Liam leads the way!!!!
Burton AC hosted the latest leg of this year’s Summer League and the Club’s runners were out in force with 40 amongst the races 259 finishers. In good running conditions Liam Bradbury again led the contingent home in a superb 6th place in 58:19. The 2 lap, 10 mile course, with plenty of sharp turns, particularly around the Washlands, is not notoriously fast but Andy Hawtin’s 16th place in 62:46 was probably his best distance performance for some time. There then followed a group of young runners, many of whom have benefitted from marathon training, who are pushing each other with their race performances. This group comprised James Farmer in 18th place, Ross Clarke in 19th, Sam Bassett in 20th and Ben Holmes in 24th. Their chip times of 62:56, 63:16, 63:51 and 65:22 respectively confirmed how important this group is to team performances. Rich Miller and Christian Glover finished closely in 65:47 and 65:58 with Nathan Holmes stopping the clock in 67:51. Mikey Walters and Men’s Club Captain, Andy Orme were separated by a second as they recorded 70:24 and 70:25 with their times just edging both into the top 50 finishers. It also took a distance PB and a sprint finish from Mikey to clinch the narrow victory. Chris Mason was next across the line in 71:21 with Rom Chambard, Steve Leafe and the improving Paul Glover giving everything to finish in 72:53, 74:11 and 74:31 respectively. Paul’s improvement was highlighted by this being a distance PB. The race also acted as the Midland Masters 10 mile championship and Matt Long clinched the silver medal in the MV45 category with 75:25. Nigel Atkins, and the Club’s first woman finisher, Christina Hawtin finished closely in 75:30 and 75:33. Ian Archer, Barry Saunders and Chris Elsegood raced home in 76:10, 76:59 and 78:29 before the determined Katie Dennis in 78:46 got the chip time verdict over Ross Ballinger in 78:50. Tracey Glover ran well for 79:24, edging out the returning Adrian Leigh in 79:44. Nikki Reeves, another who has had a very busy marathon running spring, finished in 80:33 with James Cobb close behind in 80:40. The strong running Dave Walters in 81:31 led a group home including Mark Murkin, John Pegg, Diane Finch and Ellie Dickson who recorded 84:42, 90:27, 91:10 and 91:59 respectively. Joe Baldwin, Tony Richards and super vet Graham Blackshaw gave everything for chip times of 92:33, 93:01 and 94:25 before Rebecca Lenaghan in 97:30 led a group home including Sarah Walters in 105:42, Emma Sharp in 110:10, Anna Casey in 113:15 and debutant Shannon Hurdman in 118:56, who gave maximum effort to complete the Club’s finishers in this well organised, long standing race.
Jenny Laing meanwhile was enjoying the more refined air of the Lake District as she tackled the Windermere Marathon and, has become almost routine, pulled out a 03:19 performance, which clinched the runners up prize in the women’s race. Jenny also had the added thrill of this being presented by fell running legend Josh Naylor.
