Shout out for the women!
It was a big day for South Derbyshire Road Runners (SDRR) with over forty runners in action at three events, including fifteen in action at the running jamboree that is the Great North Run (GNR). The three events had a couple of things in common. The courses were all far from flat and the weather conditions were hot and humid.
The Lichfield 10k was the race of choice for many being the latest round in the Burton and District Summer Road Running League (BDSL) and the latest leg of the Club Championship. Pride of place goes to SDRR’s women who clinched the BDSL title with a race still to go. Jenny Laing led the group home in a terrific chip time of 42.22 and first place in the women’s race. Sara Insley ran superbly for 43.09 as did Christina Hawtin for 45.29 with Donna Reid, continuing to progress with a hard running 46.00. Sara Insley’s performance secured her a well-deserved first place in her age category. Tracey Glover gave her usual maximum effort in stopping the clock in 48.27 and third place in her age category with terrific support from Emily Atkins, Linda Dakin, Emma Sharp, Sophie Picket and Pauline Cooper as they finished in very respectable chip times of 52.35, 58.16, 61.01, 67.06 and 79.40, respectively.
The Club’s men must wait until next Sunday and the last race in the BDSL series, the Tamworth 5 to see whether they can clinch a Club double in the series. They did their chances no harm with some terrific performances in this race. None more so than Chris Pearson who is slowly getting back to his best after injury and led the way home with an excellent chip time of 35.54. A performance good enough to secure the MV45 prize. The ultra consistent Mark Slade was next in 38.44 with Dan Bower also ducking under the forty-minute benchmark with 39.23. The strength of the team has always been in the consistent packing right down the order and this was emphasised with excellent and important, performances by Rom Chambard, Sam Fearn, Stewart Laing, Mark Farrar and fittingly Men’s Club Captain, Andy Orme as they finished in 40.05, 42.14, 42.15, 42.53, and 46.14, respectively. Colin Mee, who has had an excellent season, is, like many of the Club’s runners, chasing an age category prize in the BDSL and his 46.27 significantly enhanced his chances of being on the podium at the presentation evening. Club mate Ross Ballinger has a terrific record of being on the start line for Club Championship races and he is also a solid performer as his 47.44 here shows. Club mate Paul Glover is running as well as ever and he was in Ballinger’s slipstream as he stopped the clock in 47.54 with Shane Stanton completing the Club’s finishers in the men’s race with a very respectable 57.04.
Only the London Marathon matches the GNR for atmosphere and a large contingent of fifteen from the Club were there on the start line to take in the delights of the Northeast on Sunday. Steve Green was first back in a very creditable 01:32.23 with Dave Green also performing well to finish in 01:36.51. Andrea Beaty stopped the clock in 01:48.52 with Neil Swift relishing the atmosphere to finish in 01:53.03. Sara Sneath, Ralph Hauthmacher, Robert Read and Matt Collins arrived in South Shields relatively close together recording chip times of 02:14.22, 02:15.19, 02:18.19 and 02:25.45, respectively. John Pegg gave everything to finish in 02:33.39 with Dave Lunn, like many others, running to raise money for terrific causes, finishing in 02:37.25. Sarah Green managed to duck under 3 hours in 02:54.27 before Lucy Cartwright and Danny Scott crossed the line together with times of 03:01.05 and 03:01.06 and Helen Clark and Teresa Swift, who most definitely will have enjoyed the atmosphere, finished at the same time of 03:08.00.
Jane Wade, Chris Mason and Pete Wright were in action at the Newcastle (Staffs) 10k, which also doubled as the Midland Masters 10k Championship. All survived the famous Black Bank recording chip times of 59.34, 49.23 and 41.40, respectively.
