Week Ending - 2025/10/18

FROM ZERO TO HERO

He was far from the ideal preparation heading into the Yorkshire Marathon on Sunday, but David Grant somehow still delivered a time for the ages with his magnificent PB of 3:19:45. His goal was to break 3:30 and six weeks into his 14-week training block, everything was going swimmingly. So well, in fact, that the Nuneaton man pushed himself a little too far and a thigh injury resulted in the next two months being characterised by an extremely limited capacity to train. 

In between visits to the physio, Grant worked diligently on doing what he could do to keep fit and not go too far backwards, being ultra careful with his diet and fitting in light exercise in line with the advice given by legendary local physiotherapist Mat Jones. He was given an outside chance of making it to the starting line but without the normal catalogue of multiple long runs behind him, never mind high weekly mileage and speed sessions, what time he would be capable of was very much an unknown. Indeed, would his leg hold up well enough in order for him to finish the race? And had his fitness declined too far for him to be even able to complete a marathon?

It is fair to say that his fitness was in pretty robust shape four months out, having done well at the Rasselbock Sherwood Pines marathon event, but while he was experienced over the longer distances off-road, this 26.2-miler would be his first purely on tarmac. The race started smoothly, and the halfway point was reached with no adverse issues. In fact, it was only when Grant got to mile nineteen that the lack of focused training began to really bite hard. He used every ounce of his ex-Armed Forces mentality to dig deep when the going got tough, and despite losing pace over the last few miles, he was able to limit his losses remarkably well, crossing the line in a dream time of 3:19:45. When he signed up, it was meant to be a one-off, but maybe he will be tempted to try again to see what he is capable of, from a more traditional and less disrupted build-up. He celebrated his 52nd birthday the following day, with a gentle walk!

Two nearby towns held their annual 10K races on Sunday, drawing Badgers to them in roughly equal proportion. The Tamworth 10K has for years been plagued with the tag of being short in distance, despite its flat profile. The 2026 edition seemed to buck the trend however, with very few grumblings of the race coming in at 9.8K or similar and it was the reliable Luke Neal who led the club home with a very solid sub-40 effort in 14th place (39:48). Hot on his heels was fellow V40 ace Jim Cottom (43:32) with Ellis Cahill running a respectable 44:45. Rachael Browne was first female Badger back in 48:46, with Marc Corbett (51:41), Chris Brookes (57:05) and the likeable Megan Church (61:21) all performing well. New recruit Nicky Bassford ran her first-ever race and finished in an excellent time of 63:13. 

Nuneaton’s 10K made a re-appearance after an absence of 7 years, the fast three lapper attracting a high calibre field of runners, mostly from the immediate area. First Badger back was Susie Stringer, who ran her socks off to finish in 42:07, the second-fastest 10K in club history and a massive new personal best. Aston Villa fan Chris Young clocked a decent 47:25 before the cavalry arrived in the form of Paul Cooper (52:33), Anna Savin-Baden (56:57 PB) and Mandy Stain (60:54). Debbie Bremner ran well in 61:45, with Sarah Kilburn managing a PB in 64:13 and V60 20-mile club record holder and cat-sitter extraordinaire Gail Gunn getting round nicely in 68:02. 

Parkrun saw plenty of action across the Midlands with one male and one female winner amongst the Badgers ranks. At Kingsbury Water Park, golden boy Ryan Preece dominated proceedings in 17:09, a run as sick as it was quick. In the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, Laura Starkey bagged top spot in 23:34 while husband Sam finished third male in 20:11. Janey Barrett celebrated a big birthday with a fourth place time of 25:21, with the rapid Rachael Browne close behind in 8th. Over at Bedworth, Luke Bennett ran a fine four laps to end up 8th in 21:05. The experienced Mark Repton took 6th at Tamworth in 20:21, and Adrian Parkes bagged a career-high finish of 4th at The Plens parkrun in 24:00, a very solid operation indeed. Megan Griffiths took 3rd place at Gladstone parkrun running 23:51, and the fleet-footed Suzy Farrell managed a fine 9th at Chasewater in 25:18. 

The fastest female of the weekend was youngster Mia Cox, who hared round Abbey Park, Leicester, in a magnificent 20:37, good enough for a fine 4th place in a high-quality field. Not surprisingly, this was a new personal best, the sub-20 target slowly coming into focus now over the coming months.

The fastest male was Chris Horton, running at Walsall Arborectum, scene of his four fastest parkruns of all time, including this one. In taking second place in 16:33, he was able to wrap up his club Standard Times for 2026-7 within seven weeks of the season beginning, and therefore also recording his 58th consecutive Platinum Plus standard parkrun.