Week Ending - 2025/09/21

DANNY DOMINATES IN THE DARK AT EQUINOX 10K

Long-serving Badgers ace Danny Warren has slowly and methodically been working his way to some of his very best form in recent months, and on Saturday night, he was rewarded with a comprehensive win at the Equinox 10K night race event near Belvoir Castle. The Baddesley Ensor-based Dad of two set the pace from the very start, head torch on full and trail shoes ready to deal with the tricky underfoot terrain, a surface on which he excels. Nobody was able to challenge him for the lead, and when he crossed the finish line in 36:51, another victory was sealed by a significant margin of more than two minutes from his closest contender. Warren was one of five Badgers in action as Sharon Jackson and Jill Miller finished together in 58:33, the former being third in her age group, and Erica Bassford and Joe Jenkinson, both made it round in 75:42. 

The Tamworth 5 race on Sunday morning saw a good Badgers turnout and it was former 5-mile club record holder Dave Jackson who was first Badger back with a quality time of 31:05. The ham-trim scoffing blue collar worker made light work of the plethora of acorns that had fallen from nearby oak trees along parts of the race route and barely mentioned the minor hinderance post-race apart from for the odd twenty minutes. Showing his track finesse, he coolly outsprinted two much younger athletes to return home with his first standard time of the new season. Neil Rose is going well this month, and his time of 34:20 was hot off the back of a new parkrun personal best at Tamworth the day before, where he came agonizingly close to breaking the 20-minute barrier. Jim Cottom ran a rapid 34:37 and Bill Gutheridge battled hard for a quality 36:42 while the experienced Paul Grubb made his Tamworth 5 race debut in 40:30. 

The ladies were well represented, none more so than by Rachael Browne, who sped home in a time of 37:24, good enough for her to win an age group prize despite being up against runners five or six years younger, a terrific effort. Maggi Savin-Baden mithered about many things, mainly the alleged misinformation regarding the race gradient, yet still finished with a superb Silver plus time of 48:39. Daughter Anna raced determinedly to cross the line in 51:14, with Katrina Dawson also going well in 50:21. 

At the Stafford 10K, in-form Bryany Sherwood ran her fastest 10K yet with a superb 55:12 and in the Sutton Park relays, Mia Cox was part of a team that made the top thirty as she clocked 17:02 for her leg in the Under 15’s side, a great effort for an Under 13 athlete. 

Parkrun saw plenty of action with the highlights being Megan Griffith’s fastest time of 2025 as she stormed to second spot at Tamworth in 21:48. Mark Repton was the quickest parkrunner of the weekend, at the same venue too, as he ran an excellent 19:29 for sixth male. At Snowden Field near Peterborough, David Grant and Yvonne Faulkner-Grant both enjoyed exceptionally high finishes as they raced home in fourth place in their respective gender categories. David’s 20:56 shows just how far he has come in 2025, and Yvonne’s 26:16 also impressed as she put her injury-hit 2024 well and truly behind her. 

Last but not least, at Bedworth parkrun, Lilly Wilson came within touching distance of her PB as she took 6th lady in 25:12, one place ahead of teammate Rachael Browne.