BADGERS ON SONG AT SWITHLAND 6 RACE

The 2022 Leicestershire Road Running League reached the halfway point following the conclusion of the Swithland 6-mile race on Sunday, which saw three club records set as well as a host of impressive individual performances and a prize for the men’s team. The warm weather was not oppressive and some fast times were recorded on one of the more scenic courses on the circuit, running around Swithland Reservoir near Rothley.

Once again, Matt Scarsbrook was first back for the side in a spectacularly fast 31:08. He took third place overall being beaten by two runners he has already scored victories over in this series so far, Mo Hussein and Simon Birch. It was another terrific performance by the 25-year-old who had been feeling unwell in the week leading up to the race – his absence will be a big loss in a fortnight’s time at the Prestwold 10K when he is unavailable. In a field stacked with quality, Dave Hill was next back in a PB time of 33:57 (16^th place). The Polesworth man was part of the men’s quartet that picked up a team prize after the race, alongside Mark Cox (34:20 PB) and Chris Horton (34:51). Few at Badgers, if any, work as hard as Cox and the rewards for all his graft are now clear for all to see. The Stoke Golding based star has been improving with every race in 2022 and is showing no sign of stopping either, his time here was off the back of another hefty training week.

Dave McGowan weighed in with a solid return in 30^th place, with no doubt a bit more to come in the coming races as he works to regain the form that led him to a marathon best of 2:46 in the spring. Rising star Ryan “Preecey” Preece cheated death earlier in the week to be on the start line and he did not let his teammates down with a hard-fought 35:52 against all the odds. The next six runners home formed the hitherto unbeaten Badgers B-team in the points league and what is incredible is that all six featured in the top 70 men overall in a race contested by almost 30 clubs. Such a feat and therefore score would have been the envy of the majority of other club’s top six outright so it says everything about the strength in depth at Badgers that their men were able to do so brilliantly. Baddesley heroes Adi Payne and Danny Warren finished three seconds apart in 36:11 and 36:14 respectively, the former earning himself a new personal best. Key man Glyn Broadhurst ran an excellent 36:39 (PB) to score valuable points for the vets' side too with Mark Repton (37:19) helping himself to a new personal best after being laid low with illness recently, a superb return to form. Cameron Barnes clocked the exact same time as his more experienced team mate which also meant that another huge PB winged its way back to Barnes Towers in 2022.

Neil Clemons showed his class with another impressive run, this time in 37:28 and veteran ace Chris Tweed made his distance debut with a handy 38:40. Captain Carl Savage took a couple of minutes off his old 6-mile best with a skipper’s run of 39:54 and Stefan Martin produced one of the runs of the day with his 40:59, a personal best at age 50 and wrapping up an excellent vet men's team display and a Gold county standard to boot.

Wayne Repton followed in his younger brother Mark’s footsteps with a PB, this time in 43:34 as he goes from strength to strength in 2022. Similarly, Martin Graham has improved significantly in recent months and he ran a respectable 43:45. Unsung hero David Craig was next back in 44:50, another excellent effort from the Mr Reliable of Badgers. Ashley Taylor ran close to his best and Rob Crow shaved seconds off his best (45:32) as the dynamic duo helped pace Cheryl Dewis to a new V50 club record. The Stockingford barber was the first female back in 45:38 and took the first of three club records to go on the day, the V50 ladies. Nine seconds later, Mick Bailey crossed the line to eclipse Alan Argyle’s long-standing 6-mile V60 mark, the second record to tumble but spare a thought for Peter Mann (46:40) and Adrian Parkes (46:56) who both ran times inside the old record. Andy Altoft, wearing the number one, was the next Badger through before the women’s team started to speed home. The pacy Emma Woolrich ran another decent effort in 49:42 to score for both ladies and vet ladies side. Captain Lil Souter produced a sparkling performance to dip under 50 minutes for the first time ever by the small margin of just four seconds and Pip Weston rounded up the scoring with a new V60 club record of 51:33, another superb outing on a day littered with them. Sharon Jackson led the ladies B-team home in 52:08 as she continues her return towards her very best form. Adam McElhone ran a PB of 50:09 as he formed part one of a first Badger husband and wife to finish alongside debuting Eileen McElhone who ran 66:12. Russell Lomas, Jamie Lawrence and Chris Young all gave 100% in their respective races before the stylish Nicki Bowman led the Badgers ladies B-team home in 52:27. Janet Crumpton ran yet another PB in 54:32, another remarkable stat from the V50 star. 100 Marathon Club inductee Liz Peel turned her hand to the 6-mile distance and returned in a creditable 55:26.

Jo Davies edged her way ever closer to joining the ranks of Badgers to have completed 50 league events for the club with her typically hard-fought 56:21. Badgers poll queen Ann-Marie Currier may prefer to run on home soil herself, but really produced the goods when it mattered as she helped herself to a personal best time of 57:43 and Karen Draper clocked 62:36 with a typically courageous effort soon after. Fiona Hutton, Teresa Satchell, Juliette Trollope and Fiona Reidy rounded up the action but not before newcomer Gemma Spencer made her league debut with a monumental 75:40. David Jackson did not run.

Three Badgers ran in the Two Castles 10K in Kenilworth, with Hannah Coogan first back in 59:11 ahead of Ivana Babicova and Paul Cooper. Holly and Andy Smith completed the Divorce Day marathon in Ironbridge in a time just shy of six hours while at the Coniston 15K trail race, Eleanor Fowler finished first vet female and 5^th overall in a superb time of 1:19:00 across some of the most challenging yet beautiful terrain in the land.

Last but most certainly not least, there was plenty of park running going on, the highlight of which was a return to action for the ever-popular Rachel Crump. Always one of the club’s most capable performers, the now V50 star has battled back from a myriad of health challenges and at Minehead on Saturday, she ran the local parkrun while away on an 80’s weekend at Butlins, not only finishing the first lady in the event but bagging the V50 club record in the process with a quite stunning run of 22:54.