Week Ending - 2025/08/09

UNBEATEN MATTS JOY CANN WAIT FOR ONE MORE RACE

Badgers speedster Matt Scarsbrook was first once again in the Leicestershire Road Running League with a blistering performance at the Joy Cann Memorial 5-mile race in Enderby last week. So far this season, the 29 year old has yet to be beaten in the league, and with one more race needed to obtain a full count and therefore an unbeatable lead at the top of the individual standings, it seems highly likely that he will successfully defend his 2025 title as the leading athlete in the county. Indeed, such has been his dominance that he is currently sixth senior male in the league despite having had one less race to count than his competitors, after missing the season opener at Desford with a knee problem. 

His winning time of 25:53 was slower than his winning time of the prior year but still around a minute clear of his closest competition. He had the added challenge of some stiff westerly winds to deal with in the early part of the race. Scarsbrook picked up another prize on the night as he spearheaded the Badgers men’s team to glory. Ryan Preece was another key part of that quartet as he battled bravely in 8th spot (27:25) while veterans Chris Horton (27:44) and Mark Cox (27:51) finished 12th and 13th. Horton bagged one of only four Rhodium County Standards in the men’s race, and Cox earned a huge new personal best time with a terrific high-tempo effort. The duo also collected age category prizes on the evening. Danny Warren placed well in 28:35, and Will Pickering managed a solid 29:13, which would have taken the club record a decade earlier. Adrian Payne celebrated his 42nd birthday with a sub-30 run to bring the B-team home.

Employee of the month and local legend Luke Neal ran hard for his 30:41, just ahead of skipper Glyn Broadhurst, and Lee Taylor is fast becoming a reliable producer of quality performances as he cruised through the line in 32:06. David Grant put in another decent shift, missing his gold standard by just four seconds in 33:42 but still a terrific effort from the 50 year old currently in some of the best form of his career. Matt Green finished seconds behind him before Dave Purvis sped through in 34:34, a personal best. 

Jim Cottom and Neil Rose both went well, and Mike Garrett continued his superb form with a personal best time of 35:48. Ben Shaw ran a fine 36:00 with Bill Gutheridge, Ashley Taylor, Wayne Repton and Mark Reynolds all running strongly. Adrian Parkes ran a big PB in 37:37 and his training partner Rob Crow followed soon after to clock up his 100th competitive league race for the club, becoming only the sixth person ever to achieve the hugely impressive feat. Adam McElhone found his way to a league race and helped himself to a personal best time of 40:41. Marc Corbett, Nick Miles, and Matt Smith all ran well before Andy Smith rounded up a trio of Badgers Smiths over the line in successive places with a thirty-second PB of 46:08.

The ladies enjoyed considerable individual successes with a string of personal bests throughout the evening. Taking time out from her busy holiday schedule was skipper Megan Griffiths, who ran an exceptional 5 mile PB of 34:38, her first PB as a vet athlete. Fellow vet Susie Stringer continued her excellent 2026 form with a silver standard time of 35:39 while Emma Masser simply gets better with age,  running 36:26 (PB), a magnificent achievement. Rapid Rachael Browne was next through in 38:23, closely followed by Stacey Horner and Jane Barrett, who also ran a big PB (38:36). This meant that the first six ladies through were in the vets category, but young blood was soon on the horizon as the up-and-coming Erica Bassford flew back in a fine 39:14 ahead of her big challenge two days down the line. 

Joanne Crow has enjoyed a quite remarkable season so far. In the shape of her life and knocking PB’s out at will, she took on the 5 mile distance, covered several times already in this league season, and duly set a new record of 39:41. The upcoming Snowdonia marathon is in for a hell of a beating if this trend continues. Jill Miller, Hannah Burgess and Yvonne Faulkner battled gamely and hardworking Holly Smith picked up a PB with a time of 45:27, almost a minute and a half quicker than ever before. Sharon Jackson, Kate Rathbone and Sara Hawkins made sure the night was a memorable one for all at the club. 

As well as the league race, there was further action for Badgers over the weekend. Erica Bassford made the long trip down to Ealing in west London for the Ealing Mile and ran a cracking 6:56 on her distance debut, bagging herself a set of club standard times three weeks before the annual cut-off date – great running and commitment. Neil Rose produced a sparkling display of running at the Solihull half, coming home in a brilliant 1:43:20, a personal best, while Liz Peel notched up half marathon number 83 on her gruelling journey to three figures, in 2:23:51. 

Martin Graham was in action at the British Transplant Games, taking the silver medal in the 5K race walk as well as a fine 5th in the 5K road race and 3rd in the 1500m, a busy and successful weekend for him. Holly and Andy Smith were in action at Walton on Thames for the Phoenix Running 10K event, clocking 71 minutes each as well as starring in the Brighton parkrun which completed their set of ten original events run. 

Elsewhere at parkrun, Emma Masser was the sole victor of the weekend as she came out on top at Hastings High School in Hinckley with a fine 23:20. There were also top ten finishes for Karen Thompson (Rosliston), Rachael Browne (Sutton Park), Jo Hardy (Babbs Mill), Hannah Burgess (Bedworth) and Glyn Broadhurst / Megan Griffiths (Innsbruck, Austria).