Month: March 2026

This weekend was Peel spirit at its finest: miles everywhere, smiles everywhere, with thirty‑four Peelers at twelve different parkruns, a huge turnout at Ashby 20, and adventures stretching from Wilmslow to the Netherlands, the black and yellow made its presence known.

🟦 parkrun Round‑Up

At Kingsbury Water, Phil Neale led the Peel contingent with a sharp 22:09, followed by Ben Dorkins in 23:37. Katie Stretton ran an excellent 24:48, closely followed by mum Lisa in 24:50. Darren Truman continued the strong showing with 28:47, while Stephen Andrews and Ann Hill crossed the line together in 42:23 and 42:24. Nicola Bannister rounded off the group with a determined 44:35.

Over in Shrewsbury, Emma Pick delivered the standout parkrun performance of the entire weekend. Her superb 19:16 earned her second female and sixth overall, a truly outstanding run that continues her excellent form.

Tamworth Castle Grounds saw a huge Peel turnout and a wide spread of times. Ashley Goodman opened strongly with 22:02, followed by Wayne Richardson in 23:21. Sami Futrill ran well for 24:51, while Chris Bennett and Allen King were separated by just one second in 25:23 and 25:24. Cheryl Flint continued the steady flow of Peelers with 27:09, followed closely by Stuart Hatton in 27:22. Marcus Fairburn clocked 27:49, with Owen Slater finishing in 29:19. The later runners showed just as much determination, with Jo Bovington completing her run in 39:53, Sarah Boffey in 41:23, and Tracy Ford finishing in 56:37.

Elsewhere, Peelers were scattered across the country and beyond. At Beacon, Roger Lloyd ran 23:41, Mike Shelton produced a strong 21:26 and Garth Cox finished with a 61:12. At Birchall Playing Fields, Tim Mudd completed his run in 26:18, while at Doddington Hall, Jacqueline Tierney recorded a solid 30:26. Milton Keynes saw Graham Lane finish in 35:18, and at Park in the Past, Ian Orton ran 33:44. Peel tourism even extended to the Netherlands, where Michael Hughes ran 25:03, and Mark Boffey followed in 25:19 at Zegerplas.

🟨 Ashby 20

Ashby 20 once again delivered everything we love about it: atmosphere, camaraderie, sunshine, grit, and — this year — a Peeler being chased by a gorilla. It was a classic edition of the race, and Peelers rose to the challenge in style.

At the front of the pack, Wayne King produced a superb run, finishing in 2:12:35. Ian Orton followed with a strong 2:48:17 and Mike Shelton with a 2:55:36 finish. Georgie Mead rounded out the leading group with a smooth and controlled 2:58:35.

The middle of the pack was filled with determined and impressive runs. Lorna Carlin finished in 2:58:48, followed by Simon Gordon in 3:06:52, while Lydia Knight completed her first-ever Ashby 20 in an excellent 3:07. Tracy Ford continued her consistent form with 3:11:20, and Gemma Pritchard followed in 3:14:52. Sophie Galloway celebrated a well‑earned personal best with her 3:15:21 finish.

Claire Guffick completed the course in 3:54:51, while Emma Whorwood finished in 4:06, Emma Petricca completed her first Ashby 20 in 4:08, closely followed by Emma La Planche in 4:08:27. Alison Upton rounded out the Peel contingent with a hugely significant 4:19:56 — her longest ever run and her first time tackling the event. Every single runner earned their famous Ashby hoody the hard way, and the smiles in the group photo said everything.

Away from Ashby, Peelers were busy elsewhere, too. At the Wilmslow Half Marathon, Lee Rickards delivered a superb performance, finishing in a personal best time of 1:21:20 — an outstanding achievement in a competitive field.

On the trails, Lorna Al‑Ani completed her first race as a Peeler at the Trails of Mena Marathon, finishing just under 4:15 on a challenging course. Meanwhile, Jo Sharman and Steph Attenborough took on the LDWA Charnwood Marathon, battling 3,000 feet of elevation and rugged terrain to finish in 9:29 — a huge endurance effort. Not content with that, they both returned the next day for Saturn Running’s Dashing Dog Run, where Jo completed a marathon in 6:18, and Steph finished the half-marathon in 3:17. Two races in two days is an achievement that speaks for itself.

A great week for Peel Road Runners with many events, PBs and challenges met and a Gorilla to add to the mix!  If you’d like to join us, we meet on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 6.45 for 7 pm at the Skate Park in Castle Grounds. For more details, visit www.peelroadrunners.co.uk

This weekend, Wayne King put in a shift as usual and ran 1 Hr 22 at the Cheshire half-marathon.

It seems it quite literally runs in the family as Tom King secured a half-marathon PB at the Cheshire half-marathon, completing the course in 1 hr 49.

As part of her London Marathon training, Samie Futrill had the challenge of the Croft circuit 20 miler in Darlington  – 10 laps of the 2 -mile course, and she completed it in an amazing 2hrs 55 – Well done Samie, you’re a better woman than me !

It was a beautiful sunny day on Saturday which saw Peelers Park runners out in mass . Full results listed below

Coventry Park run –

Alison Upton 34:24

Rosliston Park run –

Emma Pick 23:50

Merthyr Park run –

Chris Taylor 33:17

Kettering Park run –

Tim Mudd 26:18

Conkers Park run –

Roger Lloyd 24:19

Kingsbury park run –

Phil Neale 26:22

Claire Guffick 31:33

Roger Eastaff 35:23

Lee Guffick 35:38

Wendy Bowyer 36:27

Ann Hill 37:24

Stephen Andrew’s 43:36

Nicola Bannister 44:50

Alison Dolphin 45:58

Chasewater –

Michael Hughes 26:40

Warwick racecourse –

Michael Stevenson 41:05

Oaklands-

Garth Cox 30:35

Beacon-

Mike Shelton 21:40

Tracy Ford 26:56

Chris Bennett 27:06

Lorna Carlin 27:12

Simon Gordon 28:11

Sophie Galloway 28:34

Tamworth castle grounds –

Martin Hollamby 21:12

Wayne Richardson 23:37

Dan Bird 24:02

Graham Lane 26:43

Jo Bovington 28:24

Stuart Hatton 28:52

Cheryl Flint 40:21

Vermuyden way-

Ian Orton 23:47

Park in the past-

Jackie Tierney 35:45

Holme Pierrepont-

Jon Allen 25:28

Some of our Peel road runners travelled further afield 

Mark and Sarah travelled to Frankfurt to run Nidda –

Mark Boffey 25:44

Sarah Boffey 34:24

Steph and Jo travelled to Poland for Zielona Góra. Jo was completing her 7th volunteering alphabet. Only 2 people in the Parkrun world with this accolade and they are both Peel Road runners !!

Zielona Góra –

Steph Attenborough 33:11

Jo Sherman 33:25

The club are due to change to the long-awaited Summer club routes soon. If you’re interested in joining us, please let us know via the Peel road runners public Facebook page

Early March and with spring just around the corner can mean only two things, Chester 10K and Fradley 10k, both firm favourites with Peel Road Runners.

Fradley 10k is a fast, flat two-lap course around the roads and country lanes around Fradley village with a lot of PB potential. Each year, Peel Road Runners turn out in force, and this year was no exception, with 13 peelers representing the club. First back was Roger Lloyd with a great time of 48:49. Followed by Lizzy Young (56:32), Sandra Ingram (57:24), Stuart Hatton (58:07), Claire Guffick (59:19) a new PB and the first time sub 60mins, Emma Whorwood (01:00:58), Amy Davis (01:04:00), Dave Fern (01:05:07), Kelly Sippitts (01:08:22), Roger Eastaff (01:09:58), Wendy Bowyer (01:10:02), Wendy Roe (01:10:06) and Lee Guffick (01:10:27).

The Chester 10k is described as a fast course and the best city centre 10k in the Northwest, and is also the first event of the Chester Triple Series, where runners must complete the 10k, half marathon and either the full or metric marathon within the same calendar year. Seven peelers made the trip with an extremely early start to begin their quest for the coveted triple medal. Matt Salisbury was first back for the club in a fast time of 43:16. Closely followed by Allen King (46:18), Samie Futrill (49:13), Tracy Ford (53:15), Lisa Barnes (01:02:04), Helen Dempsey (01:10:17) and Neal Dempsey (01:10:17).

In Parkrun news, we have two groups contending for this week’s tourism trophy.

Firstly, Steph Attenborough and Jo Sharman decided to go to Gibraltar Botanical Gardens. An out-and-back course (3 times) on tarmac paths through trees and planted gardens, Steph completed the run in 38:39, with Jo Sharman hot on her heels with 39:57.

Secondly, three peelers made the trip to Lithuania to attend Kulturos Ir Poilsio Parkas. The course is two laps along surfaced paths that run alongside the river. In snowy conditions, Mark Boffey completed the course in 26:49 with Mike Hughes close behind with 26:52. Jackie Tierney completed the trio with 32:36.

More local parkrun tourism, Peel Road Runners appeared at several events. Tim Mudd ran Black Rocks in 26:32. Garth Cox ran Chasewater in 53:51. Coronation Park saw Emma Pick run in a time of 24:18, and Graham Lane ran 27:47 at Northwich.

Ian Orton travelled to Great Denham parkrun, where he joined the 20-minute club with a fantastic time of 20:32.

At Beacon Park parkrun, Samie Futrill ran 23:43. She was joined by some fellow peelers who, with marathon/Ashby 20 training in full effect, took the opportunity to include Beacon Park parkrun as part of a training long run (starting in Tamworth, running to Lichfield, completing parkrun and then running back to Tamworth). Mike Shelton completed Beacon Park in 24:37. Followed by Sam Cart (26:23), Simon Gordon (26:56), Chris Bennett and Lorna Carlin (both 27:29), Lydia Trenfield (27:38), Sophie Galloway and Georgie Mead (both 29:11).

As the norm, both Kingsbury Water Park and Tamworth Castle grounds were well represented.

At Kingsbury Water Park, Katie Stretton was first back for the club with 25:16. Followed by Lisa Stretton (25:35), Darren Truman (28:17), Darren O’Leary (29:19), Wendy Bowyer (01:08:39) and Roger Eastaff (01:08:49).

At Tamworth Castle Grounds, Lee Rickards was first back (for club and 1^st place overall) in an incredibly fast time of 18:14. Ash Goodman finished in 22:15 with Wayne Richardson (23:37), Tracy Ford and Jon Allen (both 25:20), Cheryl Flint (27:36) and Jo Bovington (40:16) completing the Peel contingent.

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