The weekend of the 8th -11th January saw Steph Attenborough and Joanne Sharman head to another overseas trip to Orlando to take on the Dopey challenge, participants ran a 5k,10k, half-marathon and full-marathon over 4 consecutive days (a total of 48.6 miles), and it gave them the opportunity to earn multiple medals
The days started with a 3 am wake-up call to Epcot -the event base, and they saw start times of between 5:10am and 5:45am. The weather was overwhelmingly warm, humid and sunny, which was a stark contrast to the Icy conditions being experienced back at home.
There were daily opportunities to have photos with the Disney characters, and the highlight of course being that they ran through all 4 parks (Epcot, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood studios to be able to ride a rollercoaster on marathon day). They achieved all milestones and said it was such a fun time
5 K race times
Steph 39:27, Jo 39:25
10k race times
Steph 1:22.15, Jo 1:22.13
Half-marathon race times
Steph 3:25.50, Jo 3:25.50
Marathon race times
Steph 6:56.07, Jo 6:56.06
With all that racing, you’d be fooled into thinking the couple may be resting when not running, but no! They were soaking up the atmosphere of the park until the wee hours, often until close, watching light shows, fireworks and refuelling with all the food
(Joanne Sharman and Steph Attenborough pictured L-R with all their medals outside Epcot ball )
Fast forward to the weekend of the 17th of January, and a beautiful sunny winter’s day greeted most of the UK and saw a record number of Peel Road runners attending UK Parkruns
Beacon
Mike Shelton 20:48, Garth Cox 22:51
Chasewater
Amy Jones 28:19
Cheltenham
Athena Mansell 26:13
Holme Pierrepont
Emma Pick 49:33
Ilfield Mill Pond
Ian Orton 35:59
Kingsbury Water Park
Ben Dorkins 25:05, Katie Stretton 25:46, Ash Goodman 25:47, Lisa Stretton 25:51, Darren Truman 29:26, Lisa Barnes 32:40, Claire Guffick 33:17, Taylor 35:00, Wendy Bowyer 41:15, Ann Hill 41:15, Stephen Andrews 41:16, Lee Guffick 41:17, Roger Eastaff 41:17, Christine Norris 67:25
Sence Valley Forest Park
Tim Mudd 27:20
Tamworth Castle Grounds
Jamie Abbiss 19:51, Allen King 22:53, Chris Bennett 23:25, Roger Lloyd 24:47, Wayne Richardson 25:49, Anne Whitby-Smith 27:02, Tracy Ford 27:08, George Hope 28:17, Sophie Galloway 28:35, Cheryl Flint 28:48, Jo Bovington 29:23, Marcus Fairburn 30:00, Sandra Ingram 30:52, Jon Allen 30:56, Stuart Hatton 31:25
Watermeadows – with a record 1279 Park run attendees!
Mike Hughes 44:42
Not satisfied enough with their American adventures, Steph Attenborough and Joanne Sharman travelled to Poland this weekend to take on Zalew Borki Park run. They also achieved their 250th Volunteer credit and did a very chilly pre-course check in conditions as cold as minus 11. It was also Joannes’ 300th Park run and 6th completion of the Alphabet challenge
Steph Attenborough 61:55
Joanne Sharman 61:55
There is just no stopping them, massive well done ladies.
A huge congratulations also goes to Mark Boffey, who travelled ( with Sarah Boffey and Jackie Tierney) to the very beautiful but very cold Copenhagen to tick off his 250th Parkrun at Amager Strandpark.
Mark Boffey 25:43
Sarah Boffey 29:44
Jackie Tierney 30:05
( Mark Boffey, Jackie Tierney and Sarah Boffey L-R Pictured in Copenhagen)
Over at the Canicross side of things, this weekend saw the latest instalment of the Canicross Midlands series. Rob Mace and Murphy raced at Eland lodge and got 2nd place in the Master male short course- a fantastic achievement for Murphy’s second ever competitive race.
Helen and Neal Dempsey also raced this weekend. Neal achieved 2 2nds running Lillian and Elvis in the long course(around 5k) and Banana and Pine in the short course (3k)
Helen ran the long course with Sydney and the short course with Patch, who was determined to avoid the mud ( Pictured )
Well done all
Marathon training is also now in full swing, as well with lots of the Peelers taking part in Marathons in the coming months. Sunday was a nice half-marathon for some of those training whilst taking in some of the local sites ( and there’s always a chance for a selfie, of course, even if you do have to improvise, right?)
Why not come and be part of the best club in the Midlands? We meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Drop us a message on our Facebook page, Peel Road runners public page, to find out more.