Week Ending - 2020/01/05

TIM GOULD OUT IN FORCE AT KINGBURY PARKRUN COURSE

Doing the parkrun double on New Year’s Day did not dampen the enthusiasm of the club’s many members as a whopping 77 runners turned out on Saturday for their weekly 5K fix with many looking to secure season’s best performances. However, parkruns do not simply happen by themselves and it takes a solid effort from a team of volunteers to bring the events to bear. One such individual is Badgers own Tim Gould who chalked up a fabulous 100^th volunteering stint this weekend as he set the course up early doors before joining the fun and finishing in a very impressive 21:25. Ahead of him was the in-form Dave Hill who ran a quality 18:15 in the mud to finish second behind up and coming Tamworth AC star Peter Hackett. Mark Repton took a fine fifth in 19:32 and Matt Jackson edged out Sam Starkey to take the final spot in the top ten by five seconds as he sped home in 20:15. Former men’s skipper Carl Holyoak ran a class 21:50 with Cameron Barnes, Jack Reynolds and David Craig all powering round. Lee Millership broke 24 minutes once again alongside veteran Mick Bailey and Wayne Repton.

Robert Lovegrove weighed in with a quality 24:01, Paul Wallace 24:46 before the ladies piled through in their droves. The rapid Sharon Jackson took 5^th female in 24:29 with Esther Holyoak showing her finesse ahead of the effervescent Rachael Shelton who also made the top ten ladies. Lil Souter, Liz Peel, Jo Davies, Felicity Gray, Kay & Evie Whitehead and Amanda Gould all stormed home with Lisa Barnes, Sarah Reynolds and Jenny Davies all doing well. For the men, Darryl Johnson, Dean Bowd, Peter Black, Dave Bailey and John Hanson all got round as did Mark Reynolds, Jason Husselbee-Orwin and Bill Gutheridge. Mark Robinson clocked 35:13 and Debbie Wilson returned after an injury lay off in 33:51. Vikki Smith, Sarah O’Donoghue, Teresa Satchell, Nicola Orton and Vicki Fowler all got round in one piece. Mandy Hanson got back in 39:10 with Teresa Buck rounding the action up behind her.

At Babbs Mill, Colin Lees finished in a career high 8^th place with his storming effort of 22:53 with fellow veteran Adam McElhone pushing him round a few places back. Key man Glyn Broadhurst took 5^th place at Chipping Norton School in 20:51 with Nicola Bowman making 28:37. Bedworth parkrun saw a throng of Badgers marauding round led every step of the way by new boy Paul Hadland who ran 24:40. He was followed home by Ashley “T-Dogg” Taylor, Gail Gunn, Gavin Crockwell, the genial Maggi Savin-Baden, Mick Judd and Sue Thould. At Chasewater, Graham Engley took 13^th spot with his run of 20:14 while one-time marathon star Karen Missen kept plugging away with her 168^th parkrun. Conkers saw Ann-Marie Currier heading back to her best after an injury ravaged 2019. The ladies vice captain looked imperious once again as she glided round stylishly, showing the way for her colleagues Alan Argyle, Sarah Vine, Simon Currier and Paul Grubb.

Dug Ladkin flew round again, this time at Black Park near Slough, the veteran star took the tape in 20:32 with Alex Ladkin following in mid-field. Charlotte Phillips performed at Leamington and Matt Green went well in 16^th spot at Shorne Woods. Holly Smith and Andy McClay went to Daventry and husband and wife duo John & Anne Devenney took on the challenging Sutton Park course. Eamon Thawley and Yvonne Faulkner both managed the Pont y Bala parkrun in Wales. Finally, Karen Thompson was once again in scintillating form as she romped to another quality finish at Brueton. She set a course best time of 28:25 as the club’s queen of marathon running showed her versatility over a much shorter distance. She was pushed every inch of the way by the pacy Clare Whetton and the improving Zoe Cope. Leesa Dennis was another to feature as indeed was the legendary Merv Jones.

Away from the cut and thrust of parkrun, jet-setting Justin Haywood made waves at the San Silvestre 8K race in Portugal. One of the key men behind Tamworth based charity Simon’s Heroes, popular Haywood took an impressive 44^th place out of a field in excess of 600 with team mate Ron Mahoney nowhere to be seen. He crossed the line in 33:22 and was not only the first Brit back in the race but finished third in his age group too. The indomitable Liz Peel completed her 71^st marathon and first of the new decade, this time at Caldecotte Lake in Milton Keynes and Badgers kit supremo Dave Bailey ran a quality 58:59 in the Sherwood Pines 10K near Nottingham.