Week Ending - 2021/12/05

BADGERS MEN CONTINUE TO LEAD THE STARLIT WAY

The second race of the 2021/2 Starlight Relays took place at Markeaton Park midweek with both Badgers sides making the podium in their respective gender classifications. The men’s team currently lead the overall standings in the series after taking second place with some more quality running. Matt Scarsbrook kicked things off in typically rapid style, completing his two-mile leg in 10:54 before key man in waiting Adrian Payne sped round in 11:26. Aaron Chetwynd, coming back to better form after a long injury absence went well in 11:45 before fit-again Danny Warren managed a brisk 11:04 on the anchor leg to secure second spot. The four lads all live in the same village, three of them on the same road earning themselves the nickname the New Street Massive. The ladies were indebted to Esther Holyoak, the indefatigable hair stylist doubling up on legs in her side to help teammates Nicki Bowman (15:56) and Pip Weston (16:47) pull through to a superb third place overall.

Scarsbrook was back in competitive action at the weekend where he took on the Maverick Dark Series trail race in Oxfordshire, 21K of challenging terrain and gradient, in the dark, in which he emerged a superb fourth overall in 1:43:16. Cameron Barnes came 66^th in 2:15:38 with Lisa and Craig Barnes also present, this time in the shorter 8K discipline coming home in 66:33 apiece.

At the White Peak trail run covering Dovedale and Tissington in the Peak District, Adi Payne was in top form, making the most of his sport before he hits the veteran category. The Baddesley electrical engineer and part-time hunk, an integral part of the aforementioned New Street Massive, finished a superb fifth overall, covering the 16-mile course in 2:01:14. Mark Cox had a decent run in 30^th, clocking a time of 2:18:12 and Dave Jenkinson did brilliantly to finish in 2:33:01, 55^th place.

Three ladies completed half marathons at the weekend. Former Membership Secretary Angela Stallings, now resident in North Carolina, ran the Wilmington Historic Half in 2:23, the quickest of the trio. Liz Peel ran 2:46 in support of 100 marathon club star and one time Badger Olivia Stacey as she ran ten marathons in 10 days on the Kent coast, in the Lucky Dip half at Samphire Hoe near Dover. Steph Attenborough managed 2:51:39 at the muddy Xmas Canter Half at Hinchingbrooke Country Park.

Parkrun saw a good deal of Badger participation on Saturday morning. A wet and slippy course at Kingsbury Water Park saw Chris Horton record his slowest ever time in 106 events there, yet still emerged victorious in 19:15 to take his 24^th first-place finish at the park. Sam Starkey made it a Badgers 1-2 with his spirited run of 19:51 and had he not left it too late, Glyn Broadhurst could have secured a historic club 1-2-3 consisting entirely of key-men, but his late charge only meant he could grab 4^th place in a time of 20:22. Tim Gould ran well in 12^th place with his time of 22:54. Neil Thorne, David Craig, Paul Wallace, Jill Miller, Amanda Gould and Steve Perry all finished as did Rachael Shelton who was the first of the Badgers ladies to make it back, 10^th overall in the run.

At Babbs Mill, veteran Colin Lees took a career-high fourth place with a speedy turn of 21:40, just ahead of Adam McElhone. Jo Hardy, Leesa Dennis and Karen Draper all made the top ten ladies at Oaklands where Merv Jones also featured. Adrian Parkes had a good run at Beacon parkrun in Lichfield with Wayne Repton the sole Badger in action at Edgbaston Reservoir. Sarah O’Donoghue, Teresa Satchell and Paul Cooper got round safely at Sutton, Paul Grubb ran 27:51 at Conkers and serial tourists David Grant and Yvonne Faulkner both turned out at Bury Field parkrun. Elsewhere, Andy and Holly Smith ran at Sherwood Pines along with Anne-Marie Matthews, and last but by no means least, Bill Gutheridge (21:32) and Mick Bailey (23:01) both enjoyed explosive runs at the super speedy Walsall Arboretum course.