Week Ending - 2023/06/04
MAGIC MATT IS AT IT AGAIN!
Matt Scarsbrook continued his excellent 2023 form with a brilliant second-place finish at a super stacked Swithland 6 race this morning. He ran an unbelievable 30:19 for six miles and finished top league athlete of the pile for the third race in succession, beaten only by the incomparable guest runner Frank Baddick, a 2:15 marathoner from the same club as Mo Farah no less, and set a huge new personal best too by almost a minute. LRRL 2021 series winner Tom Mahon finished just under a minute back in third, a further indication of how Scarsbrook has been improving over recent seasons. As a Birchfield Harrier in the first instance, the Baddesley man cannot now qualify for club records at Badgers, which is probably just as well as it is unlikely anyone would ever get near them now! However, he did hold the club’s six-mile record of 33:42 set at a ridiculously hilly and hot Launde 6 race back in 2021 and this mark was toppled not once but twice by runners other than Scarsbrook on Sunday as scores of Badgers showed up for race five of the nine-race season. As 10th male in the race in 32:36, Hill once again showed his versatility over a range of events he already excels at by adding the six-mile record to the four others he holds at various distances up to the marathon.
Spare a thought for club stalwart Danny Warren, however. Nobody has represented the club more than the 36-year-old Baddesley man and he would have bagged the record for himself had Hill not gone quicker moments before. Warren’s 33:21 was still a big new personal best nonetheless and deserved reward for a man well and truly in a rich vein of form right now. With the talismanic Ryan Preece withdrawing at the start of the race, veteran aces Chris Horton and Neil Russell stepped up to the plate to help fill the void. In his 8th Swithland 6 race, 48-year-old Horton ran a course best time of 34:18 to make the top thirty overall while team-mate Russell went even better by recording a super new personal best of 34:38 despite being in his mid-forties, a truly exceptional effort.
Chris Tweed rounded up the scoring six making it a trio of veterans to go along with the trio of relative youngsters up top. The Dordon man is in such good form this year that every race over a new distance is almost a guaranteed personal best and here he delivered the goods yet again with a quality performance of 36:19 to edge out veteran-in-waiting Adrian Payne by a single second. Mark Repton (37:31) and Sam Starkey (38:59) both achieved silver standards with good runs, and they were backed up more than ably by Ashley Taylor, Bill Gutheridge, Matt Green, and newcomer Luke Bennett who impressed on debut. Taylor smashed his PB with a classic canter around the reservoir while the experienced Green bagged a rare new PB of his own thanks to a hard-fought time of 42:05.
Wayne Repton was another aboard the PB train while veterans Stefan Martin and Colin Lees also managed to claim silver standards thanks to their impressive efforts. Also going well were run-leader Lee Talbot and a revitalised David “DC” Craig, another notching silver. Martin Graham was next through in 47:07, the same time as Dave Purvis with Rob Crow running another excellent race.
Mick Bailey is no stranger to club records as the holder of five already over different age groups and distances. He beat John Shade’s old record set at the Rugby 6 in 2021 with his superb run of 47:59. Adam McElhone and Chris Young both achieved new personal bests for the distance while Peter Mann rolled back the years in 48:38. Andy Altoft, Adrian Parkes, John Devenney, Ross Kilburn and Paul Cooper all competed for the men too.
The ladies had one of their best turnouts this season with some twenty-five athletes giving their best at the scenic Leicestershire venue. For the second race in succession, Liberty Underhill led the side home, this time in an impressive time of 43:41 to ease her way into the top forty overall. Her improvement this season has been something to behold and along with Megan Griffiths who clocked a fine 45:57 (PB), the pacy pair have helped rejuvenate the fortunes of a side that were in decline. They were joined in the top one hundred by another new signing in 2023, Beth Woodward, who ran another quality race in 47:29 (PB). Jane Barrett made some entrance into the fray. In her first league race for the club, she parachuted straight in as a scoring female with a wonderful debut run of 48:43, enabling her to score a rare hat-trick of accumulating points for the women’s A team, the women’s vets A-team as well as the club mixed team.
In form vice-captain Sharon Jackson continued her great season with a course best of 49:24 just behind the speedy Jill Miller who went 15 seconds quicker. Hannah Mayes is certainly one to watch, a graduate of the club’s beginner programme at the start of the year, she has thrown herself headfirst into the cut and thrust of the league races and emerged back with a points haul for the ladies B team in 49:51. Judy Parkes and Jo Davies were next through before Alicia Gutheridge made it two PB’s in as many weeks with her time of 56:50. Half marathon and marathon ace Liz Peel dropped down in distance for the day finishing just ahead of an improving Averil Caton who earned herself a PB of 57:28, an unthinkable achievement for her some years earlier. Sarah O’Donoghue came back just over the hour mark with debutante Danni Wood a few steps behind. Fritz Loma ran a PB (60:44) and Sarah Vine made it seven out of eight standard times for the season with her run alongside Paul Cooper.
The experienced Anne Devenney helped herself to a course best as well as bragging rights at home as first Devenney back in the race. Kate Rathbone and Gemma Spencer both acquired PB’s while Ivana Babicova treated onlookers to an epic sprint finish (which she won) before Karen Draper, ever-present Clare Whetton, Trudie Cruddas, Fiona Reidy, and Sara Hawkins rounded up a fantastic morning for the club, some 55 Badgers finishing, more than any other club.
The 8.5-mile Sutton Fun Run took place with Jim Cottom and Rachael Browne running 61 and 71 minutes, respectively. There was a raft of action at parkrun on Saturday with Matt Green and Colin Lees both coincidentally celebrating their 250th parkruns at Kingsbury Water Park, both wonderful milestones and in Green’s case, especially impressive given the number of volunteer stints he has managed in between all the runs. Dave Hill led the way home finishing first overall in 18:25 and Megan Griffiths had a great run as second female. Rick Reilly dipped below 30 minutes for the first time, a great effort from another of the club’s beginners' scheme. Paul Grubb turned in a season’s best 23:11 and Sam Starkey made the top ten in 20:29.