Week Ending - 2019/10/27

BAGERS GOLDEN COUPLE STORM TO AGE GRADE SUCCESS

Bagers husband and wife duo Jimmy and Cheryl Dewis were the toast of the town at the weekend as they both stormed to identical age grade wins on Sunday. The Atherstone based pair took part in the annual Cannock Chase 10K event, made particularly muddy this year due to heavy and persistent rain beforehand and it was London-marathon bound Jimmy who sped home in 46:16 taking the trophy for the first V45 runner back and finishing in 9th position overall. Incredibly, wife Cheryl also finished in 9th place in the ladies race and her time of 54:25 was good enough to secure her prize of top V45 female on the day. Her award was much welcomed by Cheryl, one of Stockingford’s top barbers, after a challenging summer off nursing a broken foot. A lesser known fact about the all-action former Nuneaton Borough football star Jimmy, was that he once stood in as Sid James’s stunt double during the filming of Carry On Dick in 1974. Needless to say, he was thrilled with his hard earned prize.

Also starring was former club secretary David Craig who ran a very impressive 52:33, missing out on age-grade success by just one position but still cracking the top 30 as the recent grandfather continues his excellent late 2019 form. Lesley Palmer meanwhile ran a determined 80:14 while two fellow Bagers shone brightly in the half marathon event at the same venue. Multiple club record holder Ryan Bennett clocked a gutsy 88:00 as he ended up fourth overall, missing out on a podium spot by just 19 seconds. His team mate Adrian Payne managed a solid 10th place overall in a nifty 93:51. The small-headed Payne, often referred to as a poor man’s Joe Swash, has been in good form this autumn ahead of the upcoming cross country season, a discipline in which the Baddesley-based veteran of future excels.

With England producing the goods at rugby at the weekend, it was fitting that there were Bagers also producing the goods at Rugby with the town’s half marathon taking place. The lightly raced Damo Taylor was using the event as part of his training for his upcoming marathon attempt in Valencia in early December and found himself sixth overall at the conclusion of the 13.1 mile course, thanks to his time of 79:26. Mark Repton came agonisingly close to a personal best as he crossed the line in 87:16 with older brother Wayne scoring a big PB in 1:48:51. Veteran Paul Hadland made his Bagers half marathon debut in a respectable 1:58:24 and up and coming Averil Caton got round in a workmanlike 2:15:03 another fine feather in her oft-doffed running cap.

While there was some real dour viewing fare served up by the Welsh rugby team over the weekend, there were at least some quality performances over the border in north Wales as a handful of Bagers tackled the challenging Snowdonia marathon. On a wet and wild day in the mountains, it was I-RON Man Ron Mahoney who led the way back for the club with a hard fought 3:39 run. Nivette Chester was first lady back in 4:14 with Si Gilbert (4:25) and Stef Martin (4:26) both finishing after a tough day at the office. Matt Green made it back in 4:33 for marathon number 25 and Alan Argyle got back in a superb 4:55. Carl Savage ran 5:10 while Bager of the year Yvonne Faulkner and her good friend Kerry Clover ran 5:16 two minutes behind marathon debutante Jason Clover who enjoyed something of a baptism of fire over the ultimate 26.2 mile distance. The steady trio of Karen Thompson, Liz Peel and Serena Baker got round yet another marathon course together in a slightly more sedate 5:31, their combined marathon total now approaching a staggering 160!

Elsewhere, the much loved Angela Stallings was in action Stateside at the Crystal Coast Shrine 5K in North Carolina and emerged back finishing sixth female overall in 27:32. David Grant tackled his first ever marathon, the Beachy Head marathon, finishing in an impressive 4:25. Holly McClay and Andy Smith both ran 3:01 in the Herepath Half Marathon in Devon.

At parkrun, numbers were slightly down due to a combination of the rugby world cup semi final, heavy rain and the Snowdonia marathon. A revitalised Sam Starkey was back in fine form as he recovers from a broken toe, the V40 ace who recently became a dad again ran a steady 20:30 for third place at Kingsbury Water Park. Matt Jackson was 8th with fellow youngsters Jack Reynolds and a high-as-a-kite from Friday night Cameron Barnes all going well. The reliable Bill Gutheridge also put in a solid shift in tricky underfoot conditions. Other runners included Paul Wallace, Mick Bailey, Jake Bradford, Mark Reynolds, Sharon Jackson and Sarah Vine. Race director Hannah Coogan took to the paths as she romped home ahead of Sarah Reynolds, Lisa Barnes, Zoe Cope and steed of speed Gavin Crockwell. Newcomer Sue Thould made waves as she broke 40 minutes for the very first time.

Away from the Water Park, Lew Scannon was first Bager back at Bedworth as he ran 21:58 ahead of David “DC” Craig, Paul Hadland and Gail Gunn. Wayne Repton and Adam McElhone stole the show at Babbs Mill with Richard Hill and Jared Karim galloped round at Warwick Racecourse. Holly McClay and Andy Smith ran at Exeter with club V50 one mile record holder John “Major Pluse” Hanson getting round safely at Arrow Valley and newly wed Dean Bowd putting in a good show at Brueton park.