Week Ending - 2025/06/29

LADIES SEAL LEAGUE TITLE

An eventful Steve Morris 5 race at Desford on Sunday saw Badgers ladies team secure the necessary eight points to ensure they are promoted to Division One next season as Champions. After narrowly missing the second promotion place in 2024, they have been imperious in delivering the goods this term, amassing sufficient points to boast an unassailable lead in the eight team second tier.

Five straight wins from the first five races gave them a dream start, and the good work has continued as the season has progressed. It was not all plain sailing on Sunday however as talismanic co-Captain Liberty Underhill suffered a foot injury mid race and had to withdraw on what was her 25th club appearance. Fortunately, the strength in depth which has been a key part in the team’s success, came to the fore yet again as firstly, the speedy Stacey Horner stepped forward and produced a superb piece of running to lead the side home in the absence of the in-form Underhill. Her time of 35:58 was good enough for 26th place overall in a sell-out field of six hundred runners combined as well as earning her the only female Silver Standard in the club on the day.

Joint skipper Megan Griffiths has been a reliable mainstay of the club’s scoring quartet this season and once more she was able to lead by example with a hard fought 32nd place finish on a humid morning. Clocking a time of 37:10, the deputy headmistress was delighted when the news broke that her side had clinched the title, especially after the heartbreak of 2024. Her endeavour had led her to taking top spot in the league’s senior female category at the start of the race, a feat never achieved before in Badgers history.

The athletic Rachael Browne is having one of her best season’s ever and demonstrated as such with a brilliant personal best time of 38:12, on a course significantly slower than the Joy Cann 5 race held each year in August and in far from optimal weather conditions. She was seventh in her age category ahead of the fellow vets, speedy Sara Wilson, returning from a long-enforced injury lay off and in-form Susie Stringer who recorded yet another PB with her excellent 39:31.

There was still plenty of talent waiting in the wings as it were with Grace Barsby putting in a great shift to get home in 40:42. Jane Barrett and Suzy Farrell added their weight to the resurgent vets team with cracking runs and Erica Bassford continues to climb the rankings in the coveted U23 age group with a swift effort of 42:05.

Megan Church has been beset with misfortune so far this year but has had the resilience to continue her excellent achievements in the field of running. Her 44:03 here keeps her in a podium spot in the U23 age bracket overall and she was pivotal in helping teammates Beth Woodward, Kat Wilson and Alice Belcher get to and across the finish line. Bryany Sherwood ran an excellent race to end in 46:32 with Liz Peel not far behind in 47:28, aided by the absence of an oft cumbersome race number!

Joanne Crow, the most capped female Badger of all time was next back with Steph Nickless going superbly with her fastest 5-mile time ever. Maggi Savin-Baden ran a magnificent 50:20 and Kate Rathbone completed to the biggest roar of the lot, gallantly getting in within the hour mark.

There was success too for the men with a number of incredible performances, meaning that allied to the achievements of the ladies team, the club have now secured the title in the mixed team league for the first time in their history. It is hard to put into words just how good the ever-present Matt Scarsbrook is, in his eighth consecutive LRRL race this season, he has never been out of the top two, despite stiff competition from the likes of Mo Hussein and latterly Harry Robinson. Here, he was second again, by just twelve seconds, his rapid time of 25:57 two seconds inside Dave Hill’s club record set two years ago.

The men’s vets team were also able to celebrate their second successive league title in the topflight, thanks to their recent recruits adding much-needed youth to their aging side! Also, they were helped in part by the purple patch being enjoyed by another ever-present of 2025, Chris Horton. The 50-year-old has only once been out of the top ten this season and has already sewn up the age category win with three months of the season still to go. Here he ran 27:39 for eighth place to become the sole man in the race to achieve a Rhodium County Standard.

Danny Warren followed next in with a super run of 28:44 for 15th place. The well-respected club chair has been steadily working hard in recent months to recapture his form of old before he makes the long-awaited transition into the Badgers vets team. With captain Ryan Preece sucking up the pain in 19th place (28:57) and Mark Cox (29:02) trundling home seconds later, the men’s team had five back in the top twenty. Cox looks certain now to finish in the top two in the hotly contested V40 age category, deserved reward for what has been a superb season so far for the diesel-powered running machine and hard grafting floor-fitter. With their only remaining title rivals, OWLS, missing their kingpins Luke Ingram and Simon Allen, when the up-and-coming William Pickering crossed the line in 30th place (29:46), another resounding win was in the bag meaning the club are just one win away from another league title with three races remaining.

Cameron Barnes showed signs of a return to his very best with a quality 31:05 for a place in the top sixty while the influential Dave Jackson currently riding high in the V45 standings continued his upward curve with a hard fought 31:25 for a solid Gold Standard, adding his considerable race nous and experience to a vets team missing fellow fast moving recruitment king, Neil Russell. Newcomer Lee Taylor made a fabulous debut with his 32:59 for a spot inside the top one hundred and a marker for even better displays to come no doubt. Sam Starkey weighed in with the league-sealing run for the men’s vets side, a fitting finale for the long serving Tamworth-based athlete, yet another Badger to finish inside the top one hundred.

There were more good runs to come from the likes of Jack Burton-Peet who ran 33:50 as well as the veteran quartet of Matt Green, Stefan Martin, Bill Gutheridge, and Wayne Repton. Ashley Taylor made a return to the site of his horrific tumble in March and Wayne Fraser helped himself to a fine personal best over the distance in 36:26. Chris Young was next back ahead of new boy Dan Hilton who ran an excellent personal best time of 37:18. Run Leading ace Lee Talbot was next back in 37:39 with David Craig selflessly pacing a crestfallen Adrian Payne to a lower than average position as his hopes of a top three age group finish took an unexpected but not irreversible detour.

Dave Purvis followed up his 50th parkrun appearance the day before at Babbs Mill with a swift 38:51 with Atherstone Ball Game goliath Colin Lees, selflessly helping to pace Susie Stringer home on the run in, not that she needed it given her current form. Adrian Parkes clocked up another fine display in 40:39 before Simon Payne, Mark Reynolds, Rhys Hopwood, and Andy Altoft crossed the line. Matt Smith, Paul Cooper, and Merv Jones rounded up an excellent morning’s work for the club.

In other events, Liz Peel clocked 29.7 miles in the Otter Challenge at Kingsbury Water Park midweek, enabling her to boost her half marathon tally up that little bit more towards the one hundred mark, despite being significantly over distance. Glyn Broadhurst gave a running masterclass as he swept to a commanding parkrun victory at Kingsbury Water Park, doing what his teammate Chris Horton failed to manage the week prior. At Babbs Mill Mark Cox made the top ten with his daughter Mia finishing second lady in 24:37. At Bedworth, youngster Lily Wilson finished eighth female in a PB time of 28:02.