Week Ending - 2025/03/30

BEGINNERS GRADUATE IN STYLE

The first group of Badgers beginners from 2025 celebrated success after a challenging 12-week winter training program that culminated in a splendid 5K run at Kingsbury parkrun at the weekend. All of the cold, dark evenings seemed a thing of the distant past as the beautiful park was bathed in pleasant sunshine for those athletes who stayed the course to ultimately complete the course. Led by the ever-impressive Clare Carter and ably assisted by the super supportive Joanne Crow and Paul Cooper, the beginners' group had plenty of support throughout their training block and even more on the day of the 5K itself as over 50 Badgers gathered to either run or cheer the latest batch of recruits. Earning the certificates at the end of the run were Stevie-Lea King, Katie Spokes, Fay Thomas, Georgia Lees, Zoey Campbell, Joanne Burrows, Mick Judd, Sharon Whitehead, Abigail Purdy and Rebecca Burkin.

With so many athletes in the field, it was perhaps no surprise that Badgers dominated the top ten in the race. Chris Horton led the race from start to finish, returning with a quite brilliant time of 16:56, the fastest by anyone at Kingsbury since July 2023. Adrian Payne finished second in a swift 18:22 with Will Pickering making it a rare 1-2-3 for the club in 18:40. Chris Tweed in sixth ran a course best time of 19:04, hopefully a good omen for his upcoming marathon in Newport next month. Cameron Barnes dipped under twenty minutes to also ensure Badgers filled half of the top ten places. There were still more good runs to follow as Jack Burton-Peet sped home in 21:16 and Mark Cox found time in his 35-mile epic training morning to slot in a 21-minute 5K before running all the way home to Leicestershire! David Purvis, David Craig, Matt Green, Ashley Taylor, and Colin Lees ran well. 

Grace Barsby was the Badgers leading lady as she crossed the line in a pacy 26:41, followed home by the likes of Rachel Crump, Lucy Marchi, Erica Bassford and Danielle Gunn. Mick Bailey was back in action, as was Matthew Bradford, Luke Robinson, Nick Miles, Dave Jenkinson, Rhys Hopwood and Chris Young. 

Helping to motivate the beginners were Joanne Crow, Paul Cooper, Clare Carter, Eamon Thawley, Mark Cordiner-Barton, Megan Church, and Mark Reynolds, while there were guest appearances from Bryony Sherwood, Jill Miller, Jane Barrett, Kieren Coopey, Steph Nickless and Vicky Jennings. Other runners included Trudie Cruddas, Karen Draper, Sarah O’Donoghue, John Devenney, Caroline Smith, Paul Restall, Sara Hawkins, Kate Rathbone, Claire Bradford, Teresa Satchell, Terry Argyle, Martin Graham and Anne Devenney. 

Elsewhere, there was a top ten spot for Meg Griffiths at Newby Bridge as she ran 23:47 to take ninth alongside her coach and mentor Glyn Broadhurst. Luke Neal took 6th at Tamworth Castle in 20:31, with Anne Whitby-Smith taking 10th lady. Andy and Holly Smith also ran, as did Wayne Repton. Adrian Parkes just missed a top ten spot at Battlestead Croft, Burton, the V60 one mile club record holder finishing in a swift 24:07. Jim Cottom ran well at Chasewater in 21:18 and there were appearances for Sam Starkey at Pavilion Gardens, David Earp at Stratford and Yvonne Faulkner-Grant at Black Rocks. 

Peter Mann travelled to Daventry alongside Gail Gunn and Fiona Reidy, while Andy Stretton and Fiona Meldrum both made the journey to Mount Edgcumbe in Devon. Closer to home, Sharon Jackson ran at Long Eaton and Ivana Babicova at Conkers. Anna Savin-Baden turned out at Bedworth, Suzy Farrell appeared at Beacon in Lichfield, and Anne-Marie Matthews starred at Edgbaston Reservoir to wrap up a busy morning’s park running for Badgers