Week Ending - 2024/01/14

BADGERS SHINE LIKE THE SUN AT MARTINSHAW CROSS COUNTRY

Brilliant blue skies and a biting cold provided the backdrop for the fourth race of the six series Derby Runner Cross Country League on Sunday with Badgers sending 39 runners to brave the muddy Martinshaw Woods course. 

For the first time in the league this season, Dave Hill found himself knocked off the top spot as triathlete Will Clarke, an Olympian from Beijing 2012 and former World U23 champion, turned up to take the spoils. However, another GB Olympian, fellow triathlete Tim Don who appeared in Sydney and Athens two decades ago was also in action but unable to live with Hill’s outrageous pace, having to settle for third as the Badgers captain took second overall. 

Danny Warren continued his superb start to the season with another top-ten finish, this time in eighth place with the evergreen Neil Russell four spots back in 12th. Russell is running some of the best races of his career right now and his regular inclusion in the side is in no small way responsible for the men’s team’s standing at the top of the table going into 2024. Adrian Payne made the top twenty yet again with another quality performance before key men Glyn Broadhurst and Chris Tweed finished in tandem to ensure the side had their full quota of veterans back in the pen. Cameron Barnes returned to action after a foot injury at Holly Hayes in the previous encounter last November, taking 82nd place with Mark Coggan two spots back ensuring there were key men all over the scoring eight. Jimmy Dewis and Eric Fowler both made the top 100, backed up by the likes of Daves Jackson and Jenkinson, Matt Green, Jim Cottom and Ashley Taylor. 

Chris Young wasn’t far behind ‘T-Dogg’ with Martin Graham, Pete Mann, Simon Currier, Rob Crow and elder statesman Pete Greenfield all giving their best, Matt Smith and Eamon Thawley completed a bumper turnout for the table-topping men. 

The ladies had no trouble in sourcing a capable veteran to make their scoring four up as three-quarters of the top quartet fitted the bill perfectly. In form Suzy Farrell was first back in a wonderful 37th place, seven places up from the captain, Megan Griffiths. Janey Barrett and the inspirational Cheryl Dewis, who ran a peach of a race, all finished high enough up to make the top 70. 

Once again there was back-up galore, the athletic Nicki Bowman leading home a quartet of Badger veterans including Liz Peel who returned to the XC fold after a five-year hiatus, in-form Jill Miller and the pacy Rachael Browne. Grace Barsby has made giant strides since joining the club as a beginner, taking a place in the top 100 with an epic run with Sharon Jackson, Jo Hardy, Judy Parkes and Charlotte Oliver all braving the mud. Finally, Ann-Marie Currier and Jo Davies duked it out to see who could receive the biggest Badger roar of the day. 

With the league race taking centre stage from the majority of runners’ racing plans, there were only a few parkrun efforts to report on. At Colwick Park, Dave Hill made it 21 out of a possible 27 first-place finishes in a twelve-month period, spanning 20 different winning venues no less, with another remarkable display of speed in 18:26, teammate Glyn Broadhurst taking fourth and beating off Gavin McDermott as well as recording a higher wava rating than his pace-rich captain.

Matt Scarsbrook was the fastest of all at the weekend winning Tamworth Castle parkrun in a blistering 15:55 with marathon man Mark Repton coming back nicely in 8th (19:30) after a recent injury. Suzy Farrell was the highest placed female of the weekend with her 2nd place at Bedworth (23:35), while Dave Jenkinson (10th male) and Nivette Chester (3rd lady) both ran well at a testing Kingsbury Water Park.