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 2nd 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 (13th place) followed by Martin Hollamby (21st), Mike Shelton (49th), Matt Salisbury (59th), James Payne (73rd), Michael Hughes (88th), Ash Goodman (90th), Mark Boffey (106th), Chris Bennett (107th), Simon Gordon (121st), Darren Truman (138th) and Lee Guffick (157th – race back marker). First back for the ladies’ team was Lorna Carlin (32nd), Sophie Galloway (34th), Tracy Ford (36th), Lydia Knight (56th), Sam Cart (62nd), Annie Whitby-Smith (64th), Sarah Boffey (65th), Lisa Barnes (80th), Emma La Planche (81st), Carolyne Browne (82nd), Lizzie Young (88th), Jackie Tierney (92nd) and Claire Guffick (112th – 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.
