Week Ending - 2025/02/01

ANOTHER PARKRUN DOUBLE

A fortnight on from being half of a Badgers double parkrun first, rapid Rachael Browne was at it again as she tore it up at Kingsbury Water Park to take her second first-place female. The slippery terrain offered poor grip, and large amounts of tenacity were required to bravely slog through the muddy trails, which were pretty unforgiving for the duration of the 5K distance. Browne’s winning time of 24:33 was nearly two minutes quicker than her closest competitor, and to make matters even more significant, she partnered Ryan Preece to make it yet another club double. 

The self-styled Swede of Speed is coming for everybody in 2026 and set his stall out early by assuming a healthy lead, leaving veteran team-mate Luke Neal in his muddy wake. Neal hung on bravely to take second place in 19:47, a quality time in the conditions, but Preece was in a different class as he romped home in 18:35 to keep his 2028 Olympic hopes alive. 

While Browne is as experienced as they come in the world of parkrun, her total of 342 appearances is the second highest for females in Badgers, six behind Sharon Jackson and with a further 50 plus volunteer credits to her name, what she doesn’t know about parkrun probably isn’t worth knowing. By contrast, Preece is something of a novice with a mere 28 appearances in a five-year career, but crucially, a personal best of 15:58, which was history-making at the time. The duo lapped up the plaudits following their heroics and rightly so. Further back in the field, Matt Green ran a fine 22:19 to finish ninth, with Janey Barrett going strongly to take fourth lady in 26:31.

If there were an award for parkrun bravery, Mark Cox would be right in the thick of it for turning up at Market Bosworth, where his daughter Mia was volunteering, and smashing out a time of 19:50, with busted up ribs from a recent snowboarding accident. To break ribs is one thing, but to break 20 minutes at Bosworth in far from ideal conditions is altogether something different. Only two people were quicker than him on the morning as he took third place.

There were top ten finishes for the speedy Suzy Farrell (8th at Rosliston) and seasoned campaigner Stephanie White (10th at Beacon Hill). Amber Nickless produced a superb display at Conkers as she finished second in a quality 23:46. The fastest female and male of the week were Megan Griffiths, who ran 21:51 to finish sixth lady at the flat Long Eaton course, while Chris Horton took the 81st outright parkrun win of his career with a dominant first place at Sence Valley Forest Park in 17:34. 

At Tamworth Castle Grounds, former club secretary and London marathon star Serena Baker finally made it to 100 career parkruns, thirteen and a half years after making her debut at Conkers in 2012.

Away from parkrun, Danny Warren and Dave Jenkinson took part in the Dovedale Big Daddy Fell Race, a twelve-mile affair with nearly 5000 feet of elevation. A gruelling race in any conditions but the heavy rain of recent weeks certainly left the course in a poor state, challenging all who ran. Warren pulled out in 2025, but pulled out all the stops in 2026, finishing a fabulous 12th overall in 2:26:34. Jenkinson was sixty places further back with a fine effort.

Mia Cox ran the Leicestershire and Rutland Cross Country, finishing 12th to get the last reserve for the team, a great achievement. She followed this up with a PB at junior parkrun in Nuneaton, first female and second overall, with younger brother Marcel also going well with a PB of his own in 8th place.