Week Ending - 2020/05/31

BADGERS BACK IN THE MIX WITH THE HUG-ME 6

Badgers continued to make the best of the lockdown situation in the UK by holding another time trial event that would hopefully inspire members to achieve this season’s club Standard Times awards. The 6 mile distance is often covered in the league programme with the Kibworth 6 having already taken place. However, that race is notoriously hilly and tough to get a quick time but other events later in the calendar, namely the Swithland 6, Whissendine 6 and the much loved Rugby 6, all fell foul of the coronavirus restrictions. The Hug Me 6 was set up to compensate despite harbouring a name concocted from a desperate piece of wordplay.

Over 20 Badgers gave this “race” a go, some methodically planning routes to fit the correct criteria, others just rolling with the punches and running for the participation element. Anne Devenney has been running well of late and here she recorded a time of 68 minutes, just a minute behind husband John who is also a Badger. Hannah Coogan went off road for her 66:01, a spirited run from the Kingsbury parkrun supremo. Hannah Craig broke the hour mark with an industrious 59:01 and Paul Grubb slogged it round in a workmanlike 56:44. Holly McClay and Andy Smith both managed 56:08 with Jo Hardy a single second quicker in her run. Jo Davies made a great effort to clock 56:25 and thereby earn bragging rights in her household as partner Rob Crow came in ten seconds behind in a gutsy 56:35. Rob was part of an esteemed trio of V50 stars who’s times were very similar. Eamon Thawley was the speediest of the three in 55:51 and Adam McElhone, another Bluenose, managed 56:06. Top local hair stylist and trimmer of many of the Badgers locks, Clare Whetton, clocked 56:56 for her award and Kerry Clover clocked 54:21 with a belligerent run of her own. Veteran ace Stephanie White worked hard for her 50:44 giving her a Silver plus standard but the quickest of all the ladies was Nivette Chester who got round in a Gold time of 45:38, some nine years after she first founded the club.

David Craig was the fastest V50 male as he dug deep to get back in 47:11, a fair time in the conditions and being away from a competitive environment. Carl Savage is flying high right now as his times are plummeting down. This week he ran a quality 44:45, reaping the rewards of increased training mileage in May. The reliable Bill Gutheridge put in another shift and emerged with a respectable time of 44:38 and top V40 in the event. Ashley T-Dogg Taylor and Robert Boland have enjoyed some epic tussles over the years with Boland assuming a strong upper hand in the last 18 months following Taylor’s freak neck injury which took him out of action for a prolonged period. This race showed how Taylor has bounced back subsequently as the self-proclaimed Warton Wonder finished in a remarkable 44:32, just a mere eight seconds behind the giant striding multi-monikered pensions specialist. Finally, Chris Baxter, who left to join SDRR nearer to home earlier in the season but has since re-joined Badgers as a second claim athlete, finished the event off in style with an incredibly brisk trot over in Long Eaton. His 32:55 was even quicker than Ryan Bennett’s club record for the distance, albeit that was set on the hilly Kibworth course four years ago, giving him the highest level of standard achievable, Platinum Plus.