Week Ending - 2025/04/27

MARATHON WEEKENDER

The Spring marathon season reached its peak week with events at both London and Manchester saw 22 Badgers complete the ultimate 26.2-mile challenge. Warm weather made the battle a touch tougher too but there were a number of outstanding achievements forthcoming on the sunny Sunday.

The televised London marathon entered it’s 45th year and attracted only six Badgers this year, significantly down on prior years. Two runners had charity spots and a further two used their places to fundraise as well meaning that the collective had pulled together in excess of £10,000 for good causes at the end of the day, a magnificent achievement.

First across the line in a new V50 club record was Chris Horton, a man whose training had gone superbly in the lead up and had high hopes of achieving a time around two hours forty. However, a bout of illness during the week knocked him off his feet for several days and it was a testament to his inner resolve for him to even make the start at all. His time of 3:23:58 was enough to shave a few minutes off Dave Jenkinson’s record and he was the only Badger of the weekend to run a negative split.

Another Chris followed him home in the shape of Chris Young. In his first attempt at the distance, the diminutive Atherstone athlete clocked a wonderful time of 3:49:32, rich reward for a good, sustained period of training throughout the winter and into early Spring and partly making up for the disappointment of Aston Villa’s FA Cup exit the night before.

Susie Stringer was the first lady back, in a sensational 3:59:37. This was her first time inside four hours – a magnificent achievement to go alongside her excellent fundraising for the Phab Kids charity. It was one of only three PB’s of the day for Badgers. Sam Starkey was the beneficiary of a ballot place in the race and had a fractured build up, enduring injury, niggles and consequently a shortage of the sustained training consistency required to go well. That said, true to form, he knuckled down and got on with the task in had as best he could in the situation and his race was going surprisingly smoothly for many miles until cramp kicked in causing a myriad of other issues. Determined to the last, the Tamworth man battled on, even stopping to help a collapsed runner (of which there were many) towards the end resulting in his time of 4:07:34.

His good friend Sharon Jackson was next back in 5:06:23, in her final marathon. Sharon was the privileged winner of the coveted club place this year and used her status to good effect by helping to raise funds for Barnsley Hospice, who helped care for her father in his dying days. All sponsorship links are at the bottom of the report. Newcomer Bryany Sherwood raised bumper funds for the British Heart Foundation and weighed in with a performance to match as she bravely crossed the line in a superb 5:16:53, her first marathon ending in smiles during the peak heat of the afternoon sun.

Manchester saw a larger contingent of Badgers with 19 on the start line and 16 finishing. Dave McGowan led the way with his magnificent 2:47:45. The Baddesley based runner produced a training masterclass en route to Old Trafford and began the race in fine style, splitting the first half in a wonderful 79 minutes. With fatigue coming into the equation later on and the rising temperatures, he did well to not lose too much time over the second half and returned with yet another high-quality time for the distance where he never seems to disappoint in terms of times achieved. The other sub three hours run of the day belonged to Luke Neal, who has been knocking on the door for a little while but barged straight in on Sunday with a measured and workmanlike performance. His halfway split was an encouraging 1:28 but that did not leave much wriggle room. However, he judged his run to perfection, crossing the line in a stupendous 2:59:20 on a day where all times were compromised by at least two or three minutes with the weather.

Jack Burton-Peet made his marathon debut and turned out one of the performances of the weekend with his magnificent 3:23:49. Onlookers could have easily been fooled into thinking that this was his tenth attempt, such was the way he executed his race plan and stayed keen to the finish. Multi time marathoner Carl Savage ran 3:57 alongside first female Lucy Marchi. The industrious nurse, who nobody could ever accuse of under-training, battled home in her distance debut, just inside the four-hour mark. Bill Gutheridge followed a minute later in 3:59:06, another personal best and a fantastic effort from one of the hardest working runners at Badgers. His race was a study in belligerence and determination, hanging on and keeping going right to the end.

Peter Mann produced a sparkling time of 4:47:25, a good achievement for anyone but for someone in their mid-60’s battling two forms of cancer, it was nothing short of unbelievable. He had his reliable support crew behind him in the race, as partner Fiona Reidy (6:33), Eve King (6:18), Christine Morris (6:17), Gemma Spencer (6:33) and Debbie Bremner (5:19) all gave it their best shot. Krystal Knight missed out on a sub 5 time by an agonising 53 seconds in another good marathon for her. Jill Miller and Ross Kilburn ran in tandem to finish in a gutsy 5:15:02 and Helen Eachus battled hard for her medal, earned with a great time of 4:51:11.

Away from the marathon, Liz Peel, a veteran of over one hundred marathons, tackled another half marathon, this time in Coventry. The esteemed University professor ran a fine 2:12:40 alongside Karen Thompson (2:08:03) and Nick Miles (2:06:48) on his debut. Sammi Allsop ran 3:02:29 and Hannah Burgess produced a superb time of 1:55:51, a big new personal best, eight years after setting her original one. In the 10K at Coventry, there was success for David Grant who was first V50 and 12th overall as he stormed to a PB time of 41:58, a truly exceptional effort, and his wife Yvonne helped herself to a handy 54:31. The Malvern Hills trail half saw Colin Lees and Suzy Farrell run 2:28 and

3:02 respectively. Neil Rose managed a creditable 1:47:59 in his first ever half marathon, the Stratford on Avon half with Sarah O’Donoghue also running in 2:50.

Finally, veteran superstar Pip Weston set a V60 club record for the one-mile distance at Lee Valley Velodrome on Saturday with her 7:53 time, good enough to take third lady overall and a clear age category win, neatly bookending this report with club records. It secures her sixth club record at a range of distances from one mile to eight miles, a grand effort. 

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https://2025tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/sharon-jackson 

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