Week Ending - 2025/01/12

BADGERS DO PROFESSIONAL JOB AT MARTINSHAW WOODS

The second race of a staccato season so far saw Badgers tackle the 5.7-mile cross-country course at Martinshaw Woods in Leicestershire, a tricky technical course which involves two crossings of the M1 motorway, albeit via footbridge! With the men starting first, it was the ladies who were seen as the main attraction at the event and so it was the case in the Badgers ranks with fit-again skipper Liberty Underhill leading her side to an excellent all-round display with a fine 8th place finish, the highest across either gender. She had plenty of solid support as the force of nature that is Rachel “Crumpy” Crump powered her way home in 24th spot, a quite brilliant show of athleticism from one of the best female runners the club has ever produced. 

Rising star Sara Wilson is currently in the midst of marathon training and this improved endurance when allied to her fabled strength stood her in great stead as she sped around in 34th position. Co-Captain Meg Griffiths contributed to the team scoring operation with her excellent run in the mud, a feature made worse by the cold temperatures allowing icy ruts to form giving the terrain a real uneven edge about it.

Parkrun princesses Jane Barrett and Rachael Browne showed their versatility with quality runs, sandwiching the classy Cheryl Dewis who finished a fine 61st overall. Up-and-coming Megan Church showed great promise on her cross-country debut, not only making the top 80 in the field but finishing 3rd senior lady on the team, an exciting sign of even better things to come. The experienced Steph White and multiple marathon-running don Liz Peel rounded out a great morning for the girls. 

The men are seeking to defend their title from 2024, and it was Danny Warren who raced his way back into the top ten with a superb tenth-place finish to lead the side home. Skipper Ryan Preece was all ready to rumble but had a stumble and took a tumble as he limped home in 13th spot. A resurgent Mark Cox stormed his way into the top 20 with a dogged effort with his good friend Adrian Payne giving his best despite being below his usual high standards. The reliable vet pairing of Glyn Broadhurst and Chris Tweed helped steady the ship with gutsy runs and Jimmy Dewis beat off a rapidly advancing Jim Cottom who made his way into the scoring Badger men’s eight for the very first time.

There were good runs for the likes of Chris Young, vice-captain Dave Jenkinson, and Matt Green, who all finished just outside of the top 100. Simon Payne and the 85-cap Rob Crow got back in good time before the most experienced XC Badger of all time, Eamon Thawley, trundled home to continue his impressive streak of league appearances. 

The cold snap put paid to the vast majority of parkruns across the UK. Locally, Babbs Mill and Conkers went ahead, attracting larger numbers than usual including those from Badgers unwilling to forgo their Saturday morning 5K fix. In temperatures of minus five degrees at Babbs Mill, the event was remarkable for the fact that Glyn Broadhurst kept his top on post-race, the first time this has happened at any event since October 2016 when he had to dash straight off to watch the football. His 8th place finish of 20:27 wasn’t the only top ten effort from a Badger at the venue that morning as the pacy pair of Megan Griffiths (24:50) and Rachael Browne (24:57) took second and fourth female respectively. Jim Cottom, Colin Lees, Dave Jenkinson and Lee Millership also braved the cold. 

At Fairview parkrun in Dublin, intrepid jet-setting Sam Starkey took 9th place in 21:19 while Sara Wilson ran a sub-24 time to bag second lady at Conkers, the quickest Badger woman of the weekend. She was accompanied by the likes of Mark & Wayne Repton, Bill Gutheridge, Sara Hawkins, Ivana Babicova, Terry Argyle, Mark Reynolds and Claire Bradford. Cherlene McGowan ran 27:15 at Clevedon Salthouse parkrun and Nicki Bowman led the way at Corby with teammates Merv Jones and Karen Draper. Holly and Andy Smith were in action at Abbey Park while Zoe Yeatman travelled to Vingis parkrun in Lithuania. 

There were two Badgers racing Canicross events at the weekend, Alice Belcher taking third place and Marketa Ford second in their respective races.