Week Ending - 2024/05/12

MATTS' TURKISH DELIGHT

Fresh back off the plane from his warm weather training camp in Turkey, Baddesley-based Badgers ace Matt Scarsbrook led his club to success at Syston on Sunday in the Leicestershire Road Running League race, the West End 8. The 27-year-old may have seen his beloved Birmingham City relegated to League One but there was no moping around in this race as he shot out of the blocks to establish a lead which continued to grow all the way to the line. When he took the tape 41 minutes and 56 seconds after the start, he not only won the race but his winning margin was over a minute and a half ahead of second place and his time was nearly two and a half minutes quicker than his Badgers club record for the distance set in 2021, a measure of just how much he has improved in recent seasons. 

The hot weather did not help the large Badger contingent gain many personal bests but there were still plenty of super efforts as both Dave Hill (46:06) and Ryan Preece (46:24) made the top ten, the co-captains leading by example once again with some genuine graft. Neil Russell is in the form of his life and now sits within three points of leading the V45 age category in the individual standings. He clocked a Diamond Standard time of 47:13, a feat only equalled by race winner Scarsbrook across the club and as a result formed part of the winning men’s team on the day. He finished 17th overall and achieved the rare feat of scoring for all three available teams (men, vets and mixed) plus his performance was integral to Badgers winning the vet men’s team prize on the day, thanks to some good backup from Chris Horton (48:43) and Glyn Broadhurst (50:22).

Danny Warren is no fan of the hot weather, but he found something special within to round up the A team scoring, working hard to finish six seconds behind Horton in 25th spot. After his epic London marathon performance, team-mates were glad to welcome Dave McGowan back into the racing fold. He looked strong for the majority of the race before fading in the stifling heat of the closing stages, but still running a respectable 49:56. The consistently good Broadhurst was once again a staple of the top 50 and Luke Neal (52:54) put in a decent shift as the B-team wrapped up their third maximum haul in three races. 

Former captain Mark Cox was next back in 84th place, in the exact same time as the improving Dave Jackson. For those thinking that the former pool-playing muscleman had an easy ride in the slipstream of his former skipper, think again, as the hard-hitting floor-fitting phenomenon had his notorious dirty diesel engine working at full capacity in the baking sun. With one more place up for grabs in the Badgers B-team, it was very much a case of West End or bust as they say, but cometh the hour, cometh the man as the reliable as clockwork Ashley “T-Dogg” Taylor stepped forward to penetrate the top 100 men with a class time of 55:29. Cameron Barnes (55:43) made a welcome return to the action ahead of an improving Jack Burton-Peet who ran a quality 57:23. In form Wayne Repton somehow contrived to run a personal best with his time of 57:47 before Stefan Martin became the final male to finish inside the hour. Were it not for a quirk of the race licencing, Martin would today be the holder of the V50 club record such was the pace he generated in his 58:46, however, he must now wait for the Rotherby 8 in September for his next crack at the mark set by the genial Rob Crow two years ago. 

One-mile specialist Jimmy Dewis was next through in 60:20 with Chris Young and Bill Gutheridge both putting in good performances close behind. Crow himself was next home, now in the V60 bracket, he showed his capabilities over the 8-mile distance by getting to within 21 seconds of the current record for his age group, possibly a sign of things to come later in the season. Dave Purvis ran a PB of 65:09 with a good well-paced run. Colin Lees grafted in the heat and V60 club record incumbent Peter Mann chipped in with a super run of 70:41.

Peter Greenfield ran a sparkling 73:30 and looked as fresh as a daisy at the end of a race that battered even the hardiest of souls. Paul Restall ran 77:51 just ahead of Paul Cooper, with Matt Smith, Carl Ford (86:21 – PB), Martin Graham and Kieren Coopey all in action for the men.

The ladies were led home once again by the outstanding Eleanor Fowler. In 16th place overall and second veteran athlete to finish, her time of 58:18 was inside both Nicki Bowman’s V40 club record as well as Becky Harris’s long-standing overall club best. Another fantastic run from the Higham-based speedster who was joined in the ladies scoring four by two impressive debutantes as Stacey Love (60:25) and Lucy Marchi (60:29) crossed the line in quick succession to give their new-look team a real boost in terms of pace. The quartet was rounded out by a more familiar name as captain Megan Griffiths, running outside of her temperature comfort zone, she weighed in with a huge performance of 62:34, a sizeable PB let that be known. This means that the ladies catapult themselves up to third place in their division behind runaway leaders Wreake & Soar Valley and Roadhoggs in second. 

Millie Ridgway ran a great race in 65:50 as the performances kept on coming. In-form Suzy Farrell ran 68:05 and these two were joined by the pacy Victoria Jones and the industrious Emma Masser who both broke the 72-minute mark. Marathon running Jill Miller was next back in 73:13 before the incredible Karen Thompson returned to racing, in 2024 at least, with her run of 76:04. Karen has run more marathons than all of her 48 teammates here combined, and here she showed her qualities over a much shorter distance. 

Joanne Crow, V50 club record holder Cheryl Dewis and former marathon star Ann-Marie Currier all performed well as did Kingsbury parkrun supremo Hannah Coogan who dug in well despite particularly uncomfortable conditions. Genial baking boffin Maggi Savin-Baden was cheered on part way round the course by husband John and she led home a group of Badgers including Sharon Jackson (after injury) and Averil Caton, who like Chris Young before her, won a post-race spot prize. Kate Rathbone and Sara Hawkins made the most of their experience in the sun to wrap up a successful morning for the club, who once again supportively stayed right to the end in their droves. 

Away from the league race, there were some other race involvements by members of the club. Up in Leeds, Chris Tweed ran a gruelling marathon, not long after a serious effort in London, completing the Rob Burrow marathon in a hugely impressive 3:23:41 and raising a few quid along the way. Vicki Brunsdon ran the Shires and Spires half marathon in 2:48 and the Market Drayton 10K pulled couples Neil & Katy Clemons and David & Yvonne Grant along with Neil first home in a brisk 39:32. David ran a good race in 47:28 with Katy dipping under the hour by less than a minute and Yvonne going well in a time of 61:21. The day before, David took a career high 7th place at Brunswick Park parkrun in 22:11 with Yvonne also making the top ten in 30:24. At Kingsbury, there was a win for Dave Hill in 17:43 while Megan Griffiths took first place at Wyre Forest with a determined 24:38.