Week Ending - 2022/12/18

WARREN ACE RUN AT GADDESBY GALLOP

It was a moderately busy week for Badgers despite the atrocious weather putting paid to many local races. At the Gaddesby Gallop, Danny Warren took third place which was a super achievement. To say that the course was difficult would be something of an understatement. Frozen ponds, drainage tunnels, stiles and more kissing gates than you would care to count all lined the 5.25-mile route. With mud and hills too, it really was a lottery out there but one thing’s for certain, Warren, the in-form Badger of the moment would give his all in his quest for success.

In somewhat sunnier climes, Justin Haywood ran the March Corrida Do Pai Natal 9K road race and while the weather was distinctly warmer, the gradients were somewhat hillier, in fact, to say the route was hilly would be something of an understatement. The perma-tanned Portuguese ran 39:01.

Once again there were plenty of runners at the few parkruns that survived the cold snap. You might even go as far as to say that Badgers were out in force at Kingsbury Water Park where a good fifteen or so plucky souls braved the sub-zero temperatures. To say it was freezing would not be far from the truth and with a biting breeze, you could even say that it was the coldest parkrun of the last six months or so, maybe more. One thing is for certain, it wasn’t warm – far from it.

Megan Griffiths somehow managed to run a PB in her 99^th parkrun at the venue. She ran 23:36 to finish the second lady. Heroic. Another hero of mine, Chris Horton, also finished second in a rapid time of 17:53. At the start, you’d have put good money on him finishing somewhere in the top ten, maybe even the top four or five, possibly top two. A win couldn’t be discounted either given his track record lately but ultimately, he was second. Sam Starkey showed some perfect pacing to take 8^th place in 20:00. Sharon Jackson was 6^th lady resplendent in her Santa suit as the festivities made their way to the Water Park along with a boatload of donations for the Crisis charity, helping those in need at Christmas. Matt Green, Sarah Hawkins, Andy Altoft, Jill Miller, Tim Gould, Colin Lees, Adrian Parkes, Neil Thorne, Paul Restall, Matthew Smith and Steve Perry were also in action. Great work.

There was a surprising set of results at Vejen parkrun in Denmark, where Zoe Yeatman achieved the highest finish of her esteemed parkrun career with a second-place female (9^th overall). Her time of 34:10 may not quite have troubled her personal best, but you cannot argue with a top-ten finish on the continent, not one iota. Leesa Dennis ran at Leamington along with Merv Jones, Karen Draper, Eileen McElhone, and Janet Crumpton. Yvonne Faulkner-Grant was the fourth lady at Whittlesey parkrun in 27:47 and Martin Graham (22:03) led the way at Conkers with Lee Millership, Ivana Babicova and Mark Cordiner-Barton following in behind. Super stuff.

Last but by no means least, five Badgers represented Badgers at the inaugural Market Bosworth parkrun, set in Market Bosworth. Most start-ups are low-key affairs in order to negotiate any teething problems but a few hundred turned up on Saturday including the Badger quintet. To say they all ran well would be something of an understatement. In bitterly cold conditions, Mark Repton became the fastest Badger of all time at the venue with 20:57, with brother Wayne (his sibling that is, not a member of the clergy) also running as indeed did Kerry Clover, Holly Smith and Andy Smith. To say the event was a success would also be an understatement, possibly the best parkrun Market Bosworth has ever seen, certainly in my lifetime. Maybe next week will top it, who can say, but one thing is for certain, all those running will be lapping everybody on the couch.