News & Updates

It was another mud fest for the seventeen runners from the Club who took part on Sunday in the latest leg of the Derby Runner Cross Country League, over a new course at Mallory Park. Leading the way was Andy Hawtin, who recorded an excellent 35^th place finish, over what he recognises is not his favourite racing surface. Next, in 91^st, was one of the Club’s most consistent runners on all surfaces, Mark Harriot, who just got the better of Chris Hanman, who justifiably laid claim to the ‘performance of the day’ as he collected the 93^rd place finishing token. Rom Chambard ran strongly for 102^nd place with the rest of the team scorers, Andy Orme in 131^st, Matt Long in 151^st, Ian Archer in 179^th and Ross Ballinger in 195^th spread out down the field. Chris Elsegood ran strongly for 212^th with Joe Baldwin and Mitch Timms in fairly close order in 237^th and 245^th finishing places. Robin Thorne in 265^th, Mark Nixon in 275^th and David Walters in 298^th completed the Club’s finishers in the men’s race.

The improving Katie Dennis led the Club’s women home, in what was a very competitive race, with a superb 21^st place finish. Women’s Club Captain, Lisa Wright ran strongly for 34^th with Nikki Reeves in 54^th and Becky Lenaghan in a well-run 109^th completing the women’s team finishers. Emma Sharp, a day after reaching the milestone of 250 parkruns, finished in 150^th with Anna Casey collecting the 167^th place token after another committed run. Julianne Walters chose one of the longest and muddiest cross country courses to make her debut at the discipline and deserves great credit for passing the test with flying colours as she finished in 172^nd place.

Four of the Club’s runners were on a slightly firmer surface as they tackled the annual Sneyd Christmas Pudding 10 miler. Over a relatively flat course but in gusty conditions Chris Mason was first back in 71:55, a performance that was good enough to secure the MV65 prize and a 49^th place finish. Also amongst the prizes was Tracey Glover, whose well deserved distance PB of 75:18, secured the WV45 prize and a 71^st place finish.  Steve Leafe battled well for his 75:47 with the hard running Gary Price completing the quartet with a highly creditable 82:51. Lastly, James Farmer, a first year student at Aberystwyth proved he is making the most of university by setting a superb PB at the Aber 10k of 35:39

Abbey does it again!!!

The cross country races come thick and fast at this time of year and this Sunday, in the Derby/Stafford division of the Derby Runner League, it was a new course at Cliff Lakes, Tamworth that the hardy souls, including thirty two from the Club, had to tackle. Needless to say it was very wet and muddy but this didn’t deter Abbey Van Dijk as, for the second consecutive week, she won the women’s race by a significant margin. Abbey was well supported team wise by a resurgent Christina Hawtin in 5^th, Women’s captain Lisa Wright in 21^st and the determined Nikki Reeves in 25^th. Second Claimer Fiona Betts was next in 28^th followed closely by Hazel O’Brien in 30^th and the improving Katarina Compton in 37^th. Becky Moult powered home in 53^rd followed by Sarah Walters in 60^th and Shannon Hurdman, cross country debutant Helen Clarke and Anna Casey in 89^th, 94^th and 95^th places respectively.

The Club’s men’s team were led home by Chris Pearson, who revels in the mud and wet, and finished here in an excellent 3^rd place. Someone who has displayed remarkable consistency across all surfaces this year is Mark Harriott and he put local knowledge to good use to finish in a superb 24^th place. The yellow vests then swamped the finish area as the hard running Ben Holmes, Shane Chapman, Micheal Walters and Andy Allsop collected the 28^th, 29^th, 30^th and 32^nd finishing tokens. In a morning of good performances Micheal Walters, on his cross country debut, deserves special mention for a consistent, well-paced effort in testing conditions. Men’s Team Captain, Andy Orme in 48^th and race debutant Hector Arenas in a well-run 55^th completed the men’s team finishers. Mention should also be made of another debutant Darren Wilson who finished in 41^st but unfortunately couldn’t count in the team because of his second claim status. David Green finished in 60^th just edging out another second claimer James Cox in a very promising 61^st. Veteran Matt Long made light of the conditions to finish in 66^th getting the better on this occasion of Ross Ballinger in 81^st, Chris Elsegood in 86^th, the improving Jo Baldwin in 92^nd and another vet, Kev Clarke in 94^th. David Walters, another debutant Paul Newman and Robin Thorne gave everything to the cause as they completed the Club’s finishers in the men’s race in very respectable 112^th, 117^th and 126^th places respectively. 

In another busy running weekend there was also significant contingents from the Club in road race action in the popular Clowne and Silverstone Half Marathons. Over a challenging Clowne course there were a significant number of terrific performances with Chris Hanman first back in a personal best chip time of 94:16 for an excellent 56^th place finish. One of the Club’s most improved runners this season Romain Chambard was three places back in 94:31 before Steve Leafe, in arguably his best performance of the year, stopped the clock in 97:45. There was also a well-deserved personal best from Katie Dennis of 98:02 who led home Tracey Glover in 100:48 and Ian Archer in 101:41. Paul Glover recorded 105:25 before another excellent distance personal best of 107:10 from Mark Murkin. Andy Meadows ran well for his 109:04 as did Gary Price for 114:45, David Lunn for 129:07 and Emma Sharp for another well-deserved distance personal best of 137:44.

Silverstone race track was the iconic venue for a series of road races on Sunday with the Club’s contingent of five tackling the half marathon distance. Tim Rhodes was first back in 97:50 followed closely by Andy Lindley in a chip time of 97:52. There was ecstasy and agony for the next finishers with John Pegg ducking under the two hour benchmark in 119:56 and Ellie Dickson and Sarah Rhodes agonisingly missing out with 120:13 and 121:03.  

Fifty four members from the Club were in action over the weekend at five different venues and the thing they all had in common was……wet feet!! Laying claim to the wettest feet were the sixteen who took part in the first leg of the Derby Runner Cross Country League (Leicestershire Division) at Holly Hayes Wood. With the usual mix of rocks and gratuitous water hazards you need to be resilient to survive and Abbie Van Dijk was all of these as she won the women’s race by a significant margin. She was given great team support by Team Captain, Lisa Wright in 38^th, Katarina Compton in 61^st and Anna Casey in 197^th. The men were deservedly led home by Mark Harriott in 85^th with strongman Shane Chapman in 96^th and debutant Sebastian Van Dijk in a well-run 104^th. Ben Holmes ran strongly for 113^th with something of a gap before Adrian Middleton, making a welcome return to the mud and water, finished in 199^th. Steve Leafe battled around for 205^th place before Chris Elsegood and Ian Archer completed the team scorers in 212^th and 223^rd places. Special mention should be made of second claimer Rich Miller who ran strongly for 44^th place but was unable to count in the team and to Joe Baldwin, second claimer Mitch Timms and Mark Nixon who battled well for 270^th, 306^th and 317^th places respectively.

Equally wet were the seventeen who tackled the Derby 10 mile race which, surprisingly given the conditions, featured a significant number of distance PBs for the Club’s contingent. The Club’s first three finishers Danial Bower, Ross Clarke and Darren Holmes were separated, on chip times, by 23 seconds and three finishing positions as they finished in 30^th, 31^st and 33^rd places in times of 61:48, 61:56 and 62:11 respectively. Rob Eaton, still recovering from the Chicago Marathon, ran solidly for his 65:56 as did Nathan Holmes in 67:45 and Tim Rhodes in 68:09. The next three finishers were separated by 13 seconds with Rom Chambard, Andy Lindley and Christina Hawtin recording 68:58, 69:01 and 69:11 and all having the satisfaction of recording distance PBs. Men’s Club Captain, Andy Orme returned to form with 69:31 just edging out the resilient Matt Clemson in 71:32. Ross Ballinger, Becky Moult and John Pegg ran well for their chip times of 82:42, 87:49 and 88:31 as did the improving Emma Sharp as she stopped the clock in 100:00. Shannon Hurdman and Pauline Cooper gave their usual maximum effort to complete the Club’s finishers in 114:40 and 122:12.

Also with solid, if wet, ground beneath their feet were the seventeen who tackled the Matthew Walker Christmas Pudding 10k. Leading the way for the group was Steve Bullock in a very respectable 41:37 with Mikey Walters not far behind in 42:33. David Green, Chris Hanman and Phil Daws all ran to form in recording 44:40, 45:21 and 47:02 before, what was arguably the Club’s performance of the race from Mark Murkin, as he stopped the clock in 47:28. Kev Clarke couldn’t quite replicate the distance PB performance of son Ross at the Derby 10 mile but rolled back the years in recording 50:10 with another experienced runner Gary Price doing well for 51:02. Kelvin Taylor and Dave Walters finished closely in 53:03 and 53:26 with Andy Meadows next in 54:31. Sarah Walters ran superbly for her 55:38 as did Becky Lenaghan in 58:03. David Lunn also ducked beneath the hour with 58:40 before Jan Cobb, Helen Clarke and Julianne Walters completed the Club’s finishers in 66:16, 71:12 and 74:10 respectively.

Paul and Tracey Glover raced much further afield as they tackled the 13 Arches Trail Half Marathon near Manchester and both ran with distinction as they recorded very respectable times of 01:41.47 and 01:42.30. Chris Mason, probably had the driest feet, as he competed on Saturday in the annual British and Irish Masters International XC at Aintree Racecourse over a flat, almost dry 6km course. Chris managed to finish as third scorer in the victorious English team and fifth overall in the MV70 category.

Danial frightens the opposition!!!

In excellent running conditions, apart from a pond size road flood, 35 members from the Club made their way to Worksop on Sunday for one of the best races on the calendar, the Halloween Half Marathon. The good running conditions were reflected in some excellent times including a number of distance personal bests. Danial Bower had the distinction of leading the contingent home with an excellent chip time of 01:25.00 for 46th place. Tim Rhodes continued his season long improvement with 01:26.06, a time some 10 minutes quicker than his performance in last year’s race. Christian Glover, fresh from winning 3 medals at the World Kick Boxing Championships in Glasgow, ran well for 01:30.04 with Stuart Halsey, after a busy running month, including the recent Chicago Marathon, kept his form to record 01:32.54. Andy Orme and Romain Chambard both ran together for a while before Andy edged in front as the duo recorded 01:34.33 and 01:35.27 respectively. Chris Mason’s time of 01:36.36 was good enough to secure the MV70 prize before multi-marathoner, Andy Lindley stopped the clock in 01:38.29 and Chris Elsegood stormed to a well-deserved distance PB of 01:38.52. Tracey Glover ran superbly to record 01:39:58 edging out, on this occasion, Micheal Walters in 01:40.50, Chris Hanman in 01:40.55 and, husband Paul, in 01:42.44. On chip times Katie Dennis, Ian Archer and Ross Ballinger finished in relatively close order in times of 01:44.13, 01:45.32 and 01:45:48 with London Marathon bound Lisa Wright getting the better of the fast starting Matt Long with times of 01:47.01 and 01:47.15 respectively. Again, on chip times, Mark Murkin was next in 01:48.28 before Becky Moult, one of a party of the Club’s runners who recently ran in the heat of Palma, Majorca, finished in 01:49.49. There was then something of a gap before Joe Baldwin and Gary Price finished in relatively close order with 01:55.08 and 01:55.32. Dave Walters ran a solid 01:58.00 before two of the performances of the day from Robin Thorne and Ellie Dickson. For Robin it was a distance PB of 01:58.23 and Ellie’s 01:59.07 was 20 minutes quicker than her time in last year’s event.  John Pegg and Karen Wilks just missed out on sub 2 hour performances with 02:00.22 and 02:00.33 before another terrific performance of 02:05.45 from Becky Lenaghan, who was paced around the scenic route by Nikki Reeves, who finished in the same time. David Green and Sarah Walters also finished closely with times of 02:11.28 and 02:11.30 with David Lunn battling well for 02:12.10 before Emma Sharp in 02:20.35 and Anna Casey with 02:33.40 completed the Club’s finishers. For Emma though her performance emphasised her season long improvement as she shaved 7 minutes off her time in last year’s race.

In almost polar opposite conditions on Saturday Jenny Laing, Mark Harriott and Mitch Timms tackled the Snowdonia Marathon Eyri. In cold and wet conditions with the running surface resembling a stream in places Jenny Laing was first back in 03:37.39 with Mark Harriott, still with the Chicago Marathon in his legs, recording 03:59.30 and second claimer Mitch Timms a very creditable 04:58.59.

When the leaves turn to brown and the days get shorter runner’s thoughts turn to cross country and Sunday at Anslow, for members of South Derbyshire Road Runners, was the start of what will be a busy and competitive cross country winter. There was a terrific turnout of 39 runners from the Club for this, the first leg of the Derby Runner League. On a day of many terrific performances it was Chris Pearson who led the men’s team home with a brilliant 2^nd place finish. Chris, one of the Club’s strongest runners, has raced sparingly on the road this season so it was a real bonus to see him run so well here. Ross Clarke, fresh from a sub 3 hour performance at the recent Chester Marathon, ran superbly for 6^th place with ultra-distance man Andy Windle in 8^th and the Club’s man for all seasons, Mark Harriott shaking off any fatigue from the Chester Marathon to finish strongly in 11^th. Rich Miller, a day after a half marathon, ran well for 14^th place with Andy Alsop in 26^th, Nathan Holmes in 30^th and Men’s Team Captain, Andy Orme in 35^th giving everything to complete the team finishers in the men’s race. 

Matt Long raced strongly to finish in 51^st with debutant Dave Green showing well in 59^th before a close battle between Ross Ballinger in 64^th and another debutant, James Cox in 65^th. Barry Saunders another recovering from a gruelling autumn marathon finished in 71^st before the inform Paul Glover in 74^th, Chris Elsegood in 85^th, Joe Baldwin in 94^th and Adrian Leigh in 95^th crossed the line. Gary Price collected the 104^th place finishing token before Mark Murkin in 113^th, second claimer Mitch Newman in 126^th and debutant Mark White in 131^st completed the Club’s finishers in the men’s race.

Another making her racing debut for the Club was Abbie Van Djik and a couple of weeks after winning the Chester Marathon she showed her pedigree here by finishing in a superb 2^nd place in the women’s race. A true measure of her performance is that overall she was the 3^rd finisher for the Club. The resurgent Christina Hawtin and Ellie Evans finished in 4^th and 5^th places with Tracey Glover in 11^th completing the team finishers in the women’s race. Solid support was provided by another with the Chester Marathon in her legs, Katie Dennis in 12^th, ironwoman Lisa Wright in 18^th and Becky Moult and Nikki Reeves in 27^th and 28^th respectively. Sarah Walters ran strongly for 65^th place as did Becky Leneghan in 76^th and Emily Atkins in 87^th before Anna Casey in 97^th, Shannon Hurdman in 98^th and the determined Pauline Cooper in 112^th completed the Club’s finishers in a very competitive women’s race.

Prize day!!!

Tamworth was the venue for the final race in this year’s Burton and District Summer Road Racing League and as the results came in it was clear that both the Club’s men’s and women’s teams had secured their respective championships. In great running conditions, over a relatively quick 5 mile course, it was Liam Bradbury, as he’s done so regularly this season, who led the Club’s contingent home with a superb 4^th place finish in a chip time of 27:37. Together with James Farmer’s 30.11 and Mark Harriott’s 30:27 the trio secured the race’s men’s team prize. Mark is going through a real purple patch and his performance here was also good enough to secure the individual MV50 prize in a very competitive category. Sam Bassett, back in action a few days after completing, together with team mate Ben Holmes, the gruelling 191km, GR20 trail across Corsica, showed no ill effects in stopping the clock here in 30:50. Rich Miller, a day after smashing his parkrun PB, edged out an injury hampered Andy Hawtin in 31:46 and 31:59 respectively. Dave Hobbs, another fresh from a parkrun PB, continued his good form with 32:48 with Nathan Holmes, a week after a strong debut marathon in the New Forest, not far behind in 33:02. Louise Insley ran strongly for her 33:43, which secured a well-deserved WV45 prize and was kept reasonably close company by a resurgent Christina Hawtin who finished in 33:55, Matt Clemson in 34:20 and Team Captain Andy Orme in 34:29. Chris Mason with 34:58 was another prize winner in the MV70 category with the improving Chris Elsegood close behind in 35:38. Nigel Atkins was next to finish in 35:51 before the  tightest inter-club battle involved the improving Ross Ballinger, Paul Glover and Ian Archer as they stopped the clock in 36:08, 36:12 and 36:13 respectively. Steve Leafe battled round in 36:42 with Tracey Glover, defying heavy legs from marathon training, finishing in 38:01. Barry Saunders, another who tackled the New Forest Trail Marathon last weekend, finished in 38:33 with Tony Richards, Gary Price and Rebecca Moult giving everything to finish in 39:31, 40:44 and 41:05. John Pegg and Robin Thorne both finished strongly to record 41:24 and 42:22 with Robin’s reward being a distance PB. Karen Wilks ran well for 43:49 before Shannon Hurdman and Alison Jackson completed the finishers for the Club in well-run times of 53:32 and 64;04 respectively.

Rob Eaton and Felicity Towns raced closer to home with Rob finishing 2^nd overall in 38:05 and Felicity, making a welcome racing appearance stopping the clock in 76:37

Chris is Good!!!

The running gods were in perfect symmetry on Sunday for the Wilne 10k; nice temperature for running, slight breeze, a flat course with long straights and a high quality field all combined for a barrage of personal bests (PBs) from the 22 from the Club who took part. Jack Leafe led the contingent home with a superb chip time of 36.11 for 41^st place.  James Farmer 37.13 showed that he is returning to something like his best before he joins the student exodus in a couple of weeks-time for his fresher’s year at Aberystwyth.  Tim Rhodes was the first to shatter his distance PB with an excellent 37.56. This performance augurs well for Tim’s autumn marathon double of Berlin and Chester. Club debutant Darren Holmes ran a superb race to stop the clock in 38.10 before Chris Hanman showed exactly what he is capable of crossing the line in a PB of 41.11. Chris Mason finished in 42.53 to secure the MV70 prize with Steve Leafe recording an improved 43.44 before, arguably the performance of the day, from Chris Elsegood, who obliterated his PB with an excellent 44.37. Phil Daws and Paul Glover continued the theme of good performances with 44.59 and 45.21 respectively before Andy Meadows recorded a well-deserved PB of 45.31. Robin Thorne ran solidly for 53.26 before Kev Clarke and Ellie Dickson crossed the line together in 53.55 and 53.56 respectively. Karen Wilks and Emma Sharp gave everything in recording 54.17 and 59.32 before Tracey Glover and Emily Atkins finished together in 61.26 and 61.27 with Becky Atkins close behind in 62.07. Angela Daws continues to improve with every race recording 63.01 here before Mary Sharp and Pauline Cooper gave their usual maximum effort in completing the finishers for the club in 66.13 and 70.17 respectively.

Men’s Club Captain, Andy Orme was also tackling the 10k distance but this time the trail variety in the Sherwood Pines 10k. Andy ran with real distinction finishing in 26^th place in a very respectable 43.37. Andy Lindley, Becky Moult, Romain Chambard and Katie Dennis enhanced their endurance by tackling the South Cheshire 20 recording excellent times of 02.28.17, 02.46.19, 02.46.21 and 02.47.22 respectively.  

Team work pays off!!!

Sunday saw the penultimate leg of this year’s Burton and District Summer League with the 38 Club members, who lined up at the start of the Burton 10k, looking to consolidate their position as leaders of the League’s men’s and women’s team competitions. The Club’s standing locally was re-affirmed as the Club’s men scooped the race’s team prize as they were led home by Liam Bradbury in 4^th place and a distance PB of 35:31. On a course that is noteworthy for the significant early climbing and in far from ideal running conditions, including Liam’s, there were as many as 10 distance personal bests from the Club’s runners. Following Liam home was form man Ross Clarke who finished in a PB of 37:50 for 16^th with reigning men’s club champion Andy Hawtin and youngster James Farmer giving chase in chip times of 38:02 and 38:06 and 17^th and 19^th finishing positions. For James it was a distance PB as it was for Sam Bassett, who had a tight race with Danial Bower, before just losing out in finishing times of 38:24 and 38:28 and positions of 21^st & 22^nd respectively. Dave Hobbs was another to record a well-deserved PB of 39:00 getting the better on this occasion of Chicago Marathon bound Stuart Halsey who stopped the clock here in 40:00.  Next to finish was Jennie Laing who ran superbly for 3^rd place in the women’s race in a chip time of 41:24. Jennie, who has performed so consistently over a range of distances this season, had the dubious satisfaction of finishing behind serial race winner, Charnwood’s Juliet Potter, who in winning the women’s race set a course PB of 37:03. Jerome Jones, Andy Lindley, Barry Ross and Chris Hanman all ran with distinction in recording 43:03, 43:10, 43:18 and 43:36 respectively before Barry Saunders and the improving Ross Ballinger had their own personal battle as they crossed the line in 85^th and 86^th places and finishing times of 45:14 and 45:21. Matt Long continued his upward trajectory in 87^th place in 45:37 with the battling Steve Leafe two places behind in 45:42. One of the Club’s most improved runners, Paul Glover finished in 46:10 getting the better, on this occasion, of Will Hirst in 47:02 and the resolute Katie Dennis in 47:13. For Will it was a welcome return after an injury lay-off and for Katie it was yet another valuable contribution to team points.   Another recording a PB was Chris Elsegood who crossed the line ahead of Phil Daws but recorded an identical chip time of 48:36 with Tony Richards not far behind in a PB of 48:57. James Cobb, Dave Walters, Gary Price and Joe Baldwin all ran with distinction in recording 49:20, 50:19, 51:11 and 52:08 before Katarina Compton scored valuable team points in recording a distance PB of 52:23. John Pegg’s 53:48 led home Club race debutant Sarah Rhodes in 54:16 and Karen Wilks in 54:25 with Sarah Walters continuing the PB theme with a very respectable 54:34. Veteran Kevin Clarke looked very relaxed in recording 55:15 just ahead of a very popular PB of 55:18 from Ellie Dickson. Shannon Hurdman, Emma Sharp and Juliane Walters gave everything as they completed the club’s finishers in 60:21, 61:57 and 69:47 respectively.   

Mark Harriott was the Club’s sole representative in the Newark Half Marathon but ran with his usual distinction in recording 88:39 for a top 100 finish. Andy Meadows stretched his legs in the Draycote Water Summer Series 10k and recorded a superb 46:28 while Rob Eaton, Tim Rhodes, Shane Chapman and Ralph Huthmacher were experiencing the Dublin craic in the Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon. While performances may have been hampered by the experience all could wear their post-race green tee shirts with pride as they recorded 84:47, 91:03, 91:15 and 119:52 respectively.    

Andy all the way!!

It’s probably the busiest time of year for local runners with the past fortnight the peak of the racing calendar. For Club members there was a good presence at Friday night’s Colin Potter Memorial 10k, involvement at the inaugural Gunby Gallop and the challenging Ashbourne Half Marathon on Sunday, then last Tuesday the latest leg of the Burton and District Summer League (BDSL), the Worthington 5 followed last weekend by the Snowdon Trail Marathon Brooksies Bash and the Crich Monument Race.

41 members from the Club lined up on the start line for the latest version of the long standing Worthington 5. The current route goes out and back along the Cloud Trail and in humid conditions it was Andy Hawtin who led the contingent home in an excellent 29:48 and 7^th place. Laying an early claim as one of the Club’s most  improved male runners Ross Clarke was next in 30:17 and 11^th place with little separating Danial Bower and Sam Bassett in 30:35 and 30:36 and 16^th and 17^th places and James Farmer and Mark Harriott in 21^st and 22^nd and 30:51 and 30:54. For the Club’s first three finishers their performances clinched the men’s team prize while the group finished first men’s team in the BDSL as they move one step closer to the series title. MV50 Rich Miller was next in a well-run 31:23 before Jenny Laing warmed up for Sunday’s Snowdon Trail Marathon by storming home 1st in the women’s race in a superb 31:47. Louise Insley ran her normally consistent race to stop the clock in 33:27 to finish 2^nd in the women’s race with Christina Hawtin, getting back to her best form, in 3^rd place in 35:14. This secured the trio the races women’s team prize and with the improving Lisa Wright finishing in 36:37 first category place in the BDSL.

In terms of the Club’s overall finishers Nathan Holmes followed Jenny Laing home in 32:03, which confirmed he is well on track for a marathon debut later in summer. Matt Clemson is another who warmed up for the Snowdon Trail Marathon with a pacey 32:53 with Andy Orme, buoyed by being first back for the Club in the Colin Potter 10k, continuing his rich vein of form here with 33:52. Nathan Fagan continued to work back to full racing fitness and autumn’s Berlin Marathon with a solid 33:58 before you could virtually throw a blanket over Romain Chambard, Barry Ross and Andy Lindley as they occupied consecutive finishing places in 34:31, 34:34 and 34:37 respectively. If there was a prize for endurance it would go to Rom, another whose running has gone up a notch lately, as he ran with distinction in the Colin Potter 10k, followed it up approx.36 hours later with the super challenging Ashbourne Half Marathon, sped round the Worthington 5 two days later then had a few days off before donning camelbak and tackling the Snowdon Trail Marathon.

Chris Mason and Glenn Smith were separated by a mere 2 seconds as they finished in 34:57 and 34:59 with Ross Ballinger continu ing to progress with 35:50, Nigel Atkins and Barry Saunders stopped the clock in 36:02 and 36:36 with Andy Windle easing round in 37:22. In a night of good performances Becky Moult ran well for 37:24 with Kevin Clarke, Paul Glover, Nikki Reeves, Tony Richards and Tracey Glover pushing her all the way home as they recorded 37:28, 37:32, 37:32, 37:57 and 37:57 respectively.   Hazel O’Brien did well to duck under the 40 minute barrier with 39:55, getting the better on this occasion of Phil Daws, Gary Price and Mark Murkin as they finished in 40:06, 40:11 and 40:31 respectively. John Pegg was next to cross the finish, conveniently located in the Malt Shovel pub car park, in 41:45 before Emily Atkins continued her series pre-eminence in the FU20 category as she finished in 44:19 before Ellie Dickson, Tony Phillips, Becky Lenaghan, Emma Sharp and the determined Pauline Cooper gave maximum effort in the humid conditions to complete the Club’s finishers in 44:36, 46:44, 48:48, 50:09 and 55:50

Jenny takes some catching!!!

Sunday saw the latest leg of this year’s Burton and District Summer League over the stiles and the off road terrain of the Gate Gallop 10k. The Club were again out in force with 38 runners lining up on the start line. In a day of great performances it was the Club’s women who were to the fore with the resilient Jenny Laing finishing 1^st in the women’s race in a superb chip time of 42.01 and leading the team, also comprising Christina Hawtin (3^rd place in 46.04) and Lisa Wright (6^th place in 48.36) to the women’s team prize. Katie Dennis and Tracey Glover were 7^th and 8^th in the women’s race in 49.21 and 50.42, performances that scooped well deserved 1^st Female Senior and 1^st FV45 prizes. Amy Brookes ran well for her 60.55 as did Becky Lenaghan, Emma Sharp, Jane Ward-Stanton and the improving Shannon Hurdman, who recorded chip times of 64.11, 64.57, 65.49 and 66.43 respectively.  New to the distance, Angela Daws did brilliantly to finish in 69.52 with Becky Atkins, Ellie Dickson and Emily Atkins finishing in close order in 71.01, 71.09 and 71.09. The battling Pauline Cooper completed the Club’s finishers in the women’s race with a very respectable 75.39.

There were also some terrific performances in the men’s race with the standout one being a 2^nd place finish for Jack Leafe in a superb 37.36. A performance that was given added credence by the fact that Jack completed the Cumbria Way walk during the week. Next back was James Farmer in 38.57 for 9^th place and 1^st Men’s U20. James was one of many of the Club’s athletes who took part in Friday’s inaugural Fractured Marathon at Calke Abbey and confirmed his terrific promise with the fastest leg at this well-received event. In 18^th place was Rich Miller in a chip time of 40.48 and again a popular 1^st place in the MV50 category. Nathan Holmes, in one of a number of stand-out performances, made light of the uneven terrain as he warmed up for an autumn marathon debut in the New Forest with 41.26. The endurance prize though went to Sam Bassett who after a 3 hour marathon on Friday night powered around a far from easy course here in 41.40. On very much local terrain Mark Harriott showed his terrific consistency to record 42.15 with the triathlon training Matt Clemson running well to record 43.27. Tim Rhodes battled round in 44.37 with Andy Lindley, another who completed a marathon on Friday night, then leading a group comprising the returning Nathan Fagan, Romain Chambard and Chris Mason home in 45.36, 45.44, 45.45 and 45.48 respectively. For Chris it was a winning debut in the MV70 category. The yellow vests then crossed the finish line in even tighter order with Nigel Atkins (47.05), Andy Orme (47.22), Steve Leafe (47.34), Ross Ballinger (47.59), Paul Glover (47.59) and Ian Archer (48.07) all finishing within 10 finishing places of one another. Kev Clarke looked relaxed in recording 51.19 with Tony Richards not far behind in 52.52. As was the pattern in the men’s race Gary Price, Mark Murkin and Malcolm Moore in recording 53.38, 53.41 and 53.45 finished in consecutive finishing positions. Last but not least Phil Daws, who paced his wife around this far from easy course, finished in 69.53.

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