Week Ending - 2025/05/10

MATT WINS THE BATTLE AT BOSWORTH

For the fourth year running, Matt Scarsbrook took the spoils at a sell-out Bosworth Half Marathon on Sunday with yet another dominant victory over the rolling 13.1-mile course. From the off, the Baddesley man bowled away from the following herd at real pace, meaning that barring a catastrophe, the race was over as a contest within the first mile. He crossed the finish line in 71:55, the slowest of his four winning times here, but his margin of victory was still over a minute and a half ahead of second-place Michael Cheverton of Barrow Runners, a significant gap all the same. Over 700 runners completed the event, for once run in semi-reasonable conditions. The typical hot weather did not make its usual appearance, and instead, athletes had to battle against a stiff headwind up the long stretch of the Fenn Lanes midway into the race instead. 

Scarsbrook’s outstanding show of athleticism was not the only high point from a club perspective, as four of their men filled the top ten. Former skipper Ryan Preece produced a magnificent run to claim a share of the prizemoney in fifth place. He battled on gamely despite being isolated early on and had the strength of mindset to pick up the pace in the second half and take a couple more scalps in the process. His time of 75:42 is the fastest by any Badger at this course apart from Scarsbrook. Chris Horton was running his 11th consecutive Bosworth Half and emerged with a course best time of 77:31, at the ripe old age of 51. In addition, he was one of only three male athletes in the field to achieve a Rhodium level county standard and in eighth place overall, he was perhaps unsurprisingly first vet to finish and like training partner Preece ahead of him, in the prizemoney. His time gave him a new V50 club record as well.

Danny Warren executed a quality race to finish in the top ten, his time of 77:56 being just 13 seconds shy of his nine-year-old personal best set at a far faster Peterborough course. With four athletes back in the top ten, there was a high level of expectation for a men’s team win amongst the members; however, that award has sadly been pulled, and the buoyant boys were brought back down to earth with a thud.

Next through, just seconds apart, were youthful veteran stars Adi Payne and Mark Cox, good friends on and off the course. Payne has been a big admirer of Cox for a while, but he pipped his dirty-diesel-engined team-mate to the line in a quality 82:13. Last year’s runner-up in the league’s V40 standings, Cox, was nonetheless delighted with his effort after a difficult winter. 

Up and coming Jack Burton-Peet clocked an excellent 85:08 as his scintillating new form of 2026 continues apace, another personal best for him and surely not the last either, given his current shape. Luke Neal battled hard for his 87:03, still slightly jaded after his epic sub-3 marathon in Manchester a couple of weeks earlier.

There were big milestone moments for Cam Barnes and Lee Taylor, who both broke the ninety-minute barrier for the first time in their careers. Barnes, as is his way, hardly snuck under the mark, preferring to smash through it, storming home in a vibrant 87:41. Taylor too was well inside his target time, crossing the line splendidly in 88:45. 

With the Edinburgh Marathon fast coming into view, Mark Repton wisely ran with caution, but his teammates were indebted to his shrewd judgement as his 92:02 time was just enough to ensure the men’s vets team secured maximum points in this fixture. Matt Green ran a course best of 95:25, and new signing Michael Garrett ran an 8-minute personal best of 99:09, ten years on from his last, some effort from the V55 athlete. 

Dan Yoxall made a quality debut for the club, helping himself to a fine half-marathon personal best time of 1:42:03, a three-minute improvement since joining the club. Andy Altoft has revolutionised himself in 2026 and once again he was cashing in on his new found speed by romping to an eight minute personal best time of 1:41:51. If anyone is unfamiliar with the Bosworth course, it is not unpleasant but neither is it a course you would describe as quick for those chasing times, so to see such a plethora of personal bests says more about the calibre of running rather than any helpfulness of the conditions.

Ben Shaw put in a decent shift to finish in 1:42:11 just ahead of Alistair McCallum, who bagged a great Silver standard in 1:46. London Marathon weary Bill Gutheridge got back safely to an apt Copper standard (yes, seriously!) while Ashley Taylor celebrated becoming only the fifth Badger ever to reach the milestone of 100 representative league races for the club, a fantastic effort that would have been reached far sooner were it not for a freakish broken neck injury several years ago. 

Stefan Martin enhanced his claims for Run Leader of the Year by providing a pacing masterclass to the up-and-coming Alice Belcher. Matthew Smith was the final Badger back, but in a brilliant time of 2:07:49 – to contextualise, this was some 17 minutes faster than his prior best!

The ladies were outnumbered by the men at Bosworth, but that did not stop them churning out some quality performances. Skipper Meg Griffiths put in a terrific shift upfront, making the top 20 overall with her epic 98:37, close to her best time, albeit one achieved on a much flatter course. She found more than capable back-up in the form of veteran duo Emma Masser and London Marathon ace Susie Stringer, both crossing the line together in a smidgen over 1:46. The final piece of the ladies' scoring jigsaw was the in-form Erica Bassford. Her PB was set in Berlin this spring, but at a blowy Bossie, she went quicker still, despite having the remnants of the Manchester marathon in her legs. Her time of 1:47:55, probably was arguably worth sub 1:45 on an optimal course. 

Jane Barrett ran yet another sub-1:50, her third in recent weeks, getting over the line in 1:49:23. Joanne Crow ran superbly to clock a big PB in 1:53:40. The most capped female Badger of all time is currently in the form of her life right now, eclipsing her effort at Wrexham several seasons ago. Alice Belcher took almost 19 minutes off her old best with a sensational run in the slipstream of Stefan Martin. 2:01:33 was her time, and you can probably guess what her next target is likely to be. Judy Parkes, the Benjamina Button of Badgers, secured a respectable course best time of 2:04:29, and Fiona Audley followed in shortly afterwards to round up a great morning for the club at their most neighbourly road league event.

There was some action away from the league event as Maggi Savin-Baden ran a career best 8:08 for the one mile distance in heavy rain at Bourton in the Water, or maybe Bourton Underwater as it should have been called on Friday evening. This gives her a fifth gold standard time in what has been a superb season for her so far. At the other end of the distance range in the equally picturesque Lake District, Chris Tweed took on the monumental challenge of “The Lap” a race around Lake Windermere, taking in all the surrounding fells covering a total of 47 miles and goodness knows what kind of elevation, well, 9000 feet approximately! Thankfully, the dad of three made it back in one piece, just about, and pretty satisfied with his time of 10:33:35. Understandably, he was reluctant to race the following day at Bosworth, but what a brutal experience.

Last but not least, Sarah Kilburn marked her 50th parkrun with a postpartum PB at Coronation Park in Swadlincote with a time of 32:52.