Week Ending - 2025/02/22

BARRETT BEATS DECADE-OLD HALF MARATHON BEST

While it is blatantly incorrect to say that age is just a number, Badgers star Jane Barrett did her little bit to prove the old adage may have just an element of truth about it by taking on the Wokingham Half Marathon at the weekend and emerging with a personal best for the distance, over ten years since her last. 

Barrett joined the Badgers on a free transfer several seasons ago after impressing at parkrun, but at 49 years of age, even she may have felt her PB days were behind her. Wokingham produced a fast course, and with the weather for once erring on the side of favourable, the scene was set for some half-marathon magic. The doggedly determined Barrett made good early progress and had the resolve to hang in there when the going got tougher with 5K to go. When she crossed the line in 1:48:30, a new personal best had been achieved, over a decade on from when the benchmark was last set, a quite remarkable effort. Her reward is a direct result of dedicated training and attendance over the past twelve months and only helps to inspire teammates, both young and old. Matt Green was also in action, clocking 1:34 on what was a tough day for the giant-striding giant-strider. 

There were successes at parkrun as several Badgers met key goals and milestones. Sharon Jackson managed to reach 350 parkruns, the highest total by a female athlete in the club. Globetrotting mountaineering enthusiast Maggi Savin-Baden notched up another parkrun in a career spanning 12 different countries now, with her attendance at Tauranga parkrun in New Zealand! Meg Griffiths finished second lady in New York, clocking 21:57 at the Brooklyn Bridge parkrun, which saw Glyn Broadhurst roll back the years with a great run for sixth place, 18:04. For years, Broadhurst has helped set the standard for performance and achievement, particularly in the V40 category, his time good enough to propel him back into the 80%+ wava ratings. Chris Horton did similarly at an ultra-slippy Conkers parkrun, being well beaten into second spot despite clocking 17:46, the fastest Badgers time of the weekend. 

Dan Ash ran a magnificent 20:33 at Beacon Park in Lichfield, a personal best for the young man, a sub-20 time looking an ever more achievable goal in the next six months, given his hard work and improvements. Alice Belcher produced the fourth quickest 5K of her lifetime with a brisk 26:13 at Oaklands, and Jill Miller managed the same finish position as Belcher (9th) only at Kingsbury with her 27:27. Mia Cox made the top ten at Poznan in Poland with a speedy 24:04, and Mark Repton clocked 20:04 to make the top ten at Tamworth. 

At Long Eaton, V60 one mile record holder Adrian Parkes showed his class over the shorter distances once again with a rip-roaring 23:22 to bag a brilliant Gold Standard Time and a 71% wava rating to boot. His wife Judy achieved an impressive Silver Standard as she ran 26:50 to put her on the cusp of 70%, and the battling Joanne Crow produced the third of three excellent Badgers efforts at the two-lap course to bag a brilliant 26:18. 

Next week sees the second Leicestershire Road Running League event of the season taking place, the Kibworth 6 race, home to the infamous Gumley Hill, possibly the toughest climb on the entire LRRL calendar. Badgers are expected to be out in force for that one and are hoping to welcome back Matt Scarsbrook after injury. The Baddesley man was back to winning ways at the weekend with a blistering 72-minute display in the Leicestershire Half Marathon near Loughborough, in pretty uncompromising conditions. The Tamworth AC star, who runs for Badgers as second claim, has spearheaded their charge in the LRRL in recent seasons and won the coveted individual prize last term. He triumphed by over a minute from second-placed Ben Plummer in an epic show.