Month: January 2024

There’s nothing quite like setting yourself a challenge for the weekend and then going out and achieving that goal. For five Peel Road Runners that challenge was to tick off the letter ‘Z’ on their ‘alphabet of parkruns’, which meant a trip to Poland to run the Zamek w Malborku parkrun! Ian Orton crossed the line first for the club in 23:28, closely followed by Mark Boffey (23:58); Sarah Boffey (32:09); Jackie Tierney (34:14) and Michael Hughes (35:20).

Closer to home, Emma Pick ran the Rosliston parkrun in a time of 21:23; Caroline Evans ran at the Isobel trail, Stafford in 30:22 and Mike Shelton ran at Beacon Park, Lichfield (22:54). Kingsbury parkrun had a good turnout of Peelers with Phil Neale finishing in 24:00, followed by Darren O’Leary (25:26); Ben Dorkins (30:25); Claire Guffick (31:05); Lee Guffick (37:37); Roger Eastaff (37:41) and Wendy Bowyer (44:37). Finally, Tim Mudd crossed the line at the University of Northampton parkrun in 24:35; Garth Cox ran at Holbrooks, Coventry in 25:53, whilst Sophie Galloway (28:11) and Wendy Roe (31:14) represented the club at Tamworth Castle parkrun.

Canicross runner, Rob Mace, took part in the Canicross Midlands event at Solihull Riding Club over the weekend coming first in the two dog category, running the 5k course in 17 minutes on both days. Helen and Neal Dempsey also had good runs with podium finishes in their categories. Peel Road Runners welcome runners of all abilities and meet in the Skate Park car park every Tuesday at 6.45 pm (see website for further details).

With the festive season in full flow (and the local rivers too!), there haven’t been too many events to tempt Peel Road Runners into their trainers. However, at the fast and very competitive Wheaton Aston 10k road race in December, Wayne King finished his brilliant year of racing with a personal best performance, crossing the finishing line in an impressive 36:44.

After flooding had negatively affected local parkruns over Christmas and New Year, it was with some relief that the weekly running events could be held this week. Running on a slightly revised course to take into account the ground conditions in Tamworth Castle Grounds, Allen King was first home for the club in 22:46 followed by Rob Mace (23:04); Phil Neale (23:35); Chris Bennett (25:00); Ian Orton (25:15); Tim Clark (25:41) and Sophie Galloway (34:21). Emma Pick was the sole Peeler at Conkers stopping the clock on 21:58. At Kingsbury Water Park, Wayne King was first finisher in a time of 19:15, followed by Luke Collins (20:27); Mike Shelton (22:07); Darren O’Leary (24:24); Claire Guffick (29:28); Stella Taylor (29:40); Joy Sykes (32:20); Emma Whorwood (33:24); Ann Hill (43:48); Sarah French (43:50); Alison Dolphin (43:52) and Lee Guffick (45:04). At Sutton Park Simon Gordon finished in 25:27 and Jackie Tierney in 28:42. Meanwhile, Garth Cox ran at Chasewater in 25:40; Michael Hughes ran at Severn Valley in 43:00; Tim Mudd ran at Babbs Mill in 24:54; Mick Stevenson ran at Warwick Racecourse in 35:43; Steph Attenborough ran at Oaklands in 29:51 and Wendy Roe ran at Beacon Park in 33:03.