Week Ending - 2025/03/08

DANNY TRIUMPHS AT LAST

With well over 50 cross-country appearances to his name and ten podium finishes among them, Danny Warren never gave up on chasing that hitherto elusive win at a Badgers league event. And at a muddy Bosworth Battlefield course on Sunday, the well-respected club Chairperson finally achieved his goal with a high-quality win. After finishing a close second in the previous race, some may have thought his chance had come and gone, but with a course and conditions perfectly suited to Warren’s style, the stage was set for a long-held ambition to be realised. 

Warren seized his chance, stalking early leader Michael Cheverton of Barrow for much of the race before powering through in the latter stages to win by eleven seconds. He joins an elite group of only three other Badgers to have ever won a league race, Ryan Bennett, Matt Scarsbrook, and Dave Hill being the others. With one race to go, it is hoped that his heroics here have given his side a chance of retaining their title, but it will be a very close run thing – many regulars were absent at the weekend, opting to run the Grizzly 20-mile race on the Jurassic coast in Devon. The deciding race is this weekend at Grace Dieu School near Thringstone. 

Following Warren home was captain Glyn Broadhurst in 27th place, and he was backed up by the likes of Mark Coggan, birthday boy Jim Cottom and recent recruit Dan Hilton. The experienced Stefan Martin and Matt Green powered home with new signing Marc Corbett, making his first score for the club since joining. Ashley Taylor and Eamon Thawley also ran.

The ladies were led home by their skipper, Megan Griffiths, who battled hard to finish 17th overall in what has been another good season for her, her last as a non-veteran. Janey Barrett continued her good form of late with a gutsy run, and newcomer Fiona Audley made the points with a spirited effort before old stager Stephanie White crossed the finish line, still scoring for the club after thirteen seasons. Hannah Burgess got round in one piece, and vice-captain Sharon Jackson considerately rounded up the troops with a good run on International Women’s Day.

The Grizzly race in Seaton, Devon saw as many Badgers make the trip as ran in the cross country. Ryan Preece was first back for the club in a typically belligerent 2:42:46, a great effort given the gradients and mix of terrain. Adrian Payne put in a shift to finish in 2:52:28, obviously training on the hills to good effect, and Aldi head honcho Luke Neal also broke the three-hour mark with a classy time of 2:58:19, which bodes well for his attempt at the Manchester marathon next month. Chris Tweed has been in great form of late, and that continued on the south coast as he bagged a course best performance of 3:10:49, a minute in front of Ultra marathon Goliath Mark Cox. Dave Jenkinson ran superbly to finish first V50 Badger back in 3:41 and there were solid showings from the likes of Sara Wilson (4:11), Adrian Parkes (4:43) and Joanne Crow (4:52). Paul Grubb ran his tenth Grizzly event, crossing the line in a commendable 4:37. The hugely respected Rob Crow battled hard in his long-distance swansong to just about break five hours running and Rachel Crump somehow managed to finish too after a year of injury and poor luck. 

The Grizzly Cub race was an alternative for those who did not fancy the full 20 miles. Nine miles of similar challenging ascents, sharp descents and shingle beaches all to negotiate safely. Megan Church went into the event undercooked by her own admission but emerged first Badger back following an industrious showing in 1:52:49. Judy Parkes went well in a time of 2:05:27, and Fiona Meldrum was also in action, clocking 2:07:25. 

Stephanie White was involved in a cross-country double weekender with her effort in the 12K Dirty Dozen race at Cannock Chase, finishing in 1:37. 

Parkrun saw a handful of appearances from Badgers around the Wrekin, Wayne Repton made it to 350 parkruns with his appearance at Tamworth, where Lil Gillman-Taylor ran her fastest time in almost four years. There were top ten finishes for Yvonne Faulkner-Grant (Rushmere), Jill Miller (Kingsbury), Megan Griffiths (Poolsbrook) and Suzy Farrell (Hinckley). Chris Horton was the fastest finisher, clocking 16:28 for second place at Walsall and with it the fastest time for any V50 athlete in the UK so far in 2026.