Week Ending - 2024/12/22

MAGGI'S MARVELLOUS MILE

Badgers V60 baking sensation Maggi Savin-Baden downed her mountaineering tools at the weekend to travel to London and run the RunThrough Velo Park one-mile race in Stratford. The outdoor tarmac circuit is exactly one mile long and was used in the 2012 Olympics for cycling, sweeping bends can be taken at full speed while running which makes it ideal for road racing although a handful of short sharp ups and downs can be disruptive to rhythm. As things materialized, Savin-Baden powered away from the off and reached her destination in 8:35, a new club record for her age category, elevating the University professor to the giddy heights of V60 success, making her one of only four Badgers in the bracket to hold a record, alongside Pip Weston, Helena Rean and Gail Gunn. 

At the Gaddesby Gallop race, a five and quarter mile off-road romp, Danny Warren narrowly missed out on a podium place with a fine fourth in 38:19. Resplendent in Santa hat, the 38-year-old gave his in-form teammate Adrian Payne a masterclass in trail running, navigating the tricky water section with rare aplomb. Payne trundled home in a respectable 8th place as his excellent V40 form continues, his time 40:38. Sara Wilson was fifth female and second vet overall, in her off-road debut, the diminutive Geordie was in fine fettle as she strode home in an excellent 50:28 to cap an excellent 2024 at Badgers for her. 

Despite a number of storm-enforced cancellations, there were still a handful of parkruns that didn’t succumb to the weather. Chris Horton completed the 200th parkrun of his 11-year career and took a fine first place at a cold and blustery Keswick in 17:20, meaning that he has never finished outside of the top ten at any of his 200 parkruns to date, an impressive achievement by any metric. It was also the 57th win of his parkrun career, with victories at 14 of the 24 different courses raced. Suzy Farrell, like Horton many years ago, regularly works on a Saturday which curtails her attendance somewhat but at Northampton Sixfields, she was able to notch up her 50th appearance at parkrun. There were top ten finishes for Glyn Broadhurst who took 2nd at Oswestry in 20:56, Mark Repton who finished 3rd at Tamworth in 19:56 and Victoria Jones who took 5th at Bedworth in 26:21. Nivette Chester took 10th at Conkers in 25:45 and there was double delight at Market Bosworth as Chris Young and Jill Miller both made the top ten on a muddy morning. Finally, there was a surprise PB at Sutton Coldfield where Terry Taylor ran 26:25 in tricky conditions. Showing good speed, this means the former sub-16 athlete has now lopped 8 minutes off his best parkrun time since September.