Week Ending - 2022/04/17

BADGERS OUT IN FORCE AT BABBS

Once again this week badgers were out in force, nowhere more so than at Babbs Mill parkrun where the ‘Pesky Badgers’ made their long-awaited ‘take over’ debut. With almost a quarter of the field of 138 runners as well as several crucial volunteering roles being filled by the group, performances on the course lived up to expectations. With Badgers filling 5 of the top 8 places they were led home by Dave Hill in 17.05 (2nd) just failing to add to his collection of first places, Sam Starkey 19.00 (4th), resurgent David Jackson 20.09 (6th), Glyn Broadhurst 20.15 (7th) and Ashley Taylor 20.50 (8^th, Babbs Mill pb) all making the top ten. Just behind these were Cameron Barnes, Team Warren, Andy Smith and Ian Orton all securing a top 20 finish. First lady Badger and 2^nd lady overall once again was Rachael Shelton in a rapid 23.51 (24th). Other notable performances on the morning included course pb’s for Clare Whetton, 26.58 expertly paced by Nicki Bowman, Jill Miller 28.00, Sarah O’Donoghue 30.48, Eileen McElhone 33.56, Teresa Satchell 35.32, as well as debutant Badger parkrunner David Purvis 25.22 and Steph Attenborough’s 50^th parkrun. Away from Babbs Mill, Kingsbury Water had the next largest turnout with Matt Green 22.18 (16th) leading the way for the boys and Lil Souter 27.05 for the girls. Sandringham saw Jared Karim and Zoe Yeatman, Longrun Meadow in Somerset had the pleasure of seeing Merv Jones and Leesa Dennis, and Keir and Joanne Hardy were at Brueton. Hastings High School saw a visit from Wayne Repton, Beeston in Nottingham was the latest venue for Holly and Andy Smith, with AnneMarrie Matthews visiting Porthcawl and Charlotte Phillips closer to home at Bedworth.

Outside of parkrun, intrepid Badger Steph Attenborough completed her 3^rd marathon in 8 days at the Easter Challenge in Huntingdon. 10k’s were to the fore with Matt Smith completing the Chasewater 10k in 57.45, Adrian Parkes the Leicestershire 10k in 51.02, and Russell Lomas ran a pb of 50.10 at the Telford and Wrekin 10k. Mark Repton took on the Boston Marathon and put in a strong performance to finish in 3.15.01

However, performance of the week once again came from second-claim Badger Matt Scarsbrook, who ran a massive 10k pb of 31.16 at the Mallory Park 10k, finishing in a magnificent 1^st place.