Week Ending - 2022/03/27

STEPH IS ULTRA BONKERS

Battling (and slightly bonkers) Badger Steph Attenborough was at it again last week as she took on yet another epic challenge, this time in the form of the 33 mile ‘Ultra In The Black Country’ race, surprisingly enough, in the Black Country. Taking in some of the area’s finest sights as well as parts of the outskirts of Wolverhampton, the course was predominately off road and could best be described as flattish. A select band of just less than two dozen runners completed the Pulse Pursuits event and was won by Tomasz Pokorniecki in a time of 4:06. Badgers’ Attenborough is no stranger to these long-distance events having completed several in the last year or so and is now one of the most experienced ultra-runners in the club. For her, winning was never an aim, more a mission to complete what for most is an unthinkable distance, a marathon with a seven-mile cool-down. Yes, seven! A born survivor, she bravely battled her way through the opening miles, her trusty camel pack helping her with hydration and nourishment. When she finally emerged to cross the finish line in a time of 8:18:24, a true Badger warrior was born. To put the magnitude of her achievement into some kind of context, imagine smashing out a 45-minute parkrun then immediately going straight back out again for more of the same, eleven times over, that is what she pretty much managed on Monday, a truly Herculean effort, landing her 23^rd place overall in the standings.

Also racing in the immediate vicinity last week was David Craig who clocked an impressive 45:46 in the Wolverhampton 10K on Sunday. Closer to home, Anne Wells was in action at the Birmingham Insurance Institute 10K in Tamworth, coming home in just under 58 minutes while Andy and Holly Smith both survived the Silkin Way half marathon in Shropshire, Holly finishing first lady in 2:28. Katrina Dawson returned to competitive action in Cardiff, taking part in the half marathon and emerging with a respectable time of 2:21:44 for the 13.1-mile event there. Second claim runner Eric Fowler donned his Badgers vest for the Coniston 14 race, a 14 miler up in the picturesque Lake District. He got back in 1:46, a good effort on a warm day in the north. Finally, Matt Scarsbrook completed his transfer to Birchfield Harriers this month, where hopefully his talent can take him to places unimaginable before. He retained his Badgers membership as a second claim runner enabling him to compete alongside his old teammates and friends in the Leicestershire Road Running League and on Saturday he made his big league debut for his new club at the Midlands Road Relays at Sutton Park, not looking at all out of his depth as he ran one of the quickest legs of the afternoon to help his side finish third and therefore qualify for the Nationals in a few weeks time.

Parkrun saw an abundance of action with a number of top ten finishes and personal bests being achieved. At Long Eaton, Badgers stalwart Chris Horton ran his third parkrun PB of the season with a magnificent 16:43, seven seconds faster than his rapid 16:50 at Walsall a few weeks prior. This gave him his fourth V40 club record of the season, despite being towards the upper end of the age bracket. In almost perfect running conditions, his early lead was quickly consumed by race winner David Narborough from Mickleover RC, who ended up nearly 40 seconds in front of the field making it more of a time trial than a race for the 47-year-old Atherstonian. Even a brief encounter with a disoriented wet spaniel could not halt his assault on his old record and he was rewarded too with a new all-time wava score of 86.28%, a phenomenal achievement. Adrian Parkes was also racing on what is well-known as one of the flattest and fastest circuits in the midlands, the V60 star running 23:58.

There was a PB for Matt Smith who ran 26:33 at Kingsbury Water Park where Dave McGowan finished second overall, beaten only by a dog runner and possibly beaten for the last time in such circumstances as parkrun implement new regulations regarding running with dogs as of next week. His time of 18:01 was a minute quicker than veteran Sam Starkey who was a place behind in 3^rd place with another solid display. Mark Repton (19:57) and Cameron Barnes (20:47) both raided the top ten while Tim Gould, Steve Perry, Lee Millership, David Craig and Wayne Repton all featured prominently. Matt Jackson returned to action alongside Pete Coogan and first female Badger back was the enduring Nicki Bowman in 26:11, shepherding the plaster casted key man Glyn Broadhurst back to safety after his freakish elbow break. Nick Miles, John and Paul Restall, Liz Peel and Lil Souter were just some of the famous Badger names to complete the two-lap course, the others being John and Anne Devenney, Amanda Gould, Jill Miller, Matt Green and Peter Black.

Stuart Youngs was on tour in Cardiff and Rachael Shelton ran a rapid 24:59 at Trentham Gardens. Gail Gunn found herself at Stratford upon Avon and Sharon Whitehead battled round at Bedworth. At Perry Hall, Andy Smith ran a super 23:18 with wife Caroline making the top ten in 28:12, the highest female placing of the weekend in eighth. Dave Grant (22:44) was 9^th male at Ross on Wye where both Yvonne Faulkner and Zoe Yeatman were also running. Bill Gutheridge ran a quality new personal best time of 21:29, despite now being in his 40’s, proof that hard work does indeed get rewards as well as a top ten finish in his case!

At Conkers, Mark Reynolds led home a gaggle of Badgers including Glen Thomas, Nicola Stanley, Dave Bailey, Paul Cooper, Ivana Babicova, Terry Argyle and his avuncular elder brother Alan. Ian Orton ran 23:03 to grab 9^th at Babbs Mill, followed home by veterans Colin Lees (24:34) and Adam McElhone (24:58). Anne-Marie Matthews was on hand to be a part of the inaugural running of the Hastings High School parkrun in Hinckley and last but not least was big Dave Jackson who was out in force single-handedly at Walsall. His performance was particularly impressive given that Jackson had endured yet another poor night’s sleep immediately beforehand, scarred by the thought that his beloved Fiat Panda had been stolen by club chairperson Danny Warren in a nightmare. Lesser men would have bailed given the obvious trauma but not the veteran tat-peddler. As plucky as he is stocky, he went on to clock 19:08 at Walsall Arborectum to earn himself 9^th overall and the prospect of another shot at the big time and with it wrapping up a fantastic weekend of action for the club whose members continue to lap everybody else on the couch.