Week Ending - 2024/01/28

HILL CONTINUES HIS AMAZING FORM

Just a week after setting a new Badgers half marathon record, Polesworth’s Dave Hill was at it again, this time eclipsing the Badgers imperious ten-mile club record at the speedy Boddington 10 race in Gloucestershire. The men’s co-captain was in a determined mood to cash in on his current form, the result of a sustained period of marathon training, increased mileage and the confidence of achieving goals on a seemingly weekly basis. When he crossed the line on the flat, fast course near Cheltenham, his time (53:30) was over half a minute inside his already thoroughly impressive best and even beat Matt Scarsbrook’s outstanding record set at the Great South Run three years ago in 2021. The time earned him eighth place in the race and with it an unparalleled 22nd club record. For a while, Hill was comfortably the fastest runner in the club without a record and now he has eight more than the next highest on the list, V40 ace Chris Horton with 14. He also bagged yet another first place at parkrun the day before, winning well at Northampton University in 16:57. 

Ultra runner and Hill’s predecessor as Captain, Mark Cox tackled the 50-mile Arc of Attrition point-to-point race along the Cornish coast, encountering a combination of 10,000 feet of elevation, stunning scenery and some unhelpful offshore wind. In a race not for the faint-hearted or bumbling amateur, the Stoke Golding powerhouse battered his way into the top ten men on the day with a jaw-dropping time of 9:44:03. Another monumental achievement from the hard-hitting floor-fitting phenomenon. 

Closer to home in another demanding race, Chris Tweed and Adi Payne crossed the finish line hand-in-hand at the Leicestershire Three Peaks trail race, clocking a superb 2:15:45 to take a magnificent fourth and fifth place on the day, whilst teammate Dave Jenkinson took 30th in 2:54:55 and Vicki Brunsdon finishing first female Badger on the day in 4:14. 

Parkrun saw a raft of action once again on the Saturday morning, with highlights including a fine fifth place for Laura Starkey at Shipley. Jane Barrett and Mark Repton both enjoyed top ten finishes at Sutton and Tamworth respectively while Lee Millership was first Badger back at Kingsbury where Jill Miller and Sharon Jackson both finished in the top ten ladies. 

Peter Mann and Fiona Reidy celebrated a fine half-century of parkruns at East Park, Wolverhampton with Pip Weston rolling back the years to finish fourth female in 26:46. At Tamworth Castle, there was another double celebration as Chris Young stormed his way to a big personal best in 21:36 and Paul Restall clocked up his 250th parkrun appearance, one of the highest in the history of the club. Mark Repton (19:37), Megan Griffiths (23:00) and the pacy Beth Woodward (23:28) all bagged top ten finishes too, to round up a quality morning’s work.