Month: February 2023

On Sunday, Peeler Gemma Pritchard ran the Birmingham Festival of Running half marathon in Sutton Park. Gemma finished her second half marathon on the undulating multi-lap course in a time of 2:09:26. Steph Attenborough also ran strongly to finish in 2:23:04, a day after completing the Winter Railway Ultra 28 mile event in 7:26:56!

Being part of the Peelers is not just about running but also about supporting other clubs and runners, so when the call went out for additional marshals to help Ivanhoe Runners (Ashby) at their cross country race at Ravenstone in Leicestershire on Sunday the club was happy to help. With sunny weather and a scenic course, it felt good to be on the ‘other side of the fence’ for a change!

Peel Road Runners were represented at a variety of parkruns this weekend with a good turnout at Kingsbury. First to cross the line there was Ben Dorkins in 22:00 and 17^th place, followed by Tim Clark (22:48); Lisa Stretton(25:05); Stella Taylor (28:17); Jackie Tierney (28:43); Claire Guffick (30:12); Joy Sykes (30:34); Ann Hill (35:32); Roger Eastaff (35:37) and Lee Guffick (38:02). 

Parkrun tourists included: Sophie Galloway at Torbay (26:07); Tony Bryan at Rosliston (27:08); Allen King (22:35) and Darren Truman (25:59) at Brueton; Garth Cox (23:36) at Walsall Arboretum; Stuart Hatton (25:35) at Conkers; Mick Stevenson (33:53) at Northallerton; Mark Boffey (22:17) and Michael Hughes (37:11) at Warwick Racecourse and Mike Shelton (20:32) at Beacon Park, Lichfield.

Peel Road Runners were well represented on Sunday at the fifth race in the Derby/Staffs Cross Country League at Shipley Country Park near Heanor. Drier ground conditions than last year made for some fast times and Peel runners did not disappoint! First home for the club was second claim runner Rob Dyjak in 3^rd position overall. Next over the line for the club was Wayne King in 8^th place followed by Luke Collins (42^nd); Scott Chapman (46^th); Allen King (66^th); Mark Boffey (81^st); Billy King (96^th); Simon Gordon (103^rd); Chris Bennett (107^th); Michael Hughes (113^th) and Lee Guffick (126^th). First home for the Peel ladies was Emma Pick in 6^th place overall followed by Lisa Stretton (21^st); Lorna Carlin (22^nd); Catherine Tieley (24^th); Ling Zhuang (40^th); Sarah Boffey (50^th); Stella Taylor (61^st); Claire Guffick (66^th); Sandra Ingram (70^th); Jackie Tierney (71^st) and Val Lawson (72^nd). 

Meanwhile in Shrewsbury on Saturday, Steph Attenborough completed the Charles Darwin Day marathon at the Shrewsbury Sports Village. This was her 44^th marathon and consisted of 43.5 laps of a cycle track, which she completed in 5:33:52.

At the weekend’s parkruns, Mike Shelton was first back for the club at Kingsbury in a time of 21:12. He was followed by Ben Dorkins (22:26); Darren O’Leary (24:25); Wendy Bowyer (40:15); Claire Guffick (50:58); Sarah French (57:50) and Lee Guffick (57:52). Parkrun tourists included: Mick Stevenson at Leamington (33:38); Stuart Hatton (26:18) and Marcus Fairburn (29:09) at Conkers; Sarah Boffey (27:41), Mark Boffey (27:43) and Jackie Tierney (28:46) at Newark; Michael Hughes (37:49) at Sixfields Upton, Northampton; Garth Cox (26:32) at Sutton Park; Joy Sykes (29:34) at Blyth Links, Northumberland; Roger Lloyd (24:50) at Chasewater and Allen King (22:56) and Chris Bennett (22:56) at Oaklands, Birmingham.

After a quieter few weeks for racing, this weekend saw Peelers travelling far and wide to take on road and trail challenges. In his first race since the New York marathon in November, George Hope ran the Warwick half marathon and finished the 13.1 mile undulating course in 1:49:53 surprising himself with his speedy result at his comeback race!

The perennial Peel favourite of the Stourbridge Stagger tempted Claire and Lee Guffick back for a second time. Claire finished the hilly and muddy trail 10 mile route in a time of 2:01:22 ( 5 minute course PB) and Lee in 2:23:08 (a huge 24 minute course PB!). Val Lawson also ran an undulating 10 mile trail race, the Winter Bash which started in Ticknall, Derbyshire and followed trails around the National Forest. She finished in 1:55:31, knocking 3 minutes off last year’s result.

Ultra Runner Steph Attenborough completed a challenge, a quarter of which would be enough for most runners! She ran 4 marathons in 4 days at the Enigma Running Quadzilla races. Each marathon consisted of 7.5 laps of Caldecotte Lake at Milton Keynes, which had to be completed within 7 hours. Steph ran consistently each day with a best marathon time of 6:12:59.

At the weekend’s parkruns, Ben Dorkins crossed the line first for the club in a time of 22:11, closely followed by Mike Shelton in 22:14. Other Peelers included Chris Bennett (27:29); Allen King (27:29); Stella Taylor (28:24); Joy Sykes (32:17); Sarah French (53:49); Alison Dolphin (54:04); Ann Hill (54:53) and Wendy Bowyer (54:56). Parkrun volunteers included: Stephen Andrews, Alison Dolphin, Wendy Bowyer, Roger Eastaff, Sarah French, Claire Guffick, Ann Hill and Mike Shelton.

Parkrun tourists included: Stuart Hatton (27:40) and Marcus Fairburn (29:08) at Conkers; Jackie Tierney (30:05) at Jersey Farm, St Albans; Garth Cox (23:50) at Babb’s Mill; Mick Stevenson (33:07) at Warwick Racecourse; Mark Boffey (21:46 – a parkrun pb of 11 seconds!) and Michael Hughes (32:15) at Yarborough, Lincoln.