Week Ending - 2019/10/06

MICK’S MADE IT

This year’s Chester marathon festival drew 19 Badgers to the popular racecourse-based event and a number emerged with some outstanding performances. The star of the show was undoubtedly Mick Bailey, who only took up running 18 months ago and was attempting his very first marathon. The well-liked Kingsbury man showed incredible composure and no shortage of finesse as he made light work of the flat 26.2-mile course that takes runners in and out of Wales. His finish time of 3:48:50 meant that he finished 1st in the V65 age category in the race overall, no mean feat when you consider there were over 3,000 competitors taking part. In addition to this prestigious accolade, the mild mannered 66-year-old commented “I think it's since I joined the Badgers this year with all the training and support that they give everyone. It has really helped me and all the other members.” His time also eclipsed Martyn Barrett’s V60 club record. Pound for pound, Barrett is one of the best runners at Badgers and to go quicker than him while also conceding five years in age is a truly amazing achievement.

Helena Rean has improved no end this season and has dominated the female V60 honours board. Here she added the club marathon record to her name with a sensational run of 4:28:34, a personal best too for the kind-hearted Aston Villa supporting golf ace. Matt Tonks has over 150 marathons to his name and made a return to action after an injury hit start to the year. His time of 3:07:33 was a little way off his imperious best but given his build up in 2019, he should take great credit for this performance. The vast majority of club runners up and down the country would love to run such a time and it says a lot about the 44-year-old’s character that he has been able to produce more quality given his long-standing injury problems.

There were a number of marathon debutantes in action although spare a thought for Sam Starkey who did most of the training but had to settle for a spectator’s role with a broken foot incurred at the Great North Run last month. Top local bricklayer Bob Dawe made his first marathon one to remember with a stunning return of 3:41:30, months of hard graft paying off for the dad of two, whose wife Anna was also in action, running 2:30 in the Metric marathon (26.2K). The experienced Matt Green finished just 14 seconds behind in 3:41:44 while Rachael Shelton (4:08:51), Ian Orton (4:09:25) and Carl Savage (4:16:41) all made emotional debuts at the iconic 26.2-mile distance with times to be highly proud of. Yvonne Faulkner managed a PB in 4:10:10 and Karen Thompson finished yet another marathon, her final one as a senior athlete, in 4:21:02. Former beginners graduate Judy Parkes ran a quality 4:23:59 as she continues to amaze all and the super steady Serena Baker ran a fine 4:33:05, two years to the day after vowing never to run another marathon. Alan Argyle ran a solid 4:30:06 with Dave Jenkinson finishing just ahead in 4:28:34. Darryl Johnson rounded things up in a determined 5:07:44.

In the Metric Marathon, Wayne Repton completed his longest run to date in 2:22:02, with Lil Souter (2:40:34) also finishing well with Zoe Cope also getting round safely. In Inverness, Michael Ball completed his first ever marathon with an impressive and plucky 5:27:35 in the Loch Ness marathon, a scenic but far from flat race offering the newcomer a real baptism of fire into the world of long-distance running.

Two Badgers took on the Bournemouth Half Marathon. Rob Crow (1:46:56) put in a super run with partner Jo Davies once again dipping back under the two-hour mark in 1:59:08 after almost a year of injury setbacks.

Adrian Payne was in top form at the Clipstone Trail Half Marathon, finishing a deserved second place overall in 96:56. Veteran team-mate Colin Lees did well too coming back in 1:55:27. Chris Baxter placed well once again at this year’s Shelton Striders 10K near Derby. The 30-year old running a rapid 35:46 to take 5th place. His time would have been quick enough to have won the Tamworth 10K this year, a local race that saw Glyn Broadhurst lead the side home in 37:56. Ron Mahoney broke 40 minutes comfortably with Tim Gould (42:43), Amanda Gould (61:01), Mandi Stain (60:21), Sharon Jackson (49:56) and Paul Cooper (62:07) all putting in good displays.

Parkrun saw a healthy amount of action on Saturday morning, Jonathan Vardy earned bragging rights for being the fastest Badger of all on the day as he romped to a 18:19 PB at Coventry, bagging him a top ten finish in the process. Keir Hardy ran a fabulous 18:50 to set a new 5K PB, this time at Long Eaton , where his sister Lisa Barnes (30:42) and fellow Badger Merv Jones also ran. Jo Davies and Rob Crow ran together at Upton House parkrun while Graham Engley appeared at Perry Hall in 4th place.

Parkrun guru Richard Hill took part in the bonus event in Germany, the Volksgarten reunification parkrun to go alongside his appearance at Tewkesbury alongside Jared Karim, Yvonne Faulkner, Eamon Thawley, Ashley Taylor and John & Mandy Hanson. Mark & Sarah Reynolds both featured at Penrose parkrun while Bill Gutteridge ran a brisk 21:19 at Chasewater.

Chris Horton placed joint highest thanks to his distant second place at Minehead parkrun in 18:24 with fellow key-man Glyn Broadhurst matching the feat with a silver medal at Babbs Mill in 19:15, a venue that saw Colin Lees, Adam McElhone and the Restall brothers John and Paul all showing. Paul Grubb, Holly McClay and Andy Smith all ran at Alvaston parkrun with Lee Millership (22:36) leading the way at Conkers ahead of Paul Wallace (22:52 – PB), Chris Upton and the Chester-bound Alan Argyle. Sharon Jackson, Matt Jackson, Lil Souter, Peter Black and Vicki Fowler all turned out at Sutton Park AS Kingsbury was too wet to go ahead. Over at Bedworth, David Craig rolled back the years in 22:13 to be first Badger back ahead of newcomer Lou Scannon, Terry Argyle, Gail Gunn, Gavin Crockwell, the bustling Becky Kinson and Sarah Grant.

Finally, Dean Bowd ran the Fire Service College parkrun in the Cotswolds, his final one as a single man as at 3pm that same day, he got married in the beautiful village of Chipping Campden. Well done Dean and congratulations from everyone at the club.