Week Ending - 2020/06/14

BADGERS WORLD CUP QUARTER FINAL PROFILE

With races cancelled for the foreseeable future, Badgers have been rather creative in filling the void with a hugely popular in-house “World Cup” competition. Places were given to the first 64 members to apply and the format sees a straight knockout tournament with runners being drawn against one another, from a bag of balls like on the television, to race separately over a set distance each week. To make it more interesting, race officials have devised a handicap system whereby every runner has a chance of winning regardless of out and out pace. “Consistency of performance is key along with gradual improvement and giving 100%” said tournament adjudicator Maggi Savin-Baden. Every weekend, there is a draw on Badgers Facebook live and this week sees the quarter finals being played out over the longest distance to date of 10K. Runners must choose their own routes and take all relevant safety precautions as they normally would and start and finish in approximately the same place to avoid any advantages being sought by favourable gradients. Here, we profile the four quarter finals and the eight protagonists looking to etch their name into Badgers folklore as they become the first ever club World Champ!

Our first feature match this week sees long-time Badger Paul Grubb take on 5K specialist Chris Davies. Paul has seen off rising star Ben Satchell, club great Martyn Barrett and fellow Baggie Lee Millership and has consistently performed well week on week. Chris has enjoyed a similar steady pattern of success having negotiated his way past Emma Masser and Hannah Craig before edging out an epic tussle with Paul Hadland in the last round. Chris runs 5K every day so a 10K will represent a new challenge for him but going off his performances in the competition so far, we expect to see him take it all in his stride. Perhaps he will run his 10K either side of midnight to get his daily 5K's in! Paul is something of a multi-sporter, a vital member of the King's Head darts, dominoes and crib team as well as a decent crown green bowler. In his spare time, he can be found serving behind the bar in his local, the Grubb and Lettuce, conveniently located down the end of his garden. This encounter could go either way. Pace wise they are very closely matched; Grubb has the greater experience, but Davies has been a revelation in the World Cup so far and is more than capable of making it through to the semis. If each runner represented a nation, it would be fair to say that Chris is England, refreshingly inexperienced with a youthful exuberance yet untested at the highest level. Paul meanwhile is Mexico, always there, rarely rubbish and carefully progressing while remaining under the radar of some of the bigger names.

The clash between Sarah Reynolds and Anne Devenney has been touted by some as the most pivotal match of the quarter finals. Both ladies have been improving markedly throughout the tournament and will be hoping they can carry their 5K form and fitness into the longer 10K discipline. Sarah began the tournament as one of three Reynolds runners alongside husband Mark and youngster Jack, but she is the only one to make it this far in the competition. She has seen off the impressive Rachael Shelton, Wayne Repton and in the last round multiple club record holder Ryan Bennett in a major coup. That said, her margins of victory indicate she has yet to be fully tested but that will no doubt change this week when she goes head-to-head with former Tamworth AC star Anne. Devenney has lit the tournament up with a trio of wins over T-Dogg, Graham Engley and in-form Zoe Cope. She also topped a recent poll amongst Badgers who picked the person they thought most likely to lift the coveted award. Statistics show that this was shrewd selecting from the watching masses as so far, nobody has won as convincingly across each of their matches as the Yorkshire yomper. If the duo were football teams, Sarah is Croatia - under-rated at the start but impossible to ignore after a succession of impressive displays. Anne is very much Brazil, capturing the imagination of the Badger nation with her positive approach.

The next tie features two athletes who have both come to running later in their careers and both real triers. Jo Davies may not be the quickest Badger at the club, but you would be hard pushed to find one as committed and determined. She has had to work hard in each of her three ties to date, wins over Paul Cooper, Adam McElhone and Leesa Dennis. Will the exhaustion of three demanding ties prove a bridge too far for plucky Jo or will it give her the belief she can go all the way and win the tournament? Only time will tell. Once more, she has a tough draw against a revitalised Sam Starkey. The Tamworth based flier has put his foot related injuries behind him and is in scintillating form at present. He has been forced to work hard against Neil Clemons and interestingly beat Jo’s partner Rob Crow in a gruelling first round slug-fest – perhaps revenge might be in the air this week. It would not be a surprise to see either of these pair win this dual, the outcome really is too close to call at this stage. Jo is very much like Germany – a well-organised, battling outfit, always there or thereabouts, no histrionics – just a ruthless desire to get the best from herself. Sam is much more in the mould of Holland – full of talent, a little in and out of form with injuries but when he gets it right, there are genuinely few better.

Our final fixture sees two long serving club pin-ups, Adrian Payne and his hairdresser, Clare Whetton, going at one another. This pair are famous for their respective pairs. Small headed Payne, 35, has a great pair of quads according to a recent poll, which helped the club take their first ever Leicestershire League title in 2018. Glamour girl Whetton meanwhile has a magnificent pair too. Of eyes. If you’d have paired these two at the start of the tournament, you would most likely forecast a win for the former men’s captain, but stylish Whetton has been a revelation in this competition and has swept aside all before her with increasing levels of astounding quality. Payne had to run a 5K PB in the last round to make it past a gutsy John Devenney and had a tough battle with Dave Jenkinson before that. Whetton meanwhile took out the in-form Carl Savage in round two to really announce her presence in the competition. Since then she has gone from strength to strength, but will she beat off the poster boy of Badgers or will she be administering a terrible revenge haircut come July? Whatever the outcome, we know Payne will get a semi one way or another. Country wise, Payney is very much in the classic Greece mould. A big fan of relaxation, for years, he showed plenty of promise without really achieving on the big stage. Then he finally got his act together and became the first Badger to win an overseas parkrun. Blonde haired Whetton is undoubtedly Sweden. Not necessarily pre-tournament favourites but as the event wears on, you begin to think “these can do a bit” and look pretty good for the later rounds.