Week Ending - 2021/08/08

MATT’S JOY CAN HOLD NO BOUNDS AS RECORDS TUMBLE

Badgers in-form flying machine Matt Scarsbrook led his team of 40 home in quite remarkable style at the second LRRL race of the truncated 2021 season, the Joy Cann 5 race at Huncote. A stellar field assembled in pleasant but slightly humid conditions for one of the most popular races on the circuit and the only evening fixture of the five-race league this year.

A fast downhill first mile is followed by a gentle climb before a flat three miles back to the finish. Scarsbrook was in the mix at the sharp end of the race early on and stayed in contention for most of the remainder, crossing the line in fourth with a magnificent time of 26:18. However, due to the fact that races are now rolling starts to encourage more spatial distancing at the beginning when runners are massed together, chip times rather than gun times are used to determine places and as a consequence of such, Scarsbrook found himself occupying joint third place overall, just eleven seconds behind race winner Tom Mahon from Wreake Runners. This was the very first time a Badger has made the podium as it were on a road league race and in addition, the club record was lowered by over a minute in the process.

Second man home, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, was Chris Horton, who managed a remarkable 28:13 in 16^th place, just two seconds shy of what would have been a Platinum County standard time and narrowly outside his V40 club record. Like his teammate before him, the veteran athlete had to settle for Diamond instead, a feat equalled by fellow key man, Glyn Broadhurst whose rich vein of form continues with a PB time of 29:22 at the age of 45. Despite conceding several years in age, he was able to beat off former men’s team captain Adrian Payne by just six seconds, the birthday boy celebrating early himself with a richly deserved personal best of his own by well over a minute.

Danny Warren made light of a back problem to cruise round in under 30 minutes with the hard-hitting Mark Cox going superbly well in 31:32. Carl Savage unsurprisingly ran a PB, this time in 33:14 as the Alvecote workhorse continues to improve with every outing. There was a best too for Cameron Barnes in 33:33, cheered on by his proud parents and Ashley Taylor went speedily through in 35:20 with Matt Green and Bill Gutheridge both pleased with their runs as like many others, they made a return to race action after a significant period away. Dave Jenkinson turned 50 not long ago but rather than slow down, the Atherstone man is noticeably speeding up. Here he showed a great turn of pace to record a 5-mile PB of 36:15. Dave Grant was next back before Peter Mann ran an epic 37:05, a new V60 club record, his second record in successive races. New boy Richard Price crossed next before the experienced Rob Crow helped himself to a hard fought PB of 38:12, a tremendous achievement. Fellow vet Mick Bailey ran his first ever five-mile race, not that you would have guessed as he produced another polished performance. Lee Millership finished strongly in 39:13 and Wayne Repton also broke the 40-minute barrier as did the impressive Adrian Parkes in his first LRRL campaign proper.

Andy Smith, not to be confused with Andy Smith, ran well with newcomer Andrew Altoft heading home runners including Paul Restall, and the tireless Merv Jones. John Shade (43:42) has been on the Leicestershire running scene since the 1970’s and ran his best race (age adjusted) since 1994 incredibly. Now in his mid-70’s, the Burbage based runner almost eclipsed his own V70 club record set a few years ago, a quite remarkable feat from a man keen to compete while he still can, like so many others after spending over a year in the wilderness. Paul Cooper ran 46:03, a big PB for the recently turned V40 man, arguably his best race of his career so far.

The ladies were in action too and first back was new speedy signing Laura Bingham who once more turned a few heads with a pacy performance of 39:20, the only female to break 40 minutes. Vice-captain Nicki Bowman dug deep for her 41:08 to once again get in the points with Sarah Reynolds flying round in a superb 41:48, a revelatory effort. Emma Masser battled hard as ever in 43:00 to become the club’s fourth and final counter before Pip Weston got back, narrowly missing out on usurping Helena Rean’s top quality V60 club record.

Club stalwart and top local chiropodist Leesa Dennis ran 44:26 ahead of Hannah Craig who is now firmly back on the comeback trail. Caroline Smith managed 46:40 and the improving Karen Draper produced yet another run of complete contrast to her performances of yesteryear with a time of 47:59. Steph Attenborough dipped under 50 minutes with Jo Davies, Fiona Reidy, Fiona Hutton and five-mile debutante Sarah O’Donoghue all getting plenty of encouragement at the end. The inspirational and determined Sarah Vine rounded up the action as she continues her long battle back towards full fitness after a truly torrid twelve months.