Month: October 2017

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Peel Road Runners were pushing themselves to the limits (and beyond) last weekend with some fantastic individual performances.

In Oxfordshire, Martin Hollamby executed a meticulously prepared training plan for the Abingdon Marathon and took an incredible 19mins off his previous 26.2 mile personal best time to post his first sub 3hr Marathon of 2:58:04hrs, finishing in 72nd place overall and pushing Martin’s body and mental strength well beyond its limits.

In the same event Michael Shelton and his sidekick ‘Trevor the Bear’ completed their third marathon in as many weeks running and raising money for the charity MIND. Another superb run from Michael saw the pair of them cross the finish line with a time of 4:20:00hrs. Two incredible results for very different reasons.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”629″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][vc_column_text]In Sutton Coldfield on Sunday was the Cinder Path 10k Cross Country run (the sister race of the 7pools run which is held earlier in the year) which takes in a route around the seven pools located in Sutton Park. It was Shaun Coyle continuing his recent good running form who was the first Peel Road Runner back across the finish line with a superb 10k time of 48:22mins and in 47th place overall. Garth Cox also ran the Cinder Path race and followed Shaun home in 98th place with a time of 53:02mins. Some excellent cross country prospects for the Peel Road Runners XC Team in the 2017/18 Cross Country League.

Down on the south coast and in the face of Storm Brian, Richard James ran the Great South Run held in Portsmouth. The weather conditions didn’t seem to phase Richard as he ran a new 10mile personal best time of 01:27:58hrs. This followed Richard’s outing two weeks before at the Oxford Half Marathon which he finished with a time of 1:59:27hrs.

The local Parkrun events were once again well attended by the Peel Road Runners with Robert Hirst the sole representative running at the Conkers Parkrun and managing a time of 24:44mins for the 5k route.

Over at Kingsbury Water Parkrun it was new member Emma Pick who crossed the finish as not only the first Peel Road Runner but also the first female in a time of 20:35mins. Hot on Emma’s heels was Darren O’Leary who smashed his previous best by 15secs to record a new PB of 20:41mins by chasing Emma down to the finish line. Shaun Coyle wasn’t too far behind finishing with 22:14mins ahead of Garth Cox with a time of 23:33mins.

Allan Williams was next to finish with 25:21mins ahead of Stuart Hatton 25:25mins, his first pain free run for a while, Tim Mudd 25:43mins and George Hope 25:53mins.

Sophie Galloway & Vicky Gilks continue to improve their 5k times with both posting new PB’s. Sophie’s time of 25:59mins took 1:30min off her previous personal best time whilst Vicky took 28secs off her previous best 5k time.

Peel Road Runners meet every Tuesday and Thursday at 7pm at the Snowdome in Tamworth.

New members are always welcome.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Peel Road Runners descended on Birmingham city centre on Sunday to either participate or to provide support to the thousands of runners who took to the city’s streets for the inaugural Birmingham International Marathon & Half Marathon events.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”619″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][vc_column_text]The Marathon race which started at the Alexandra Stadium in Perry Bar, meandered through the city centre and out towards Edgbaston. From there it was an ‘unpopular’ double loop from Edgbaston out to Bourneville and then back towards the city centre with the finish line adjacent to the Aston University buildings. Unseasonably mild weather brought warm running conditions after the rather grey drizzly start out at the Stadium.

Leading the Peel Road Runners back home was Ashley Baldwin who finished the 26.2mile route in 43rd place overall with a superb sub 3hr time of 2:56:42hrs. Not too far behind Ashley was Robbie Baden who was mildly disappointed to finish just outside the automatic qualifying times for London with a time of 3:10:48hrs and in 146th place overall.

Malcolm Bembridge was the next Peeler to finish with a time of 3:56:45hrs. Jenna Wilson was the first Peel Road Runner female to pass the finish shared the same time as Malcolm with 3:56:45mins. The final sub 4 hour finisher for the Peelers was Trevor Thompson with an excellent time of 3:57:01hrs.

Simon Smith overcame some serious cramp problems on the second loop around Edgbaston with the aid of a salt tablet given to him by another club runner. Simon went on to finish just outside the 4hr mark with 4:02:46hrs. The next Peel Road Runner to reach the finish line was Michael Shelton who managed 4:14:49hrs for his 2nd marathon in seven days with Trevor the Bear on his back and was just ahead of Craig Strong with 4:19:18hrs and Darren O’Leary with 4:24:00hrs.

Sandra Ingram, completing her second marathon for 2017, was next to finish with 4:31:38hrs just ahead of Darren Cotton running his first marathon and finishing with a time of 4:38:02hrs.

Joanne Insley put in a stoic performance and finished with an amazing 4:43:02hrs, putting all her recent injury concerns behind her which had threatened to deny her of her place on the starting line.

Robert Donovan ticked off yet another marathon on his 2017 challenge and crossed the line in 5:27:05hrs but the performance of the day came from an exhausted Darren Truman, who having suffered a calf injury in the early stages of the race, had the mental resilience to battle on through the pain to cross the line with a time of 5:45:09hrs.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”621″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][vc_column_text]The 13.2mile Half Marathon race was scheduled later on the same day and took in parts of the marathon route from the mornings race but started and finished in the city centre. It was Phil Neale who was the first Peeler back across the finish line with 1:43:58hrs just ahead of Shaun Coyle who managed a superb 1:45:36hrs for his first half marathon.

Jason Church followed Shaun home with a time of 2:09:42hrs and Sam Harris managed a half marathon PB with a time of 3:11:08hrs.

Away from the busy city centre, Val Lawson was rewarded with some (rather smelly) cheese for her efforts when she ran 56:29mins in the Stilton Stumble 10k, a road race around some of the scenic Nottinghamshire villages and surrounding countryside from where the cheese is made.

Finally, the weekends wouldn’t be the same without a Parkrun and many Peel Road Runners were out for their, now traditional, Saturday morning 5k run. At Kingsbury Water Parkrun it was Shaun Coyle putting in some final Half Marathon prep who lead the way home crossing the finish line with a time of 22:25mins just ahead of Garth Cox who managed a new PB time of 22:54mins. Robert Hirst was next to finish with 24:36mins ahead of Stuart Hatton with 25:51mins and George Hope with 27:24mins. Marking her 50th Parkrun with a new PB was Caroline Evans, who was also the first Peel Road Runner female to finish, with a time of 30:21mins ahead of Laura Bowyer with a time of 32:30mins.

Peel Road Runners meet every Tuesday and Thursday at 7pm at the Snowdome in Tamworth.
New members are always welcome.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Peel Road Runners Val Lawson & Dave Fern picked up individual awards in their respective age categories at the annual Burton & District Summer League (BDSL) Presentation evening last week. Michael Shelton was also recognised for competing in all 8 of the races for the Peel Road Runners in the 2017 season. Congratulations to all winners and hopefully more awards in 2018 as the club continues to grow its member base.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”613″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][vc_column_text]Peel Road Runners Val Lawson & Dave Fern picked up individual awards in their respective age categories at the annual Burton & District Summer League (BDSL) Presentation evening last week. Michael Shelton was also recognised for competing in all 8 of the races for the Peel Road Runners in the 2017 season. Congratulations to all winners and hopefully more awards in 2018 as the club continues to grow its member base.

Sunday 8th October was the date for this year’s Tamworth 10k event. A popular local run which starts and finishes at the Castle Grounds and takes in a 2 lap 5k circuit of the grounds, canal and streets around the nature reserve area. Over 500 entrants started the race in what were un-seasonally mild weather conditions but that didn’t stop the Peel Road Runners putting in some fantastic performances with some notable individual achievements.

For the Peel men, it was Shaun Coyle who was the first to complete the 10k route finishing with a time of 48:08mins, obviously motivated by the on-course cheerleaders. Behind Shaun was Robert Hirst who crossed the line in a time of 50:14mins with Marcus Fairburn just behind with 51:03mins.

It was the Peel Road Runner women who really shone on the day. New member Emma Pick finished the race as the 1st female to cross the line in what was her first ever official 10k race. Emma’s time was a fantastic 43:08mins. But more achievements were to follow as Sophie Galloway achieved a new 10k PB with a time of 55:03mins. Lisa Jones-Bignell followed Sophie home in 56:28mins with Christie Rosser just behind with 56:30mins. Jayne Coles was also running her first ever 10k race and finished with a time of 1:08:44hrs. Emily Heyworth was the next Peeler to post a new PB time of 1:09:19hrs and Moira Twiggs Bucknall finished her first ever 10k race with a time of 1:10:43hrs.

Michael Shelton started his ‘4 marathons in 4 weeks’ challenge down on the south coast in Bournemouth. Michael, running with Trevor the Bear strapped to his back, is raising money for the charity MIND and finished his first of 4 in a time of 4:35:13hrs.

Up in the north west, Tricia & Richie Bunn were running the Chester Marathon and once again it was Tricia who took the family honours crossing the line just ahead of Richie with times of 3:49hrs & 3:51hs respectively.

Lisa Fletcher took to the mud at the weekend to participate in the St Giles 5k Mud Run. With no time in mind and running for fun and to raise money for charity, Lisa finished in about 1:20hrs or thereabouts (those were her own words).

On Saturday mornings Parkrun, at Kingsbury Water Parkrun it was Shaun Coyle who just missed out on a new PB with a time of 22:07mins who was the first Peel Road Runner to cross the line. Garth Cox also just missed out on a new PB with a time of 23:17mins. Robert Hirst was next to finish with a time of 24:35mins. Behind Robert was Allan Williams with 26:19mins, Stuart Hatton with 26:22mins, Michael Stevenson with 29:06mins (a new PB), Darren O’Leary with 33:04mins.

For the Peel Road Runner women, it was Sophie Galloway who led the way home with a new PB time of 27:29mins just ahead of Emma Livingstone who ran a new PB of 27:48mins. Caroline Evans was next to finish with 32:07mins followed by Christine Keenan with 33:15mins.

Finally, good luck to all Peelers running in events this weekend, especially those participating in the Birmingham Marathon.

Peel Road Runners meet every Tuesday and Thursday at 7pm at the Snowdome in Tamworth.

New members are always welcome.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]