Week Ending - 2023/07/09

SOLID OPERATORS OPERATE SOLIDLY AT DESFORD

The seventh race of the 2023 Leicestershire Road Running League season took place on Sunday in the five-mile Steve Morris 5 race at Desford, a race re-named this year in honour of the host club’s founding father who unexpectedly passed away earlier in the year. Badgers once again provided a good chunk of the sell-out event’s 600-strong field.

Leading the way by some considerable distance was the peerless Matt Scarsbrook who romped home in a phenomenal 25:39, good enough for second place overall in the race, only beaten by the exceptional talent that is Mo Hussein of Roadhoggs. Second back for the club was another solid operator, Dave Hill, who made the top ten in a personal best time of 26:39. This was another terrific effort from the Polesworth flyer who is in the form of his life right now and a massive 50 seconds quicker than his previous best set on a more favourable circuit. In a stacked field, Danny Warren pipped Ryan Preece to 18th place by just two seconds in a high-quality 28:05 before Chris Horton became only the third Badger after Scarsbrook and Hill to achieve a prestigious Diamond County Standard in the race with his wheezy rather than breezy 29:13. 

Mark Repton marked his induction to the men’s vets team with a heroic run in 48th place in 30:36, a terrific run the morning after celebrating his 40th birthday. Adrian Payne chugged back in a brisk 30:47 and Ashley Taylor also made the top 100 with a cracking PB of 32:38. Bill Gutheridge scored vital vets team points with a superb new PB of 34:25 and Luke Bennett looked good as he too dipped under 35 minutes on a muggy morning. Seasoned campaigners Dave Jenkinson and Colin Lees both achieved Silver Standards and Wayne Repton led the vets B-team home. 

Paul Grubb is a veteran of over 40 club league appearances yet strangely had never run a five-mile race before. He well and truly dipped his bread with a quality time of 38:40, nine seconds ahead of the returning Roland Bulgington. Chris Young helped himself to a PB of 39:07 before Dave Purvis, Peter Mann, Adrian Parkes and Adam McElhone all stormed home. Paul Cooper clocked a brilliant new best time of 43:02 with Paul Restall, Rick Reilly, Merv Jones, Ross Kilburn and Kieran Coopey all ran well as did John Devenney who soldiered on through the pain barrier after taking a nasty tumble in the first mile. 

The ladies' team are undergoing something of a renaissance this season, led primarily by the pacy pair of Liberty Underhill and Megan Griffiths. In-form Underhill threw herself headlong into the top twenty with a fabulous run of 35:37, another wonderful performance from one of the finds of the season. Griffiths bagged a big new personal best in 38:04 to make the top 40 females on the day while newcomers Hannah Mayes (38:58) and Beth Woodward (39:16) completed the scoring four with two excellent runs each of which was well under the forty-minute mark, a very much ‘new-look’ top four in a team that can only get better in 2024. Jane Barratt and Jill Miller have also impressed greatly this season and they both completed excellent runs to kick the ladies' vets team off to a good start and they were further strengthened by the welcome return to action of another new veteran, birthday girl Rachael Browne who narrowly pipped her good friend and team vice-captain Sharon Jackson over the line. Jackson’s time of 42:40 was a two-second PB, no wonder she looked strained as the race reached its conclusion.

The experienced Liz Peel was next back in 46:00 with Judy Parkes looking good six seconds further back. Danni Gunn ran another great race in 47:30 and Mandy Stain once again gave 100% in a gutsy run. Averil Caton has surprised many with her displays in these league races, including herself. She was next back for the team followed closely by beginner graduates Hannah Watford and Grace Barsby, both making more than impressive league debuts. Gail Gunn could not keep pace with daughter Danni but still ran a terrific time of 55:17 to take 6th in her age group. 

With the queue for the ice cream van growing, Clare Whetton picked up the pace at the finish and Ivana Babicova also put in a shift as the sun began to poke through the hitherto cloudy skies. Gemma Spencer ran a personal best time of 59:12 and Sarah O’Donoghue stunned onlookers with a PB of 53:31. Kate Rathbone and Fiona Reidy broke the hour mark before Sarah Hawkins, Trudie Cruddas and Juliette Trollope rounded up the action for the club. 

The result leaves the men’s team with a mountain to climb if they are to retain their Division One title. With two races to go, affairs are now out of their hands after OWLS snatched victory at Desford by just 18 places.  

Elsewhere, super-fit Liberty Underhill had a double race weekend, managing a fine 3rd place in the Maverick Cotswolds 15K race in a time of 84:26. Last but by no means least, Mark Cordiner and Lee Talbot combined to complete the arduous 100K Race To The Stones ultra marathon, a marvellous achievement made all the more staggering given the dinsticntly unhelpful weather experienced across the weekend.