Week Ending - 2022/02/06

THRILLS, SKILLS AND CHILLS AT CHARNWOOD HILLS

BADGERS of the WEEK

Group A

Fred Heath

Group B

Sarah-Jane Chetwynd

Group C

Terry Argyle

Badgers sent over a fistful of solid operators to the much anticipated Charnwood Hills trail race near Loughborough at the weekend, fourteen plus miles of torrid terrain over a far from flat surface in cool temperatures. It was poster boy Adrian Payne who was first back from the bunch, in 1:46:12, breaking his way into the top twenty with a gritty efforst, not long after landing back in the UK from a week’s skiing. He was followed home by his industrious teammate Mark Cox (1:57:04) who put in a shift of the highest quality before the cavalry came charging home in the form of Cameron Barnes (2:03:14), seasoned raconteur par excellence, Jimmy Dewis (2:05:55), Stefan Martin (2:09:26) and Fred Heath (2:19:01) with new boy Martin Graham also going well in 2:37:46. The Panda Bear Challenge took place at Ryton Pools and Badgers were in the mix once more over the 16.5 mile off road course. Veteran multisport quizmaster Paul Grubb going well in his first long-distance event for a while with his cousin Karen Thompson, Liz Peel and Steph Attenborough also showing.

Parkrun saw plenty of Badgers gether, none more so than at Kingsbury Water Park where Mark Repton ran metronomically to record a time of 20:05 in 4th place. Veteran speedster Sam Starkey was 8th in 20:38 with Ashley Taylor also making the top ten with his run of 21:10. Tim Gould, Mick Bailey, Wayne Repton, Lee Millership, Steve Perry and Paul Wallace also ran. Matt Smith broke 30 minutes for the first time ever while Liz Peel was first Badger female home in 13th overall. The esteemed John Devenney, Peter Black, Amanda Gould, Matt Heap and Attenborough rounded up proceedings.

Adrian Parkes ran well at Edgbaston Reservoir while Cameron Barnes, mum Lisa and her sister in law Jo Hardy all ran at Beacon in Lichfield. Top knotted grafter Glyn Broadhurst was the fastest of the week clocking a brisk 17:29 in 8th place at York racecourse with Nicki Bowman also impressing with a rapid 23:30. Down the road in Pontefract, David Grant paced fiancée Yvonne Faulkner to a time of 28:37.

Paul Grubb flew the flag single-handedly at Rosliston while at the fast Walsall Arboretum course, Clare Whetton romped home in 26:42 a second ahead of Janet Crumpton in 13th and 14th places respectively with Karen Draper not far behind the magnificent pair.

Mark Reynolds and Karen Thompson were first-male and female Badgers back at Conkers. Ivana Babicova got safely round at Long Eaton and Anne-Marie Matthews appeared at Bedworth. Zoe Yeatman and Jared Karim were in action at Crewe, the Restall brothers at Oaklands with three more Badgers starring at Babbs Mill. Ian Orton was first home there in 8th place as he continues to progress in 22:32. Colin Lees was 22 seconds adrift with Adam McElhone a few more places back.

Finally, Perry Hall welcomed a septet of Badgers with Rachael Shelton taking an impressive 2nd place female in a season’s best 23:08. Too fast for her teammates Glen Thomas, Dave Bailey, Teresa Satchell, Sarah O’Donoghue, Terry Argyle and Paul Cooper.

As reported last week, the Badgers are well set in the Derby Runner Cross Country league and the latest league tables have subsequently been produced. With just one race remaining, at Market Bosworth next month, Badgers men have extended their lead over closest rivals West End Runners to two points meaning it is theirs to lose now. The ladies did not take maximum points in division two yet still maintain a seemingly unassailable lead going into the final race, with promotion to the top division virtually guaranteed. All this leaves the mixed team destined to finish second in the top flight.