Week Ending - 2025/02/08

BADGERS, SQUIRRELS, BEARS AND A BEAST

Sub-3 marathon ace Chris Tweed was one of a number of Badgers who took on an epic challenge last week in the Big Bear Events Squirrel Challenge in Daventry. Runners were invited to run multiple laps of the Northamptonshire course within the six-hour time limit, and endurance beast Tweed managed a whopping 40 miles to finish second overall in terms of distance achieved, a magnificent effort. Ebony Key finished sixth female with her fantastic effort, which saw her clock up 50K in total and Vicki Brunsdon managed four laps of her own around the Daventry Country Park. 

Parkrun saw action on yet another sopping wet weekend, Holly Smith notched up volunteer stint number 250 with her Run Directorship at Riversley Park Juniors, a stupendous effort of commitment, especially given she ran her 299th parkrun the day before.

There were good runs from a number of Badgers, Mark Reynolds ran 25:22 at Alvaston, Anna Savin-Baden making 31:41 at the same venue. Dan Ash (23:13) and Tom Ash (28:14) both had the better of their dad Dave, who managed 30:35 at Conkers. Rhys Hopwood ran strongly at a wet Beacon Park in Lichfield, clocking 26:26, and Alice Belcher impressed at Cannon Hill Park in 28:24. Kat Wilson put in a quality shift at Coventry, crossing the line in 26:33. 

There were top ten finishes for Adrian Parkes, who was sixth overall at Barmouth in 23:39. Rob Crow also made the top ten there with his battling 24:27, and Joanne Crow took third female with a gutsy 26:43, less than a minute behind the winner. 

At the rapid Walsall circuit, Meg Griffiths ran a brilliant 21:25 to wind up 5th while team-mate Rachael Browne made 8th female in a super speedy 22:27, one of her fastest times of all time and her best ever wava rating of 69%. Jane Barrett ran at Sutton Park and made the top ten ladies with a splendid effort in the wet. 

Last but not least, Chris Horton tackled Chasewater parkrun for the first time and ended up winning by over two minutes with a swift 17:47. This was the 25th different venue where the veteran has finished first in his 229-run parkrun career. In the last three years, Horton has completed 49 parkruns and only once has he failed to finish in the top three, that being his fifth place at Walsall in 2024 when he ran a PB of 16:17. Indeed, the 51-year-old was the 9th fastest V50 parkrunner in the whole of the UK across 2025.