Week Ending - 2022/12/04

BADGERS BEAT OFF OPPOSITION AT SHIPLEY

Badgers sent two teams over to Shipley Park, Derby last week for the second instalment of the three-race Starlight Relays series and thanks to some amazing running from star man Danny Warren, the men’s A team leapt to the top of the table with one race now left to go.

The first race saw the side narrowly sneak into second on the night by the slender margin of just three seconds but here the result was far more pronounced. Skipper Warren led the way yet again establishing a good early lead for his team which they showed no signs of relinquishing as the race wore on. Dave Hill, thankfully now over the worst of his back problem produced a solid effort before handing on to the pugnacious Ryan Preece who matched Hill for pace on his leg. With Matt Scarsbrook a late casualty for the event, Warren assumed full leadership responsibility and took the baton himself for a heroic second lap. With just over twenty minutes recovery time from leg one, the Baddesley man was somehow able to go ten seconds quicker the second time around, bagging himself the third and fifth fastest laps of the race and taking his team to the top spot both on the night and overall. With a two-point lead established over their closest rivals, who were around three-quarters of a minute adrift, it is Badgers series to lose at the closing Calke Abbey round.

The quartet of Dave Jackson, Chris Tweed, Cameron Barnes and Sam Starkey also enjoyed an excellent race taking sixth spot on the night, a result which moves them up to fifth in the standings overall.

At the Maverick Dark Series in Oxfordshire, Adrian Payne bounced back to form with a quality third-place finish in the 11K middle distance event, running an excellent 47:43, which saw Pip Weston finish first V60 female in a marvellous 70:34. Dave Jenkinson was in it for the long haul and ran 2:04 for the half marathon distance to end up third V50 male in that event. Emma Masser ran the gruelling 22-mile Worcester Ring race.

The first Barry Ewington memorial charity 5K took place at the Pingles in Nuneaton at the weekend with Bill Gutheridge breaking 20 minutes for the distance with a PB of 19:42. He was not the only Badger setting a new best as Fiona Reidy stormed home in 28:13, the fastest 5K of her career. Megan Griffiths (51:59) and Rachael Shelton (53:11) both ran well in the Chasewater-based Christmas Pudding Dash which saw John and Anne Devenney emerge back as the first Badger husband and wife finishers.

Parkrun saw a host of action across the region and beyond with three first-place finishes to boot. At East Park, Wolverhampton, the speedy Starkey’s were showing their pace with Laura taking the spoils as first lady in 22:56, good enough for a top ten place overall. One of the nine ahead of her was husband Sam who clocked a brisk time of 20:10 to bag seventh position in a strong field. Babbs Mill saw a good turnout of eight Badgers with Matt Green leading the race initially but sadly unable to hang on to the finish. The giant striding pseudo-Dane still took a super fifth spot with a good time of 21:20. Also in the top ten was Colin Lees who ran 23:10 in ninth place but Suzy Farrell was the undoubted star of the morning with her run of 25:57, fast enough to earn her the accolade of first female overall. Jo Hardy, Adam McElhone, Adrian Parkes, Kerry Clover and Jo Davies all ran inside 30 minutes.

At Kingsbury Water Park, Chris Horton strolled to the 50^th parkrun win of his career in 18:47 with teammate Glyn Broadhurst once again close behind in 19:12. The two veteran aces have now constituted a Badgers 1-2 in three of the last four outings at the water park, a terrific feat. Rising star Megan Griffiths was second lady back in 24:08 and Martin Graham managed a career-high 7^th place overall with a good run of 21:46. On slippy ground Bill Gutheridge made the early running and battled well to take tenth place in 22:10. David Craig, Wayne Repton, Liz Peel, birthday boy Steve Perry, Jill Miller, Paul Wallace, Nicki Bowman, Vikki Smith, Ivana Babicova and Sharon Whitehead were among the others notching up another 5K Saturday morning run.

Andy and Holly Smith clocked up their 100^th different parkrun venue with a trip out to the Forest of Dean. Holly took 7^th lady in 29:58 with Anne-Marie Matthews and Claire Bradford also accompanying them. John and Anne Devenney ran 33:18 at Beacon parkrun in Lichfield and Cameron Barnes flew the Badgers flag at Conkers.

Elsewhere, Teresa Satchell and Sarah O’Donoghue stared at Walsall with Gail Gunn (Temple Newsam), and Ashley Taylor and Yvonne Faulkner-Grant both running at Lydiard parkrun. Rugby parkrun welcomed five Badgers, namely Karen Draper, Leesa Dennis, Merv Jones, Eileen McElhone and Janet Crumpton. Florence and Mark Parkinson were in action at Shrewsbury and Paul Restall went well at Chasewater. Last but not least was the rapid Rachael Shelton who became the fastest Badger of all time over the Osterley circuit in Surrey with her time of 25:47.