as rivals West End pipped them by just 40 places at the very last hurdle.

In the race itself, it was Mr Reliable Aaron Chetwynd who once again led the way, the nimble-footed 2018 Badger of the Year taking an impressive 6th place on a wet and energy sapping course. Next home in 9th position was veteran Chris Horton who penetrated the top ten for the first time over the mud, with fellow vet Neil Russell finishing strongly in 13th spot just behind. With two vets to count in the eight male scorers, Badgers have been indebted to this hardworking duo over the season as they ultimately made the biggest difference in securing the title. Jason Molloy (18th) weighed in with another quality run as he enjoyed his best season to date while Danny Warren returned to the top 20 with a determined effort. The popular Payne himself was next home in 22nd place, having recovered well from the ankle injury that put paid to his TransGranCanaria race the previous week. Mark Cox still had that same race in his legs yet was able to take 50th position in a high class run while Sam Starkey was left ruing his luck, finally coming back in 71st spot after losing dozens of places after losing his footwear in the infamous Bosworth Bog!

Veteran Jimmy Dewis rolled back the years with a brilliant run in 85th place while Graham Engley showed his promise with another impressive effort. Hard drinking Scot, Dave Jackson was back in competitive league action for the first time in almost a year with a battling run alongside key-man Glyn Broadhurst while Matt Green, Cameron Barnes, Dave Jenkinson, Dave Earp and Rob Crow all stormed home in good time. Gavin Crockwell made his XC debut for the club with stalwart Paul Grubb also going well ahead of the vastly experienced Eamon Thawley who continued his hitherto impressive streak of 30 consecutive league cross country races for Badgers.

The ladies side fielded a side almost entirely made up of veterans, with just Katie Clemons bucking the trend and once again it was the golden generation of Badgers women who made up the scoring. Nivette Chester is in fine form right now and she stormed home in an impressive 16th place to take 3rd place in the V45 women’s standings over the whole league season. Cheryl Dewis was close behind in 21st place and did enough in her previous outings to earn 2nd place in the same category, both tremendous achievements. Esther Holyoak was one race shy of getting in the honours herself but still weighed in with crucial points here with another consistent run in 36th spot. Nicki Bowman was brave once again, making light of her latest injury concerns to end up 60th as the ladies reflected on a wonderful season under new captain Sarah Jane Chetwynd. The seasoned Steph White ran well in 70th with Sharon Jackson and Clemons both making the top 100 with excellent runs of their own. Mandi Stain overcame some pre-race nerves to storm home ahead of the genial Maggi Savin-Baden and the improving Gail Gunn. Sister act Sam Klucis and Lisa Barnes rounded up the action in fine style. In the juniors race, Matt Jackson tore it up in 5th place as he once again demonstrated his huge potential and young Mia Cox also earned herself a medal in her event much to the delight of proud dad Mark.

Elsewhere, Emma Masser took on the marathon distance Belvoir challenge as part of her London preparations and finished well in 4:56, even more impressive given she ran a PB in the Big Bear Gato Head Torch 10K a few days earlier alongside Pip Weston and Yvonne Faulkner. John Hanson was back in action at the Centurion Grand Prix 5 miler clocking 38:03 while Faulkner was once again racing on Sunday, this time at the Stroke Association 5K where she ran 26:58 and Kerry Clover 26:28 in Coventry. Holly Matts and Andy Smith rounded up the field at the Carding Mill Canter 7.8 mile fell race.

There was a wealth of parkrunning once again as the calendar moved into March. Chris Baxter was the fastest Badger of the day clocking 17:01 at Shrewsbury as he celebrated his 30th birthday with a hard-fought third place at the Shropshire circuit. Chris Horton was the highest placed finisher of the day as he came second at Kingsbury Water Park in 17:09 which saw Dave Jackson back in the top ten once again thanks to his gritty 19:49. Sam Starkey endured a torrid start but gained ground in the latter stages to run 20 minutes dead in 11th place while Tim Gould and Matt Green battled hard over the slippy rain affected terrain. Matt Jackson went well in 21:29 as did Jake Bradford, Lee Millership, Wayne Repton, Colin Lees, David Craig, Chris Upton and Michael Bailey. Kay Whitehead was in good form once more ahead of youngster Millie Prestwood who excelled in 25:23 while Lil Souter continued her early season promise in 25:29.

Star of the morning was young Evie Whitehead who in her 50th parkrun demolished her PB by some margin, recording a new best time of 25:39 under the tutelage of Adrian Payne. Pete Boardman ran well before Jo Hardy took her PB below 26 minutes thanks to her stunning 25:55. Other runners included Shaun Coyle, Sharon Jackson, Amanda Gould, Amy Wakelin, Paul Wallace, Liz Peel, Yvonne Feasey, Sue Green, Jenna Davies and Helen Smith.

Glyn Broadhurst can consider himself unfortunate not to have taken the spoils at Sherwood Pines as he took a wrong turn when leading by some margin, and despite his best efforts to recover the situation, ended up 4th in 19:54. Jared Karim, Eamon Thawley, Nicki Bowman, Alan Argyle, Yvonne Faulkner, Terry Argyle, Glen Thomas and Nicola Stanley also attended. Carl Holyoak bounced back into the top ten at Bedworth with a strong run of 21:34, 9th place with Jane Walford also running. Holly Matts and Andy Smith both got round Ludlow parkrun safely in 34:53 while Ann-Marie Currier (28:42) scalped her husband Simon by a mere second at the hotly contested Brickfield parkrun in Dublin. John and Mandy Hanson were both in action at Beeston parkrun while Stuart Walton was the sole Badger at the scenic Rosliston course.

At Brueton Park, Dean Bowd was strutting his stuff in 26:51 and Gavin Crockwell was in fine form at Walsall running a fine 21:09 ahead of husband and wife duo Adam and Eileen McElhone. Dug and Alex Ladkin were in action at Black Park while marathon star Matt Tonks ran 19:16 to finish 11th at a rapid Conkers event. Fellow club stalwarts Paul Grubb, Karen Thompson and Jason Husselbee-Orwin also ran.