Week Ending - 2024/05/05

JIMMY IS THE NEW MILE KING

On 5th May 2014, John Hanson set a Badgers V50 club record for the one-mile distance with a pacy 6:14 at the Massey May Day Mile, a race won that year by club chairperson Danny Warren no less. But fast forward to May 3rd 2024, almost a decade later, and Jimmy Dewis catapulted himself into the record books with a storming effort of 5:55 at the Ealing Mile race in West London. The Atherstone-based former semi-professional footballer is no stranger to club records, having held both the marathon and 5K titles up until last year but on Friday lunchtime, he joined his wife Cheryl, who holds the same record in the ladies' division, as King of the Mile. 

Elsewhere, Anna Savin-Baden was part of a relay team in the Belfast marathon, running her 11-mile leg in just over two hours. And at parkrun, Averil Caton celebrated her 100th appearance at Kingsbury Water Park where Chris Tweed (19:35) and Rachael Browne (25:47) both made the top ten with fifth and sixth places respectively. Krystal Knight ran a superb new PB of 28:12, a minute off her old best. 

Mark Cox finished a fine third at Hastings High School in 19:41 and Chris Horton ran his first parkrun since November taking third at Coventry in 17:36, the highest Badgers wava of the morning with over 83%.  Mark Repton took 8th at Tamworth while Glyn Broadhurst (20:01) and Meg Griffiths (25:01) finished 4th and 3rd in gender categories over at Nant Y Pandy, north Wales. 

Holly Smith made the top ten at Holbrooks parkrun as did Suzy Farrell at Beacon Hill in 25:50, a race won by Olympian Meghan Beesley no less. Jo Hardy and Joanne Crow also made the top ten at Babbs Mill. Last but not least, at Aston Hall parkrun, Matt Green finished 6th in 22:41 and Jane Barrett 3rd in 25:17 as the club looks forward to back-to-back league races this weekend, beginning with the West End 8 on Sunday followed by the Bosworth Half Marathon a week later.