Week Ending - 2022/06/19

CARL SAVAGES HALF MARATHON BEST

Badgers men’s team captain Carl Savage was in action in between league races at the weekend in the Derby-based Ramathon half marathon event and recorded a superb new personal best over the distance. The Alvecote-based runner has come a long way since joining Badgers a few years ago and on Sunday he was able to knock a serious chunk of time off his old best with a stunning effort of 89:00, good enough for 75^th place out of over one thousand competitors. Savage was not the only Badger finding joy at a Derbyshire-based distance event over the weekend as former men’s captain Adrian Payne finished an excellent second in the Dark Peak Trail Race (25K) with his time of 1:59:31. Cameron Barnes finished in 18^th place in 2:17:26 while in-form Stefan Martin claimed the V50 prize in the 12K event, sixth overall irrespective of age, another great performance from him.

Liz Peel and Stephanie Attenborough both completed the half marathon at the Red Kite Challenge Event and Wayne Repton ran four races in as many days at the Tour of Tameside event in an aggregate of 4:43:53.

At parkrun, there were no end of quality displays across the region. Dave Hill ran the fastest 5K of the morning with a rip-snorting time of 16:33 at Walsall Arboretum. Surely it is only a matter of time before he usurps Chris Baxter’s club record of 16:27. Hill took fourth place at the event with Glyn Broadhurst returning towards his fastest form in seventh spot (17:57). A fully fit Sam Starkey will be a massive boost for the men’s vets team and here he ran a quality 18:20 to also make the top ten with Matt Green going strongly in 20:55. Rachael Shelton ran 23:20 to make the top ten ladies making it a successful outing for those in black and white. Ten Badgers made the journey to Sutton Park where Danny Warren and daughter Orlagh, led their teammates home in 22:23. Stephanie Attenborough ran a PB of 27:54 at the tricky Bedworth course. The popular Mick Bailey celebrated his 100^th event at Kingsbury, the 69-year-old holds a couple of club records despite being one of the oldest competitors in his age category and here he clocked a superb 23:40 to finish first in his age group and record the fifth-highest wava rating in the run overall. He was accompanied by over a dozen Badger colleagues with Chris Horton (17:36) leading the way in second place overall and Dave Jackson bouncing back in seventh place (19:27) while Sharon Jackson (25:12) was eighth female.

This week sees a return to league action at the Prestwold 10K as the season passes through the halfway stage. Team-wise, the men lead division one and the B team are also top having yet to drop a point this season. This shows the strength in depth of the club at the LRRL races. The men's vets are third and vet B second. The ladies are currently at the bottom of their division, the B team sixth but the vet women are in better shape lying fourth and the B team third. The mixed team are mid-table (fifth).

Individually, Matt Scarsbrook tops the table overall and Mick Bailey and Cheryl Dewis lead their age categories. Dave Hill is having a super season and is fifth male overall with Ryan Preece two behind in 7th and Adrian Payne in 10th. Chris Horton is 2nd V45 with Martin Graham 7th. Chris Tweed is 6th V40, Rob Crow 8th V55, Adrian Parkes 4th, John Shade 2nd and Wayne Repton 10th in their respective categories. Lil Souter, Jo Davies, and Pip Weston are ninth in their age groups and Ann-Marie Currier also makes the top ten in the V40 category. Runners need their best four results from six to score so regular attendance is just as important at the ability to run fast. Luckily, there are plenty here who are capable of both.

On Sunday, Matt Scarsbrook, representing Birchfield Harriers, took part in the Nottingham-based Holme Run half marathon and once again came out on top with a superb run of 71:01 despite feeling under the weather, another terrific achievement from the Baddesley man who is clearly going places.