Week Ending - 2025/01/18

100 UP FOR NEW CAPTAIN BROADHURST

The first Badgers league race of 2026 took place on Sunday, the Martinshaw Woods cross country event, which also marked the 100th representative league appearance for new captain Glyn Broadhurst. He's had more hairstyles than David Beckham over the years, but one thing that has stayed the same is his ability to keep turning up and doing the business for Badgers, and he becomes only the fourth person ever to reach this milestone. 

His athletic pedigree is simply superb. Since packing up football, he has thrown himself into running and now has an incredible 369 parkruns to his name, along with an impressive PB of 17:10. In addition, he has completed numerous marathons with an outstanding personal best of 2:48 and is one of a very select group of Badgers to have achieved wava ratings in excess of 80%. He turns 50 later this year, but still continues to score consistently for the club, as was the case on Sunday. 

The first Badger back, however, was the in-form Danny Warren, who once again produced a marvellous effort on a challenging course which bizarrely straddles the M1 motorway more than once. The Baddesley man is close to signing a long-term deal with Badgers men’s vets team and has already agreed personal terms with a view to starting in the summer. Here, he got embroiled in what could best be described as an epic tussle, taking third place in the race after a three-way sprint finish for places two to four. 

Former lifelong Baddesley boy Adrian Payne, now resident in nearby Atherstone, showcased his silky off-road skills with a muddy masterclass in 15th spot, guiding a brave Ryan Preece home to give the club a solid start. Luke Neal made his XC debut with a creditable showing ahead of the experienced captain Broadhurst, both men making the top fifty. Chris Tweed put in a shift too, a few places later and with Mark Coggan and Jimmy Dewis both digging deep in the dirt, the scoring eight was complete.

It was very much a male-heavy field for the club, 19 men with just 8 ladies. Dave Jenkinson came home strongly after a big training effort the previous day. Matt Green ran well after a recent illness laid him low, and Stefan Martin gave a strong performance for the second time over the weekend. Dan Hilton battled hard to finish ahead of the more experienced Colin Lees, and new boy Michael Garrett also ran well in testing conditions. Joe Jenkinson, Marc Corbett, Rob Crow and Matt Smith all completed the 5.7-mile course with Eamon Thawley bringing up the rear with a splash.

The ladies were led home by Megan Griffiths in 21st place, the captain still on a wonderful appearance streak going back seasons. Emma Masser showed her tremendous leg strength as she made light work of the sapping underfoot conditions to finish a fine 33rd. Janey Barrett ran another excellent race alongside up-and-coming Erica Bassford, who not only made the points for the first time but also made the top fifty too.

Despite only having eight runners, there was plenty of quality back up in the shape of Suzy Farrell, Cheryl Dewis, Sara Wilson and the most capped female Badger of all, Joanne Crow. With three races gone, the season has reached the halfway point, with the next race coming in four week’s time. However, the Leicestershire Road Running League starts up next weekend with the Desford 6 as the curtain raiser for a twelve-race extravaganza going deep into October.

There was some action at parkrun on the Saturday morning with a handful of excellent performances. At the inaugural Holme Pierrepont parkrun, Glyn Broadhurst was one of more than 1,000 attendees and produced the quickest time of the weekend from a Badger with his brisk 18:26, incredibly only good enough for 28th place, such was the size and strength of the field! At a wet and incredibly slippery Kingsbury Water Park, there was a Badgers double as Chris Horton and Rachael Browne took the spoils as first in their respective gender categories. The pacy pair have triumphed at Kingsbury on 41 occasions between them, but this is the first time they have managed the feat together. Matt Green in 6th and Stefan Martin in 12th also gave good performances.

At Tamworth Castle Grounds, Cameron Barnes ran a fine 19:31 for third position, and Sam Starkey managed an excellent 20:11 for fifth place at Quaker's Walk. And last but not least, Karen Draper made it to 200 career parkruns with her appearance at Tamworth, a terrific achievement.