Week Ending - 2022/11/06

REPTON RUMBLES ON AND RELAY TEAMS RACE IN THE BLEAK DERBY NIGHT

Mark Repton’s quest to become the first Badger to complete all six of the World Major marathons took another step towards completion at the weekend as he crossed an incredibly warm New York marathon off his to-do list. Already a member of the sub-three club, Dosthill-based Repton found the humidity and heat too much to produce a super quick time by his standards but still got around the 26.2-mile course in Manhattan in a very respectable 3:27:37. With four now safely in the bag, he begins looking towards 2023 and tackling Tokyo and Chicago to complete the set of classics.

The Derbyshire-based Peak Running 2022/3 Starlight Relays opened their season at Markeaton Park with teams of four relaying their way around an unlit off-road circuit in the name of competition. Badgers have won the three-race series previously and were poised to do so last season only to be scuppered by illness at the final hurdle meaning they were unable to field a team for the last race.

Here, Danny Warren got his quartet off to a dream start with a bullet run of 11:01 over the two-mile course and set his side up with a thirty-three second lead when handing the baton over to Polesworth man Dave Hill. In a race that saw the lead change repeatedly, Hill, battling with injury produced a brave run of 12:06 but was up against one of the two runners that ran blistering individual legs way quicker than everyone else in the field, meaning that Ryan Preece had ground to make up in third spot. The pugnacious Preece weighed in with a super leg of 11:29 but with the virgin ground now resembling more of a quagmire and lapped runners providing unwelcome obstacles to negotiate, his run was good enough to consolidate a healthy third place overall, but the team were now some 41 seconds adrift of the side immediately in front. He passed the baton to anchor leg specialist Chris Horton, a late substitution for Badgers speed king Matt Scarsbrook, and he charged out of the traps. Halfway round his lap, he caught sight of Belper Harriers’ anchor man a way off in the distance and with a measured yet hugely determined effort, he closed the gap, eventually passing his rival in the final 150 metres to take second place for his team by just three seconds.

Badgers other foursome saw a disease-ridden Dave Jackson, beset with ankle anxieties, defying the odds to bravely kick off his team’s crack at the title. The pacy veteran beat off almost the entire field bar half a dozen or so in his opening lap before Chris Tweed powered his way round the two-mile course in double quick time. Cameron Barnes shot out of the blocks like a sprint star and clocked a brilliant 12:24 before Sam Starkey produced the best leg of all in the least favourable conditions with a belting 12:21 to earn his side a fine sixth place overall.

Danny Warren continued his great form into the weekend in race two of the Peak District Autumn Trail Series at Bradfield. Following up his super victory in race in event one, the Baddesley man ran a spirited 68:39 over the tricky ten-mile course to take second spot in the race and leave him top of the pile in the overall standings with one race to go. Unfortunately, being the ultimate team man, he will likely miss this race due to a clash with the club’s opening cross country league fixture. One time Badgers poster boy Adrian Payne was also in excellent shape at the race, coming home two places behind his friend, near-neighbour, and teammate Warren, in 73:00, one place off the podium.

Chris Horton ran his third race of the week at the re-vamped Chelmsley Wood based Centurion Grand Prix series. After a Covid enforced two-and-a-half-year break from the calendar, the popular off road five mile race recommenced with the Atherstone dad taking fifth place overall in the first of a series of six and banking some more prizemoney thanks to his veteran status in a class time of 28:48. He was made to work hard for his success mind as for the second time that week, his advantage was a mere three seconds over the runner immediately behind him.

Shepshed saw their annual seven-mile race go ahead over the old course for possibly the final time with proposed housing developments still on the horizon. Jim Stilgoe ran 52:50 to be first Badger back with Nivette Chester and Stephanie White running together in 62:11.

The Snowdonia marathon took place last week with four Badgers grafting in proper tough mountainous conditions, both weather and gradient wise. Jim Stilgoe was the first of the quartet back in 4:07:21 with the likeable Southend fan Matt Green earning a good time of 4:19:44. Club founder Nivette Chester bagged a quality time of 4:24:22 and her successor as club chair Karen Thompson, runner of over one hundred marathons managed 5:35:37.

At Badgers home parkrun in Kingsbury Water Park, gloomy weather failed to dissuade members from attending the 400^th version of the event en masse, with runners and volunteers from the club aplenty. Leading the way once again was the stalwart veteran duo of Chris Horton and Glyn Broadhurst. The pair have underpinned many a league winning campaign in both road racing and cross country over the years and here they showed their finesse over testing ground with dominant, solid performances. Horton took his 26^th first place finish at the Water Park in 18:24 with fellow key man Broadhurst a comfortable second in 18:52, the only two sub-nineteen runs of the morning. A resurgent Aaron Chetwynd was narrowly run out of third place by a young youth towards the finish, having to settle for a gutsy fourth in 19:04. Dave Hill managed a fine 19:45 in sixth despite an ongoing back problem. Bill Gutheridge and Tim Gould both made the top twenty while Nicki Bowman was the quickest Badger lady in 13^th place, closely followed by the pacy Jill Miller.

At Babbs Mill, Dave Jackson produced a spirited show to take the silver medal position in a course best 19:13, agonisingly ten seconds shy of what would have been an historic win. The effervescent asparagus soup guzzling king of thrift did, however, leapfrog birthday boy Colin Lees to move to fifth in the overall Badgers wava ratings at the Chelmsley Wood venue. Lees himself was among the first to congratulate Jackson on his momentous achievement after finishing in 22:52 (11^th place) while Suzy Farrell took third in 26:40 to become the highest placed female Badger of the whole weekend. Ashley T-Dogg Taylor tackled the tricky Rosliston parkrun and inserted himself inside the top ten men with a battling 22:34.