Week Ending - 2024/09/15

BADGERS BACK PETE IN HIS BIGGEST BATTLE

Club members rallied together this week as news broke of one of their most popular figures being diagnosed with prostate cancer. Peter Mann has been a regular racer and ardent supporter of team-mates over the last few years and currently holds the V60 club record for the 10K distance with his superb 46:07 run at Prestwold three years ago. Team-mates have set up a crowdfunding page to help out and are anxiously hoping that his early diagnosis will lead to a full recovery over time. Anyone wishing to contribute can do so by following the link here. 

 www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/charlotte-oliver-3

While Pete was not running this weekend, many of his friends were. At the Tamworth 5 race, Chris Horton ran a fine 28:07 to finish fourth overall and the first veteran to take home another prize in what is turning out to be a real purple patch for him running-wise. He was just one of sixteen Badgers tackling the 5-mile circuit on a bright Sunday morning. It was former men’s vice-captain Mark Repton who was next back in a superb 31:29 with his elder brother Wayne also putting in a shift to get over the line in 34:46. Stefan Martin battled well in 35:22, finishing strongly down the home straight of the athletics track which should stand him in good stead ahead of his next big goal in a few weeks’ time and Bill Gutheridge was another not lacking effort and determination as he finished in 36:15. 

Krystal Knight ran a magnificent new PB in 46:18, some 48 seconds improvement on her previous best to cap a fabulous morning for her. In-form Kieran Coopey (43:44) ran well and Yvonne Faulkner-Grant continued her return to action after a long-standing Achilles problem in 47:45. Hattie Fuller made her Badgers race debut in 52:19 and Steph Nickless ran 49:05 alongside Paul Cooper. Newly elected Membership Secretary Sarah Reynolds ran 23:34 with Terry Argyle and Laura Robinson for company. Last-minute entrant Pip Weston ran a quality 45:03 after a wasted journey to a cancelled parkrun the day before and ladies vice-captain extraordinaire Sharon Jackson crossed the line in an excellent time of 43:45. Terry Taylor rounded up the action in 57:42. 

Far away in the Swiss Alps, Adrian Payne and Ryan Preece were locked in an epic tussle in the 18-mile Wildstrubl mountain race, part of the UTMB series. It was very much a case of nip and tuck as they say before the Preece found something deep within to launch a big attack on the final descent, to reel in the craggy vet and win himself bragging rights, his time was 3:09:23 to Payne’s brilliant 3:10:01, the duo placing 48th and 52nd respectively. Dave Jenkinson finished 296th in 4:04:58 while Mark Cox used his well-oiled dirty diesel engine to take on the brutal 43-mile distance, emerging home from the snow in 9:39:04 to make the top one hundred men overall. 

Also overseas, rising star Lucy Marchi was hard at it in Copenhagen, running a top-quality 1:40:57 in the half marathon in the Danish capital. At the Worcester half marathon, Colin Lees clocked 1:43:07 with Suzy Farrell recording a classy 1:49:21. David Grant and Yvonne Faulkner-Grant ran 28:19 in the Kenilworth 5K race with Yvonne also completing ten miles in the Big Bear Otter Challenge event during the week. 

Parkrun saw plenty of action too and it was at Walsall Arboretum where a quintet of Badgers enjoyed incredible success with five fantastic performances. Chris Horton led the way in fifth place as he closed in on his 200th parkrun. His time of 16:17 was a personal best by almost half a minute and demolished his old V40 club record of 16:43 set two years prior. In addition, his wava rating of 89.87% now sits far and away the highest ever achieved by anyone at the club. Dave Jackson was next through in 13th spot with a battling 18:01, his fastest time for six years and another career-high wava rating. If his recent training continues to bear fruit as witnessed at Walsall, he could soon become one of a very small group of Badgers to hit the 80% mark. Chris Tweed produced his fastest parkrun for over a year, putting down a really good marker in 18:32 and Sara Wilson finished 3rd lady overall on her 40th birthday in a rapid 21:42, the best positional place on the day, unless you count Maggi Savin-Baden’s age category first place that is, the brilliant baking boffin busying her way to a sensational 27:49, her fastest time in half a decade. With it bought her best-ever career wava rating of 72.86%, placing the university professor in a select group of female Badgers to have ever exceeded 70%.

At Kingsbury Water Park, Matt Green led the way in 8th place with his time of 21:46. The recent transfer window saw a shrewd bit of business seeing Sam Starkey returning to the club. The V40 ace gave a glimpse of his undoubted talent with a top ten finish in an event that saw Rachael Browne (with an E) speed to a season’s best 24:21 in 5th place and Nivette Chester and Jane Barrett also making the top ten. 

 Wayne Repton notched up the 50th different venue of his parkrun career with a trip to Bushy in London. Nick Miles galloped around the Market Rasen racecourse parkrun a week after completing his epic Great North Run and Serena Baker finished a superb sixth lady at Holbrooks. Last but not least, Glyn Broadhurst and Megan Griffiths finished 3rd and 4th in their respective gender categories at Rutland Water thanks to times of 18:04 for Glyn and 22:22 for Meg.