Week Ending - 2025/08/10

BADGERS MEN WIN SIXTH STRAIGHT TITLE

The Joy Cann Memorial 5-mile race at Huncote threatened to define a hitherto stellar season for Badgers, who had already been confirmed as league winners in the Women’s, Vet Men and Mixed team competitions. The Badgers men, hoping for a sixth straight top-flight title, faced a stiff challenge from long-term adversaries OWLS, who had all of their big stars listed to race in the sell-out eight-hundred-strong field. With numerous Badgers likely to miss the penultimate meet at Markfield 10K, defeat at Huncote with two races to go would invariably have led to a showdown on the final race of the season, with OWLS holding the psychological advantage of having back-to-back wins leading into it.

Badgers assembled a strong side, although the loss of key men Neil Russell and Luke Neal through injury and Mark Cox being a major doubt following his 100-mile race in the Lake District ten days previously meant that OWLS were slight favourites going into the race.

As ever, it was the talismanic Matt Scarsbrook who led the way for the team. Never out of the top two all season, he needed one more race win to be certain of finishing number one in the individual standings at the end of the year and yet again, he delivered the goods when it mattered most, a barnstorming win in a PB time of 25:00. He was pushed hard for much of the race by in form Hinckley flyer Harry Robinson, winner of the previous two league encounters and Scarsbrook’s victory here makes him the first Badger ever to win a senior overall title across an entire season. 

Luckily for Badgers, Newham and Essex Beagles man Scarsbrook is very much a team player and was soon cheering on his colleagues as they made their way to the finish a few minutes later. Another second claim athlete, the in-form Max Kent of Tamworth, made a sensational debut with a big personal best time of 27:21 to grab eighth place in a stacked field. He was at the front of a group of five runners who finished within just three seconds of each other, with Chris Horton being one of those in 10th place. Horton’s time of 27:23 was good enough for the V50 prize on the day and earned him another club record as he took over a minute off his V50 mark set at Bosworth in May, as well as the only Rhodium County standard. To say he has enjoyed a purple patch would be something of an understatement. In a twelve-month period, the Atherstone man has now broken twenty-two club records spanning two age categories and run fourteen personal bests all while turning fifty! It is unlikely he will ever have a season quite this spectacular again.

Club stalwart and stats guru extraordinaire Danny Warren has steadily grafted his way back towards some of his best form and deservedly earned his place in the top four men who took the team prize on the day. His 28:02 was just 17 seconds shy of his personal best, another terrific run from one of the unsung heroes of this crack Badger outfit. Badger of the Year Ryan Preece has had a season marred by injury, but as ever, he turned up and gave the race 100% effort. His gutsy 28:24 was good enough for a place in the top twenty-five, and when former skipper Adrian Payne, currently in the shape of his life, crossed the line with a big new personal best of 28:53, the title was secured. OWLS were not helped by the withdrawal mid-race of one of their bright young talents, but Badgers all ran their collective socks off as they have most of the season and thoroughly deserved their title success. When Badgers won the first of their six successive titles, it was Payne who crossed the line to wrap up the league, and there was a nice symmetry in seeing him doing it again here. The hench electrical engineer has been superb for most of the season and has been a key plank in the club’s rise to prominence both on and off the field. 

The determination to succeed was perhaps best encapsulated by the performance of Mark Cox, nowhere near fresh from his epic Ultramarathon ten days earlier. He travelled back the same day from Essex where he had been working all week just to do his bit for the side and produced the second quickest five miler of his life with a terrific 29:30. Cox’s performances have been a key part in the club’s fortunes this season, consistently featuring in both men’s and vet men’s title winning sides as well as being virtually assured as finishing 2nd V40 athlete in the LRRL this year, regardless of outcomes in the remaining races.

Fellow sub-3 marathon star Chris Tweed ran a superb new personal best of 30:25, 18 seconds inside his old mark and former club record holder Dave Jackson ran a quality 30:40 to continue his recent improvements, even finding enjoyment in being beaten off by three other men in the closing stages. Cameron Barnes ran strongly to finish a place behind the self-styled Jackal of Jean. Mark Repton and Lee Taylor, improving on their 5-mile best set in June, crossed the line in 31:40 and 31:47, respectively, for bumper B-team points. 

Sam Starkey and Jack Burton both operated solidly before one of the success stories of the season, a revitalised David Grant, helped himself to another PB, this time of 32:38, aged fifty! Matt Green employed his giant strides to great effect, scything his way through the field with a brisk 33:22. Neil Rose carried on his good form with a best 5-mile time of 33:40 and vets Wayne Fraser and Jim Cottom both ran strongly to finish well inside 35 minutes, Fraser weighing in with a distance PB of 34:22 and a Silver county standard.

Wayne Repton, Jimmy Dewis (not to be confused with Chris Horton), Dave Purvis and Colin Lees ran well before new signing Dan Hilton finished in a PB time of 36:56. Ashley Taylor battled a leg problem to finish ahead of a sleep deprived Paul Cooper, who still found the strength to will himself round to a PB of 38:28. V55 star Mark Reynolds broke 40 minutes with ease, as did former V50 8-mile record holder Rob Crow, crossing the line with Simon Payne whose flying start landed him a 5K split quicker than his PB! 

Nick Miles ran a PB of 42:28 with another high-class display, and Rhys Hopwood, Matt Smith (44:59 - PB), Andy Smith and birthday boy Merv Jones all ran well as did Peter Mann, gritting his teeth to get it done as he fights on with the whole club behind him. 

The ladies already had their league in the bag prior to the race; a long-awaited journey back into the top division awaits them in 2026. With the pressure off, they still managed to excel with a number of super performances from young and old alike. Leading the way was the in-form Stacey Horner, achieving one of only two female silver standards for Badgers on the day with her excellent 35:59, dragging her captain Meg Griffiths through to a 34th place finish in what has been a brilliant campaign individually and collectively. Susie Stringer was next through in a swift 37:37 and with it a coveted place in the top fifty.

Grace Barsby has come on leaps and bounds since joining Badgers on a free transfer back in 2023, and here she romped home in 38:58 to secure another solid showing for the ladies' side, already Champions of Division Two. Sara Wilson ran a punchy 39:30 as she continues her comeback from an injury-hit Spring. The experienced Hannah Burgess ran a brilliant new best of 39:55 the week she stepped down as Race Director of Kingsbury Parkrun after navigating a tricky eight-year stint straddling a global pandemic. V45 trio Suzy Farrell, Jane Barrett and Yvonne Faulkner-Grant raced well before another of their peers, Joanne Crow, crossed the line in 44:04 to become the first female in club history to reach seventy-five representative league races, putting her eighth in the all-time list since the club formed. 

Liz Peel battled hard to sneak inside her target standard time by a couple of seconds with her superbly judged 44:17. Maggi Savin-Baden recorded the only other silver standard following the example set by ladies kingpin Stacey Horner. The indefatigable University Professor and published author clocked 47:15 and is in superb form this season; her monumental efforts landed her the highest age group placing of any female Badger in the event, a terrific show. Danielle Gunn shot round in 48:04 with Holly Smith, Judy Parkes, Kate Rathbone, and Sara Hawkins all following shortly afterwards.

At the weekend, several Badgers made their way to the Solihull Half Marathon where Matt Green cemented his nomination for improver of the year with a fantastic new personal best for the distance, in 93:52. Those familiar with the Solihull course will be aware that it is far from an optimal circuit speed wise and with the weather as hot as it was, Green’s effort was nothing short of outstanding. What probably made it most impressive, however, was that this was the giant striding good-guy’s 31st attempt at the distance, so to run a personal best at his age (47) with such a rich history in the event is truly phenomenal. In addition, Jack Burton-Peet clocked a PB with his excellent 93:17 and Sam Starkey was showcasing his pacy wares along with Bryany Sherwood who ran a personal best time of 2:13:43. Liz Peel (2:08), Dan Hilton (1:55), Dave Purvis (1:56) and Wayne Fraser (1:45) were also in action along with Wayne Repton (1:43). 

Parkrun saw Nick Miles clock up his 200th appearance and marked the occasion with a season’s best 26:05 at Kingsbury. Chris Tweed and Jane Barrett both made the top ten, and Danny Warren romped to a commanding first place overall. 

Megan Griffiths was another winner, triumphing at Vingis in Lithuania with Glyn Broadhurst taking second male in 19:53. Suzy Farrell made the top ten at Tamworth, and Serena Baker took a fine ninth at Sence Valley Forest Park. Mark Cox took second place at Braunstone, Lilly Wilson ran well at her junior parkrun, and Carl Ford ran a personal best of 27:19 in Berlin as he continues to progress at the age of 45.