Week Ending - 2025/09/13

BADGERS IN THE MOO-D TO CARRY ON STRONG AT HOSE 10

A rather depleted army of 15 Badgers made their way over to the other side of Leicester to take part in the Inaugural Hose 10 Mile Race in the Leicestershire Road Running league. It's the first time in 7 years that the league incorporated a 10 Mile event in its calendar, the last one being John Fraser 10 in 2019. Organised this time by Stilton Striders, who previously worked to bring the Stilton 7 on regular years. The course was a mix of terrain, with lots to see on the way, including a herd of Cows that made running past for the 471 finishers a rather more nerve-racking one! It was now confirmed that the team were out of contention for winning the League for a seventh year; however, what is confirmed is that Matt Scarsbrook is the 2026 Leicestershire Road Running League champion for a second year running. He also returned to winning ways after finishing second last time around at Hermitage 5. His time of 53:27 was almost a minute clear of second-placed Alex Adie from Desford, and having already wrapped the individual title up a few weeks ago, he showed no signs of taking his foot off the pedal with a dominant display to bag himself first-ever winner of the new race. His preparation continues as he looks ahead to the Great South Run in a month with his first claim club, Birchfield Harriers. Next back for the club was Will Pickering, who has had a super renaissance of form since coming back from injury; the hyrox specialist came home in 62:43 to come in the top 30. Men's Captain Glyn Broadhurst came in next in a solid time of 65:04. Mark Repton was next back for the club in a superb time of 66:22. Next across the line and first lady back for the club, was Megan Griffiths, who set a new 10 Mile PB of 73:15. She has been in fine form this season and has been one of many who have contributed to a strong ladies team for the club this season. Dave Purvis was next back, setting himself a PB, finishing in 74:35. Matt Green came in next in 76:32, a very brave outing considering he suffered from glute pain during the race. The tough and tenacious Emma Masser was the next lady home in 77:49, setting a new PB by five minutes. Wayne Repton was in next in 78:36, and Janey Barrett was next home in 80:05. Ericca Bassford has had a wonderful season so far, and her time of 82:42 was an incredible eleven-minute PB from her previous effort over this distance. Marc Corbett ran 90:45 to come in next for the club, while Mark Brown ran 91:47 to come through with a gritty performance. Alice Belcher and Sharon Jackson were the last Badgers through and crossed the line together in 1:47:31. A Good showing by the Club and a lot of terrific times acheived again by so many, with two races to go there are still lots to be decided and lots to run for, the table's shows the Men's team are still in contention to finish either second or third, The Ladies team however are still in danger and need two big performances to claw their way out of the drop zone, so its certainly looking a grandstand finish to what has been an interesting season. 

Elsewhere on what was such a busy weekend of running, we had our Club Chairperson Danny Warren run in the Ilam Three Peaks Fell Race. He finished in 12th Place and 3rd V40 overall. He now continues his training to take on the next races of the series, and all the club wishes him well. Yvonne Faulkner-Grant ran the Big Bear Trailfest at Holdenby House and finished in 10th Place overall in 65 Minutes.

Our Parkrun roundup begins in Tamworth, where Mark Repton was first back for the club in 22:00, earning him a top-20 place. Matthew Smith was next home in 29:05, meanwhile David Jarvis ran 30:06. Sara Hawkins was the fourth and final Bagder back in 36:45. Over at Kingsbury we had more of the club running; Jim Cottom ran superbly to run a speedy 21:02 and come in 12th. The promising young talents of Dan Ash and Mia Cox came in virtually side by side as they ran 23:03 and 23:04. Mia's time was her quickest at Kingsbury so far. David Craig warmed up well for his Great North run as he ran 24:02. Club Captain Glyn Broadhurst was a click behind in 24:03. Megan Griffiths came back in 25:11, whilst Rachael Browne wasn't too far behind in 25:18. Lilly Wilson and Kat Wilson both came in together in 26:37, meanwhile Thomas Ash was next in 26:42. Colin Lees was next home in 27:19. In contrast, Jill Miller came in next in 27:58. Joe Jenkinson was next back in 28:02, while Mark Cox ran 29:56. Paul Wallace and David Ash were the last of the club back in 30:10 and 32:04 respectively. Over at Bedworth Parkrun, we had Anna Savin-Baden, who ran 58:35, and over at Victoria Embankment Parkrun in Nottingham, we had Serena Baker run 27:39 and Liz Peel run 30:51. 

Since joining the club 2 years ago, Susie Stringer has been a strong, competitive figure amongst the ladies' team, setting several Personal Bests in distances over her time, from the Mile to the Marathon. She is no stranger to big events; earlier in the year, she ran the London Marathon for the third consecutive time, so when she entered the Great North Run, she expected another amazing day. so it was that she deservedly gained her place in the race, and the trip up to the North East was now an exciting reality. She is an avid supporter of many charities and has fundraised for organisations such as PHAB, which is a UK National charity that brings disabled and non disabled children and adults together to enjoy social activities. She is also a big ambassador for the Royal British Legion and SSAFA, for which she raised over £2,000.00 in this year's edition of her London Marathon. She's a special part of the club, and her tenacity shows in her efforts for the ladies' team in the Leicestershire Road Running League, where she has been a main contributor. The weather in Newcastle was Ideal, if not a touch on the warm side, where all 63,000 runners start on the central carriageway in the city centre all the way down to South Shields. This warm weather was a contributing factor to many times on the day, but as always Stringer battled hard and put together a finish of 1:44:12. A quite sensational effort on a tricky up-and-down course, and just over four minutes off her PB that she set at Benidorm in November last year, on a much flatter course, let it be known. Her dedication to the sport and her charities has inspired many others in the club to do their own bit of fundraising themselves, and certainly this result shows there is much more to come from Susie for the rest of the year. 

She wasn't the only Badger involved in the 45th Great North Run; Adrian Payne earned himself a place and ran a very solid 1:29:02, coming 899th out of 63,000 who potentially started. David Craig also made the journey up North and came back in a brilliant time of 2:06:41. Jill Miller wasn't feeling so comical in the heat as she ran a still incredible time of 2:17:24. Nick Miles was raising money for Multiple Sclerosis Trust, and he ran his fastest half of the year in 2:23:25. Christine Morris was the last of the club back in an incredible 2:38:51, to round off an incredible Great North run for the class of 2026.