Month: October 2021

This weekend was a slightly quieter weekend for Peel Road Runners from a racing point of view, although many Peelers were out and about around the country flying the flag for Tamworth!

V75+ superman, Bob Donovan, ran another marathon! Two weeks after completing the London marathon, Donovan ran the Marston Mortaine trail marathon near Bedford finishing in 5:48:26. This was the fourth in the race series, requiring runners to complete as many laps of the four mile course as possible within a 6 hour period and by completing the marathon distance, he earned the fourth medal to complete the challenge. 

The Oxford half marathon is always a “sell out” event with this year being no exception. It is estimated that 13,000 runners crossed the start line of the fast and flat course, which took in the buildings, parks and universities of the famous city. Clara Walton, the Peelers sole representative at the race, finished in a creditable time of 2:18:00. Asked about the route, she said that the “nice flat course had great spectator support and that she would thoroughly recommend it!”. 

Further west at the Weston Super half marathon, Ian Cooper just ducked under the two hour mark to finish in 1:59:00, followed by Tanya Murphy in 2:29:00. The race is unique in that, whilst it takes in the glorious sites of Weston Super Mare and surrounding Somerset villages on closed roads, it is the only road race to finish a quarter of a mile out to sea on Weston’s Grand Pier!

After Kingsbury parkrun was cancelled last week due to flooding, a sense of normality returned this week for those Peelers who call Kingsbury “home”. First Peeler home was Mike Shelton, a member of the Core Team at Kingsbury, in a time of 20:53. He was closely followed by new member Ben Dorkins, who is showing huge potential and finished in a personal best time of 21:31. Other runners included Chris Bennett (22:52), Mark Boffey (26:58), Sandra Ingram (28:48), Darren O’Leary (28:48), Phil Neale (28:49), Jo Insley (30:43), Emma Whorwood (38:10) and Sarah French (60:00). Peeler Stella Martin, who is running 5k every day in 2021 to raise money for Cancer Research with the parkrun being her 289^th consecutive day of running, also ran at Kingsbury and finished in 26:30!

Parkrun tourists this week included: Joy Sykes who achieved a personal best time of 28:10 assisted by her dog, Charlie Barkrunner at Blyth Links parkrun in Northumberland. At Cannock Chase parkrun, Rob Mace finished in third place in a time of 19:45, whilst at Walsall Arboretum Jackie Tierney crossed the line in 59:20. Other tourists included: Andy Pickard (22:08) who ran at Concord parkrun in Sheffield; Tim Mudd (26:24) ran at Perry Hall parkrun; new member Tony Bryan, who ran a personal best time at Conkers finishing in 23:57; Ian Cooper (25:31) at Burnham and Highbridge and Tanya Murphy (31:22) at the same event. At Newborough Forest on Anglesey, Neal Dempsey ran with his dog Banana finishing in 29:55.

At the same parkrun, Helen Dempsey and Sydney completed the course in 32:02. Closer to home at Sutton Park, Claire Guffick finished in a course personal best time of 29:24 and husband Lee Guffick scanned his barcode on 41:37. Mick Stevenson flew the Club flag at Warwick racecourse with a time of 31:46, whilst Club Secretary Alison Dolphin (38:57) ran at Sandhurst Memorial parkrun. Finally just the one ‘hi-vis hero’ this week, with Garth Cox volunteering at Bedworth parkrun.

Age is no barrier at Peel Road Runners and to prove the point, M75-79 veteran Bob Donovan ran last week’s London marathon in a time that many much younger runners would be proud of. He completed the 26.2 mile course with a ‘Good for Age’ place in 5:29:27, a result all the more impressive as he had been unwell with Covid earlier in the year.

Manchester marathon is always popular with club members and this year was no exception. Richard Satchwell chose this race as his first marathon and ran an impressive 3:47:51. Jenna Colin completed the course in 3:56:05, whilst Mark Boffey ran an amazing personal best knocking over 29 minutes off his previous best time to finish in 4:20:13. 

Claire Guffick ran the Manchester half marathon held on the same day and finished in a time of 2:22:15, whilst husband Lee Guffick crossed the finish line in 2:53:29.

Meanwhile, at the Royal Parks half marathon in London, Jackie Tierney had an encouraging return to racing after a frustrating injury which had restricted her training programme and finished in a creditable time of 2:23:00. 

Several Peelers enjoy the additional challenge of running with their dogs in canicross races. At the Canicross Midlands event in Bedford at the weekend, Rob Mace came second in the Long Course (5k) running with Axis, whilst Neal Dempsey and Helen Dempsey came third in their two dog Short Course (3k) classes. Neal ran with Banana and Hugo and Helen ran with Minstrel and Sydney. It’s worth noting that all the Peeler pooches are rescue dogs, rather than purpose bred “sled” dogs!

Kingsbury parkrun, the Peelers home parkrun, was a lonely place this week as all the Club’s parkrunners chose to become tourists! Running at Rosliston, new club member Ben Dorkins finished in a swift time of 22:36, whilst keeping to the forestry theme, at Conkers parkrun John Vann (30:18), Alison Dolphin (46:33) and Christine Norris (47:22) enjoyed the challenge of a new route. Further north in Bridlington, Sophie Galloway (28:03) ran her landmark 50^th parkrun at Sewerby. Other ‘tourists’ included Marie Llewellyn (23:55) at Telford, Mick Stevenson (34:05) at Colby, Amroth in Pembrokeshire, Nick Neale (20:50) at Perry Hall, Garth Cox (23:42) at Bedworth, Mike Shelton (21:26) at Sutton Park, Ian Cooper (23:57) and Tanya Murphy (30:19) at Babbs Mill, Jackie Tierney (29:48) at Salcey Forest, Harwell in Northamptonshire and Tim Mudd (26:32) at Edgbaston reservoir.

The main event of the weekend was the return of the Virgin London Marathon after an absence of almost two and a half years, with 40,000 lucky runners pounding the streets of London and a similar number running the virtual marathon.
Mark Harriott completed his 26.2 miles around London in a strong 3:19 hrs. Kathryn Adams completed the event in a time of 3:54.27 hrs, just ahead of Judith Matthews who finished in a time of 4:05.30. Martyn Candy came home in a time of 5:37.10.
Friend of the club Ashley Baldwin made it round the streets of London in a superb time of 2:40.09 hrs.

Closer to Wayne King ran the virtual London marathon along the roads of Staffordshire and Warwickshire completing in a strong 3:21.43 hrs. Bob Donovan also completed the virtual marathon in a time of 5:29.37. 
The Chester marathon also took place on Sunday with Malcolm Bembridge finishing in a time of 3:54.51 hours and picking up not one but two medals in the process, one for his marathon and the other for completing the Chester Triple series, having already completed the Chester 10k and Chester Half Marathon in recent weeks.

On Saturday morning Parkrun was as usual well supported. Kingsbury Water parkrun was as usual the best supported event with Lawrence Williamson was first home for the club in a very respectable time of 18.51 mins. Mike Shelton was next home in a decent 21.37 mins. He was followed by Darren O’Leary (24.17 mins) and Ashley Goodman (25.00), who finished just ahead of Stuart Hatton (25.01). Stella Martin was the first lady Peeler home in 26.22 ahead of Marcus Fairburn (26.49), Claire Guffick (29.09), Clara Walton (29.36), Jackie Tierney (30.18), Ann Hill (32.24), Lee Guffick (37.06), Christine Norris and Alison Dolphin (both 45.38). Thanks also go to George Hope and Mike Shelton for volunteering to support the running of the event.
Several Peelers were on their travels, with Tim Mudd finishing in 29.38 at Congleton parkrun, Andrew Pickard finishing the Concord Sheffield event in 22.33 mins and Garth Cox recording 23.23 mins at the Chasewater event. Tanya Murphy completed the Oaklands parkrun in 29.24 mins while Sophie Galloway ran the Beacon Park Lichfield event in 27.22 mins and Michael Stevenson cantered home at Warwick Racecourse in a time of 30.25 mins.

Peel Road Runners were well represented at Sunday’s Rotary Club Cathedral to Castle 10 mile mixed terrain race. The race started in Beacon Park in Lichfield before running through the city and passing Lichfield Cathedral. It then followed the lanes to Whittington before going onto the trails across the Firing Ranges and into Hopwas Woods. A leg-sapping run up through the woods was rewarded with a cramp-inducing downhill stretch onto the canal at Hopwas, followed by a flatter section through Wigginton Park before finishing with a lap of the Castle Grounds in Tamworth. The weather conditions were perfect for the 884 runners who finished the race.

First Peeler home was the in-form Wayne King, finishing in a time of 1:03:00 and in 7^th place out of 884 runners. Following not far behind was Rob Mace in a time of 1:07:57. Third Peeler home was Phil Neale in 1:15:09, closely followed by first lady Peeler Rachael Rickards in a time of 1:16:00. In total 27 Peelers crossed the finish line in Tamworth including Richard Satchwell and Kathryn Adams (1:18:00), Lisa Stretton (1:18:52), Ash Goodman (1:20:21), Craig Smith (1:22:39), Chris Bennett (1:24:53), Natalie Walker (1:24:57), Donna Read (1:28:07), Marcus Fairburn (1:28:11), Andrew Gilman (1:29:01), Helen Chyla (1:29:04), Stuart Hatton (1:29:12), Sophie Galloway (who ran a personal best time of 1:29:18), Carl Hole-Maloney (1:29:20), Joanne Harvey (1:30:28), Sandra Ingram (1:37:18), Claire Guffick (1:46:05), Emma Petricca (1:48:45), Ann Hill (1:53:22), Lisa Vickery (1:56:47), Helen Dempsey (1:59:23), Nicola Bannister (2:12:59) and Alison Dolphin (2:16:13).

Meanwhile, Val Lawson took part in the 10 mile Charnwood Challenge trail run near Loughborough finishing in 2:14:00. The run, which was organised by Nanpanton Scouts, covered an undulating and scenic route that included Windmill Hill, Broombriggs Hill and Beacon Hill. 

Several Peel Road Runners supported Peeler Mike Shelton in his role as Race Director at Saturday’s Kingsbury parkrun by volunteering as finish funnel marshals and timekeepers. Without volunteers there would be no parkruns, so thanks to Alison Dolphin, Claire Guffick, Ann Hill, Sarah French and Alison Upton for representing the club in these roles. 

Running at Kingsbury, Darren O’Leary was first Peeler home on the 5k course in a time of 23:09. He was followed by Mark Boffey (24:11), Ash Goodman (24:19), Lisa Stretton (27:04); Stella Martin (27:14), Jackie Tierney (29:41) and Lawrence Williamson (38:22). 

Parkrun tourists this week were Tanya Murphy at Brueton parkrun (38:04), Garth Cox at Walsall Arboretum (23:39), Tim Mudd at Babb’s Mill (27:41) and Michael Stevenson at Warwick Racecourse (34:50).