Week Ending - 2019/04/07

CHIPS AWAY FOR RECORD BREAKING BROADHURST

Clean living Glyn Broadhurst did away with chips for two whole months in his fastidious preparations for Sunday’s Manchester marathon where he produced yet another remarkable performance to break the V40 club record for the distance. It was a special day for several reasons, not just his super time of 2:53:50, a personal best, but also the day marked his 43rd birthday. The city holds a special place in Broadhurst’s heart. Like so many other Manchester United supporters, the Wood End man lives nowhere near the place itself but is a long-time follower of the action at Old Trafford and has been a season-ticket holder for many years. His race began at a rare old rattle and blasted through the first half in unchartered PB waters for that distance. As the race wore on, he relied on his famous ability to hang on grimly as tiredness set in and the pace slowed but take nothing away from this feat, it was truly a tremendous piece of gutsy running and fully deserved given his dedication to training in recent months.

Dave Hill was also in action in the same race, striding to an impressive new PB of 3:14:29 while Si Gilbert knocked a similarly large chunk of time off his PB to record an efforst of 3:39:16. Gavin Crockwell powered home in his first attempt at the 26.2 mile distance in a superb 4:26:15 and Darryl Johnson ran 4:40:46. Paul Bruce saw his PB plummet to 4:55 after his London debut while Anne-Marie Matthews ran a solid 6:01:05 and Mandy Hanson showed great determination to battle home in 6:11:32. Over an even longer distance, Jonathan and Emma Vardy both completed the 40 mile Round Coventry Way Challenge in 9 hours 42 minutes and V60 star Bob Lovegrove managed the daunting 80K Shropshire Way race in a staggering time of 15:37.

At the 10-mile Cathedral to Castle race from Lichfield to Tamworth, Adi Payne produced a quality run of 61:44 to take third place in the race with Badgers returnee Leighton Plank rolling back the years in fourth with a quality 62:05. The race produced a plethora of wonderful performances with great times aplenty. Jenna Davies ran 92:38, Lil Souter 88:08, Cameron Barnes 72:03, Wayne Repton 78:39, Mark Cox 66:42, Kerry Clover 93:21, Vikki Smith 1:47:04, Sarah Vine 94:23, Dave Bailey 1:41:59 and one-to-watch Lorna Jackson 90:38. Eamon Thawley stormed home in and a bullish display of powerful finishing which earned the popular hardworking family man a well-deserved 90:38 over the distance.

Neil Clemons ran strongly for his 68:55 with Graham Engley (69:06), Dug Ladkin (74:32), Paul Grubb (93:00), Judy Parkes (94:51), Rob Crow (82:00), Hannah Coogan (99:46) and Ian Orton (77:50) going well. Helena Rean finished third in her age group while Debbie Wilson (1:53:58), Eileen McElhone (2:08:54) and Lisa Barnes (1:51:03) showing just how far they have come since joining the club as relative novices.

Conkers held their annual Run in the Forest 5-mile race on Sunday which saw Chris Baxter head home a number of Badgers. The 30 year old fenestration hygienist ran a superb 27:49 to make the podium in a strong field which included Simon Currier (39:42), seasoned campaigner John Shade (43:12), Stuart Walton and Ann-Marie Currier (both 47:55), Karen Missen (50:40) and the popular Jo James (57:59). Nivette Chester took on the White Horse half marathon, coming home in a speedy 99:27 with husband Richard managing 2:06:54.

At parkrun, Aaron Chetwynd was the highest male finisher with his 2nd place at Gorleston Cliffs in 17:36 and his wife Sarah-Jane hammering out a PB in 24:11 as her running goes from strength to strength. Yvonne Feasey was in action at Brueton while Lesley Palmer featured at Worcester. V60 ace Gail Gunn was in scintillating form at Rother Valley as she swept to s PB time of 28:11, in-form Eamon Thawley ran a brisk 23:53 to lead home team mates Jared Karim and Rich Hill. Becky Kinson and Gavin Crockwell flew the flag at Bedworth while popular club Chairperson and former kick-boxing star Karen Thompson notched up another parkrun performance alongside long-serving Chris Upton.

The remainder of the action was centred on Kingsbury Water Park where the year’s first batch of beginners graduated in fine style in the 5K event there. Buoyed by some strong support across the club, Danny Warren finished 2nd overall in 17:38. Esther Holyoak went one better finishing 1st lady in 22:00 with team-mate Rachael Shelton 19 seconds behind to make it a Badgers 1-2. Graham Engley (20:02) and John Hanson (21:32) continued their excellent form. Lee Millership ran a super 22:33 with Matt Jackson, Wayne Repton, Pete Coogan, John Restall, Colin Lees and David Craig all getting round. Jenna Davies made the top ten ladies with a stunning new PB of 25:31 to bag 9th overall. Other runners included Sharon Jackson, Fiona Meldrum, Stuart Batchelor, Liz Peel, Carl Holyoak, Peter Black, Nicola Stanley, Paul Wallace, Paul Cooper, Terry Argyle and David Bailey. Veteran Alan Argyle marked his 225th appearance while Mark Robinson hit 50 thanks to his run of 33:27. Lil Souter and Judy Parkes were also in action before Andy Smith and Holly Matts finished together in tandem running a shade over 50 minutes apiece.