Month: November 2025

After the heavy rain of storm Claudia on Friday, Sunday presented come great running conditions for some races to go ahead.

Three Peelers travelled to the Cotswolds to take part in the Broadway trail half marathon. Starting in Broadway village the course first heads straight uphill to the Broadway tower before then taking an undulating loop through other local villages, woodlands and fields, all the while surrounded by some of the best Cotswolds scenery before finishing back in Broadway village. First back for Peel was Mike Shelton in 02:15:13 with Lisa Barnes and Chris Bennett following, both in 03:05:08.

The 9^th edition of the Derby 10-mile race went ahead on Sunday. Described as fast and flat with PB potential, the race starts at the Derby Arena and takes a scenic route around local villages before finishing back at the arena. Continuing her brilliant form, Emma Pick was first back for Peel in an impressive time of 59:00, taking second place female overall, but also taking first place in the Derbyshire championships (for anyone who was born or live in Derbyshire). Also running was Wayne King who narrowly missed out on a sub 1 hour race with a still very impressive time of 01:00:59.

Alton Towers theme park annual race event also took place over the weekend. The event has 5k, 10k and half marathon distances to choose from with the course taking in laps around the theme park with participants then allowed free access to the theme park rides. Charlotte Fielding took part in the half marathon distance and completed the race in a great time of 02:14:44.

With storm Claudia causing chaos on Friday many parkrun’s were called off on Saturday but this didn’t stop Peel Road Runners doing some parkrun tourism to find events still taking place.

Jamie Abbiss takes the furthest travelled award this week, attending Krakow parkrun in Poland, finishing in a fast time of 20:43.

Meanwhile in the UK, Jackie Tierney ran at Bath Skyline parkun with a time of 30:10, Ian Orton (22:06) at Colwick, Roger Lloyd (24:25) and Jonathan Allen (26:36) at Coronation park, Mark Boffey (25:31) and Sarah Boffey (28:47) at Queen Elizabeth Grammer School, Mike Hughes (22:56) at Rogiet, Emma Pick (18:34) at Rushcliffe and Ash Goodman (23:35) at Walsall Arboretum.

Sutton Park drew the biggest group of Peelers, led in by Phil Neale (24:31), Garth Cox (26:52), Jo Sharman (35:22) and Steph Attenborough (35:23).

A lot closer to home due to the flooding Chris Bennett opted for a parklie-in and finished in a time of 8 refreshing hours.

Peel Road Runners meet every Tuesday and Thursday at the Castle Grounds Skate Park car park at 6.45pm for a 7.00pm start. We also have our walking group meeting on Tuesdays, same time and same meeting place. New members always welcome.

The Athens Marathon is one of the most iconic sporting events in the world due to its deep
connection with history and mythology. It commemorates the legendary feat of Pheidippides,
who is said to have run from Marathon to Athens to announce the Greek victory over the
Persians at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. Runners run through picturesque landscapes,
with views of the Aegean Sea, olive groves, vineyards, and historical sites like the Panathenaic
Stadium, the birthplace of the modern Olympic Games in 1896. The Athens Marathon with its
historical significance and demanding terrain, represents a particularly rewarding change.
Joanne Sharman and Stephanie Attenborough accepted the challenge and last Saturday found
themselves standing on the start line in the pouring rain. Both Steph and Jo found the course
tough but as always dug deep and finished together in 6:07:02/6:07:06. A great achievement.

Closer to home, but equally picturesque, is Anglesey, an island off the Welsh coast. The
Anglesey Trail Half Marathon is set in the beautiful surroundings of Newborough Forest; the
course takes you through the trees onto the stunning Llanddwyn Island, across sand dunes and
onwards to beautiful winding woodland trails which once hosted the Commonwealth Mountain
and Ultra Distance Running Championships. Runners catch glimpses of Snowdonia amongst
other incredible views. Helen and Neil Dempsey accepted this challenge, completing the
course in 2:56:22 for Neil and 3:05:00 for Helen.

A yearly tradition for a group of Peelers has become the London Landmarks run. The group
travel to London by train and then complete a fourteen mile run; passing by numerous
landmarks, through four royal parks and stopping at the odd watering hole! This run is purely
for fun and a great day out.

Making her debut as a Run Director for Parkrun was Wendy Bowyer. The role entails being
overall responsible for event safety and proceedings during the event and at the finish line.
Wendy is a regular volunteer/participant at Kingsbury Water Park so was in an ideal position to
take on the role. As usual there was a good turn out of Peelers with Ash Goodman finishing first
in 23:25. He was followed by Katie Stretton in 26:11; Garth Cox in 26:14; Lisa Stretton in 26:19;
Tim Mudd in 27:43; Darren Truman in 27:59; Stuart Hatton in 28:01; Claire Guffick 30:30; Lee
Guffick 32:53; Emma Whorwood 33:33; Alison Upton in 33:37 and Steve Andrews in 54:32.

A 5k parkrun is often the way Peelers like to start their weekend. Emma Pick was the first
runner to cross the line at Bestwood Village parkrun, completing the course in 19:49. Black
Rocks was the course of choice for Jonathan Allen, finishing in 26:02. Ian Orton chose to run at
Dishley, Loughborough and completed the 5k in 22:30. Michael Hughes ran Nant y Pandy
parkrun in 23:42; Oaklands College, Hertfordshire was the choice of Mark and Sarah Boffey.
Mark ran in 25:36 and Sarah in 29:22. Roger Lloyd completed Sence Valley Forest Park in
24:22 and Jacqueline Tierney ran St Albans in 33:06.

Much closer to home, Tamworth Castle Grounds saw Lee Rickards complete the course in
19:17; followed by Jamie Abiss in 20:20 and Anne Whitby-Smith in 25:19.

Peel Road Runners were offered the opportunity to ‘take over’ Tamworth Castle Grounds parkrun on Saturday by providing marshals and support for runners and walkers taking part in the 5k weekly event.  In total, 25 Peelers turned out to volunteer, which provided a great opportunity to both support the parkrun most local to the club and also advertise the Peelers to everyone attending.

At the weekend’s parkruns, Wendy Bowyer represented the club at Kingsbury Water Park finishing in 37:27, whilst at Longrun Meadow, Taunton Amy Jones crossed the line in 30:35.  At Fountains parkrun, Ripon Mick Stevenson ran 39:13 whilst Ian Orton completed the Teignmouth Promenade event in 21:07. At Wollaton Hall, Emma Pick finished in 19:31 whilst at Beacon Park, Lichfield, Mike Shelton crossed the line in 20:54, closely followed by Lee Rickards in 21:42 and Garth Cox in 22:46. At Tamworth Castle Grounds, Christie Rosser was first home for the Peelers in 25:41, followed by Marcus Fairburn (28:43); Jackie Tierney (29:42); Emma Whorwood (42:51); Samie Futrill (63:42) and Billy King (63:43).  At the Plens parkrun, Desborough Joanne Sharman and Steph Attenborough crossed the line together in a time of 60:21.

Winning the prize for running the parkrun furthest from Tamworth this weekend goes to Ben Dorkins, who completed the Mensola parkrun in Florence, Italy in a time of 24:43.

Sunday 2^nd November saw the first race in the 2025/26 Derby/Burton Cross Country League which was held at a very sunny Foremark Reservoir on a surprisingly dry 6 mile course.  First back for the men’s team was Wayne King (13^th place) followed by Martin Hollamby (21^st), Mike Shelton (49^th), Matt Salisbury (59^th), James Payne (73^rd), Michael Hughes (88^th), Ash Goodman (90^th), Mark Boffey (106^th), Chris Bennett (107^th), Simon Gordon (121^st), Darren Truman (138^th) and Lee Guffick (157^th – race back marker).  First back for the ladies’ team was Lorna Carlin (32^nd), Sophie Galloway (34^th), Tracy Ford (36^th), Lydia Knight (56^th), Sam Cart (62^nd), Annie Whitby-Smith (64^th), Sarah Boffey (65^th), Lisa Barnes (80^th), Emma La Planche (81^st), Carolyne Browne (82^nd), Lizzie Young (88^th), Jackie Tierney (92^nd) and Claire Guffick (112^th – race back marker). 

Finally, although Peel Road Runners train twice a week (usually meeting in the Castle Grounds), once a month the club during the winter months the club takes advantage of the excellent facilities and coaching at Tamworth Athletics Club (with whom the Peelers have a long and mutually supportive relationship).  Lured by the well-lit track and coaching from Tamworth AC’s Derek Bolton, a large contingent of Peelers tested out their fitness and stamina on Wednesday evening.