Week Ending - 2020/08/31

BADGERS OUT IN FORCE AFTER NOT BEING OUT IN FORCE

The final LRRL Lockdown League race of 2020 took place at the weekend with some 23 Badgers taking part in the grand final 10K event. Badgers did not qualify for the final itself after finishing third in their group and had instead to battle it out in the second sub-division of three. That said, there were still individual honours at stake and there was heartbreak for Chris Horton who missed out on taking the V45 series prize by an agonisingly small margin. Having led the field for much of the tournament, the Atherstone man clocked an impressive 36:31 in his race, some two minutes quicker than his first crack at the distance in the curtain raiser back in June. Ironically, this failed to boost his points tally with runner’s best four results from six to count. With many top teams wheeling out their star names for the final, his effort was only good enough to take 30th position overall and as his friend and rival Martin Makin needed a score to replace one of his two more inconsistent performances, the Leicester Coritanians man pulled one out of the bag with a gutsy 36:33 at the eleventh hour, sealing a deserved win overall by the narrow margin of two just points.

Sam Starkey is set for a top ten five finish in the V40 division and his run of 38:40 will do his chances of consolidating his high position no harm whatsoever. Mark Repton returned to the fold after missing the last race and his contribution was yet again enormous. The well-liked vice captain came home in 40:05, once again beating his ever-present elder brother Wayne who managed an excellent 47:28. Dug Ladkin was the next man back in a speedy 43:37, the Austrey based athlete has usurped the legendary Stuart Walton as the fastest Badger in the village. Jet-setting Justin Haywood was welcomed back into racing action and he played a pivotal part in proceedings with a very respectable 43:55. Young run-leader Cameron Barnes has come on leaps and bounds in recent years and here he clocked a brisk 45:30 to score useful points for his side.

His friend and mentor Rachel Crump led the ladies side home in the very same time showing once again what a class act she is when it comes to running. The one time Atherstone Ladies football star finished over six minutes clear of Pip Weston who was next back, an incredible effort especially given as Weston is herself in the mix for an individual honour in her age category. The recently turned V60 star ran a fine 51:51, good enough to secure her a platinum plus standard time, the highest level attainable another magnificent effort from a top quality athlete. Lil Souter has been one of just two ever present ladies throughout this six race campaign and she once again weighed in with another solid performance of 52:26. Jo Hardy continues to impress as she grafted her way to 54:31 with club secretary Judy Parkes back in the points too thanks to her time of 56:29. The iconic Parkes has been a revelation since joining the club on a free transfer from Weightwatchers and this race cemented her status as another ever-present runner in 2020. Cheryl Dewis was the final scoring lady on the day, despite running the exact same time (58:21) as fellow veteran Nicki Bowman. Normally you would expect Bowman had left it fractionally too late to close the gap between the pair but the truth is that Dewis nipped ahead on the line.

Rob Boland is another who has turned out for every race this term and he paid his own special homage to the cancelled Atherstone 10K race by selecting a hilly route for his attempt. The giant striding Birmingham City fan finished his race in an admirable 46:09. There was another Rob in action too, one minute and thirty three seconds back in 47:42 but the similarities didn’t end there. Oh no. Rob Crow is another Badger to have completed every race and not only that, like Boland, he is tall and supports Birmingham City. Sandwiched in between these two stout clubmen lay Ashley “T-Dogg” Taylor, a man who has battled through some traumatic times even prior to these most traumatic of traumatic times. The Warton Wonder as he is known locally got round in a decent time of 46:18, just ahead of workhorse Matt Green (46:30) who once again showed what a determined soul he is. Ian Orton has recently taken on the task of filling Dave Bailey’s boots with the contents of Dave Bailey’s boot and he sped round in a 47:28 thanks to some quality pacing from Colin Lees who did not enter.

Keyworker Jo Davies made the cut with her embattled run of 59:29 and veteran Dave Buck made his 2020 debut in 59:40, breaking the hour mark with time to spare. One of the heroes of race 5 returned to action – Lesley Palmer clocking 69:47 in her attempt while Teresa Satchell ran one of her quickest 10K’s ever a few seconds ahead in 69:36. Final confirmed results are expected in the following few days but spare a thought for speedster Matt Scarsbrook who ran a blisteringly quick 34:05, only to have his performance nullified for falling foul of the net downhill gradient rule, he was ultimately the quickest Badger of the weekend but his efforts were in vain.