Week Ending - 2019/05/26

BAXTER IN TOP FORM AT BEESTON TRENT 5

Badgers ace Chris Baxter was back from holiday and straight back into the thick of things as he starred in the fast-paced Beeston Trent 5 race near Nottingham. He clocked the fastest ever 5-mile time of his career in the race that runs alongside the river Trent for part of its course and finished on the podium in 3rd spot overall in a fabulous 27:44. Yvonne Faulkner was another running a five miler in the week as she turned out at the Ryton 5 in Coventry, managing a time of 43:51. The Rugby 6 took place this week and half a dozen Badgers made the trip down the A5 to take part. Keir Hardy was first home by some margin in 39:40 with the race-mad Yvonne Faulkner first lady back in 51:19. Kerry Clover performed well in 52:51 just behind Jo Hardy who ran a terrific PB in 52:42. Jo Davies ran a very respectable 53:25 before veteran boffin Maggi Savin-Baden rounded up the action in 55:51. Richard Hill was in action at the London Vitality 10K and emerged back with a quality 55:25 in a big field. Rachael Shelton ran the Liverpool Rock And Roll Half Marathon in 1:47:00, a wonderful effort from her and Andy Smith and Holly Matts both got round safely at the Buxton half marathon in 2:31:24 while going further still both geographically and distance wise, Sarah Vine and Alan Argyle took on the Edinburgh marathon and came home in 4:30, another great achievement from the popular pair.

Parkrun saw plenty of action over the Bank Holiday weekend. Bedworth saw a rare Badgers 1-2 as Chris Horton and Neil Russell dominated proceedings from the off. Horton was first back in 18:07 with fellow veteran Russell close behind in 18:15. As a result, Horton extended his record of top ten finishes to 143 but if his record is impressive, team-mate Russell’s is better still. The Bulkington based flier who has been a crucial part of this season’s cross-country winning men’s team, has incredibly never finished lower than second in any of his parkruns to date! Lil Souter was sixth female back overall in 25:50 with V60 star Gail Gunn another who went well in 29:43. Paul Cooper ran determinedly to break 30 minutes for the very first time, managing an excellent return of 29:49. Popular club Chairperson Karen Thompson and new Club Secretary Jenna Davies also running along with Bedworth stalwart Richard Hamblett.

There were PB’s aplenty at the new Kingsbury Water Park circuit. Sam Starkey was back in the groove running a rapid 18:11 (PB) for 3rd male overall. Matt Tonks edges closer to his best with another decent run of 18:27 while the fast-improving Mark Repton showed his credentials with a PB of 19:03. Neil Clemons was one place and five seconds adrift of Repton in 19:08, enough to earn the tall strider a PB. Dave Jackson rolled back the years in 19:20 with Matt Green, Jake Bradford, Colin Lees, John Hanson and Bill Gutheridge also flying. Lee Millership has taken more time off his best in recent months than we can remember, and he added to that stat again on Saturday as he lowered his PB to a brilliant 22:12. Other runners included Matt Jackson (no relation), Peter Coogan, David Craig, John Dulson, Darryl Johnson, the steed of speed Gavin Crockwell and Wayne Repton. Sharon Jackson (relation) was first lady back for the club and 10th in the field in 23:44 (PB) and Katy Clemons was another to smash her best running 23:49. Rachael Shelton, Evie Whitehead, Fiona Meldrum, Amanda Gould, Liz Peel and Leesa Dennis also ran as did Ashley Taylor making a welcome return after months out recuperating from a broken back sustained in a freak accident last autumn. Merv Jones, Pete Boardman, Dave Bailey, Harry Chesters, Teresa Satchell, John Restall, Mandy Hanson, Vikki Smith, Paul Wallace, rising star Peter Black and Lesley Palmer also attended.

Chris Baxter recorded the fastest time of all Badgers at Conkers running a superb 16:48 to finish second ahead of teammates Paul Grubb and Kerry Clover who herself added a new 5K PB to her repertoire (25:55). Richard Hill was the sole Badger at Brueton Park and Stuart Walton loomed large at Trelissick, Cornwall. Matt Heap ran 26:05 at Wolverhampton and Alan Argyle flew the flag at Portobello parkrun. Birthday girl Maggi Savin-Baden travelled to Lanhydrock in the south west with daughter Anna to run there while closer to home, Adam McElhone and daughter Lucy ran at Perry Hall. Michael Bailey ran a quality 23:19 at Burnham on Sea while Charlotte Phillips was in action at Leamington. Rosliston saw Cameron Barnes in excellent form as he finished 11th with Chris Upton and Lisa Barnes also getting the trip. At Sutton Park, Graham Engley led the way in 20:47 with the hard-grafting Eamon Thawley (25:17) and Paul Restall (29:02) also hitting new heights. At Tetbury Goods Shed parkrun, Glyn Broadhurst finished in an admirable 3rd place in 20:35 while Nicki Bowman was first female Bager back, characteristically later than Glyn, in 36:04.