Week Ending - 2020/02/09

BADGERS TAKE TOP TWO IN LEICESTERSHIRE ROUND ULTRA MARATHON RACE

Badgers endurance aces Damo Taylor and Mark Cox took a magnificent first and second places in the final race of three in the arduous Leicestershire Round Ultra series. The 54-kilometre (33 miles) route took in some stunning scenery but equally some treacherous underfoot terrain on a blustery Saturday in winter. Setting off early in the morning, it was the lightly raced Taylor who emerged back first in a spectacular time of 5:11:29. The 29 year old father of two has kept a very low racing profile since his gritty fourth place at Dolgellau parkrun back in August 2018 but here he was back on form, delivering the goods, yet again. While this marked his return to Ultra-racing after a three-year hiatus, this is by no means the first ultra-marathon Polesworth- based Taylor has won. Oh no, the one-time self-proclaimed “King of Hurley” triumphed in record-breaking fashion at the high profile Endure 24 event in 2016 when he clocked a staggering 135 miles in 24 hours, not to mention his success in the Coventry Way Ultra events of 2016 and 2017.

When it comes to hard-hitting floor-fitters, you will have to go a lot further than 54 kilometres to find one to rival 35-year-old Mark Cox. His improvement since joining on a Bosman free-contract from Hinckley a couple of seasons ago has been nothing short of remarkable and here he capped a tremendous series by taking second place in the race which added to his 7th and 3rd places meant he finished second overall in the final standings, a tremendous achievement. His finish time of 5:14:37 was just three minutes off his more experienced team-mate’s time.

Indefatigable marathon stars Karen Thompson and Liz Peel notched up yet another 26.2-mile event, this time in 4:54 as they successfully completed the Big Bear Challenge near Bubbenhall, south of Coventry on Monday as the durable duo close in bit by bit on their 100-marathon target. Emma Masser took on the 23 mile off road Worcester Ring Run and battled through some tremendously tough conditions to emerge 3rd female back overall another awesome performance in the face of adversity from the hardworking Nuneaton based athlete.

With many races cancelled due to Storm Ciara, there was only one other runner outside of parkrun in action at the weekend, the redoubtable Pip Weston who continues to impress. She tackled the 10K Brooksie’s Bash trail run in Derbyshire, emerging as second V50 female in a time of 65 minutes on a tough old course.

Of course, Parkrun welcomed many Mustelidae types on Saturday morning as the winds picked up ahead of the imminent battering care of Storm Ciara. At Kingsbury, the club had their second winner in as many weeks with Mark Repton powering round in a new personal best time of 18:50 in tricky conditions it must be said. Exactly six years to the day when Badgers had their first ever winner of the event, vice-captain Repton became the 19th member of the club to achieve the feat in the 333rd running of the popular 5K run. Team-mate Sam Starkey made it a club 1-2 with a quality run of his own. The four times winner is slowly making progress after a nasty foot injury sustained towards the back of last season. The pacy Ben Satchell is back in the game and he stormed into the top ten with a ninth-place finish overall in 21:26. The hardworking Matt Green was next back in 21:52 with Matt Jackson getting round in 23:44. Esther Holyoak finished 3rd lady in a brisk 23:50 pipping husband Carl on the line in a real battle of wits. Wayne Repton, Mick Bailey, Rachael Shelton, Sharon Jackson and Lil Souter all ran as did another former winner Liz Peel. Paul Grubb dipped under 30 minutes with Zoe Cope, Bill Gutheridge, Jill Miller, Amanda Gould, David Simpson, Sarah O’Donoghue all dipping under 35 minutes. Teresa Satchell, Sarah Simpson, Gavin Crockwell, David Earp and Vicky Jennings managed to dip inside 40 minutes with Sue Thould getting back in 59:30.

In-form David McGowan was the quickest Badger of the morning as he hared round Coventry parkrun in a superb 17:27, enough to earn him fifth place in a large field of almost 800 participants. Graham Engley missed out by just one place as he stormed to second at Chasewater in 19:46 with veteran Paul Restall also going well in 25:52. Popular Karen Missen is leaving the club after seven seasons of Badger bliss and once again she turned out at Isobel Trail parkrun which will soon be much closer to home for her as she begins a new adventure up the A5. Dean Bowd clocked 24:11 at Oaklands parkrun while John & Anne Devenney raced at Rosliston. One-time 10-mile club record holder Jason Husselbee-Orwin made an appearance at Conkers with Charlotte Phillips showing at Leamington and Sarah Grant at Bedworth. Yvonne Faulkner, flanked by Daves Bailey and Grant, concluded her alphabetical parkrun quest by finishing the Jersey Farm parkrun near St Albans in 31 minutes.

Sue Wilson set the quickest time by any Badger ever at the Worthing event on the south coast while Paul Wallace, newcomer Stephanie Attenborough and the experienced Anne-Marie Matthews turned out at Sutton Park. Merv Jones led a quartet of Badgers home at the new Lichfield based Beacon parkrun, the impressive Karen Thompson, Leesa Dennis and Debbie Wilson all following him home. Holly McClay and Andy Smith both featured at Irchester Country and finally, Babbs Mill saw four more Badgers giving it a go as the brave Colin Lees took 12th place in 21:44 with Fantasy Football star Lee Millership recording a swift 23:01. Ian Orton did well in 23:16 and veteran Adam McElhone completed things in 27:04. Next week sees the penultimate cross-country race of the league season at Bagworth Heath amid rumours of a parkrun return from Dave Jackson, who will be aiming to go sub 20 once again, deep in Wales.