Author: PeelRR

Age is no barrier at Peel Road Runners and to prove the point, M75-79 veteran Bob Donovan ran last week’s London marathon in a time that many much younger runners would be proud of. He completed the 26.2 mile course with a ‘Good for Age’ place in 5:29:27, a result all the more impressive as he had been unwell with Covid earlier in the year.

Manchester marathon is always popular with club members and this year was no exception. Richard Satchwell chose this race as his first marathon and ran an impressive 3:47:51. Jenna Colin completed the course in 3:56:05, whilst Mark Boffey ran an amazing personal best knocking over 29 minutes off his previous best time to finish in 4:20:13. 

Claire Guffick ran the Manchester half marathon held on the same day and finished in a time of 2:22:15, whilst husband Lee Guffick crossed the finish line in 2:53:29.

Meanwhile, at the Royal Parks half marathon in London, Jackie Tierney had an encouraging return to racing after a frustrating injury which had restricted her training programme and finished in a creditable time of 2:23:00. 

Several Peelers enjoy the additional challenge of running with their dogs in canicross races. At the Canicross Midlands event in Bedford at the weekend, Rob Mace came second in the Long Course (5k) running with Axis, whilst Neal Dempsey and Helen Dempsey came third in their two dog Short Course (3k) classes. Neal ran with Banana and Hugo and Helen ran with Minstrel and Sydney. It’s worth noting that all the Peeler pooches are rescue dogs, rather than purpose bred “sled” dogs!

Kingsbury parkrun, the Peelers home parkrun, was a lonely place this week as all the Club’s parkrunners chose to become tourists! Running at Rosliston, new club member Ben Dorkins finished in a swift time of 22:36, whilst keeping to the forestry theme, at Conkers parkrun John Vann (30:18), Alison Dolphin (46:33) and Christine Norris (47:22) enjoyed the challenge of a new route. Further north in Bridlington, Sophie Galloway (28:03) ran her landmark 50^th parkrun at Sewerby. Other ‘tourists’ included Marie Llewellyn (23:55) at Telford, Mick Stevenson (34:05) at Colby, Amroth in Pembrokeshire, Nick Neale (20:50) at Perry Hall, Garth Cox (23:42) at Bedworth, Mike Shelton (21:26) at Sutton Park, Ian Cooper (23:57) and Tanya Murphy (30:19) at Babbs Mill, Jackie Tierney (29:48) at Salcey Forest, Harwell in Northamptonshire and Tim Mudd (26:32) at Edgbaston reservoir.

The main event of the weekend was the return of the Virgin London Marathon after an absence of almost two and a half years, with 40,000 lucky runners pounding the streets of London and a similar number running the virtual marathon.
Mark Harriott completed his 26.2 miles around London in a strong 3:19 hrs. Kathryn Adams completed the event in a time of 3:54.27 hrs, just ahead of Judith Matthews who finished in a time of 4:05.30. Martyn Candy came home in a time of 5:37.10.
Friend of the club Ashley Baldwin made it round the streets of London in a superb time of 2:40.09 hrs.

Closer to Wayne King ran the virtual London marathon along the roads of Staffordshire and Warwickshire completing in a strong 3:21.43 hrs. Bob Donovan also completed the virtual marathon in a time of 5:29.37. 
The Chester marathon also took place on Sunday with Malcolm Bembridge finishing in a time of 3:54.51 hours and picking up not one but two medals in the process, one for his marathon and the other for completing the Chester Triple series, having already completed the Chester 10k and Chester Half Marathon in recent weeks.

On Saturday morning Parkrun was as usual well supported. Kingsbury Water parkrun was as usual the best supported event with Lawrence Williamson was first home for the club in a very respectable time of 18.51 mins. Mike Shelton was next home in a decent 21.37 mins. He was followed by Darren O’Leary (24.17 mins) and Ashley Goodman (25.00), who finished just ahead of Stuart Hatton (25.01). Stella Martin was the first lady Peeler home in 26.22 ahead of Marcus Fairburn (26.49), Claire Guffick (29.09), Clara Walton (29.36), Jackie Tierney (30.18), Ann Hill (32.24), Lee Guffick (37.06), Christine Norris and Alison Dolphin (both 45.38). Thanks also go to George Hope and Mike Shelton for volunteering to support the running of the event.
Several Peelers were on their travels, with Tim Mudd finishing in 29.38 at Congleton parkrun, Andrew Pickard finishing the Concord Sheffield event in 22.33 mins and Garth Cox recording 23.23 mins at the Chasewater event. Tanya Murphy completed the Oaklands parkrun in 29.24 mins while Sophie Galloway ran the Beacon Park Lichfield event in 27.22 mins and Michael Stevenson cantered home at Warwick Racecourse in a time of 30.25 mins.

Peel Road Runners were well represented at Sunday’s Rotary Club Cathedral to Castle 10 mile mixed terrain race. The race started in Beacon Park in Lichfield before running through the city and passing Lichfield Cathedral. It then followed the lanes to Whittington before going onto the trails across the Firing Ranges and into Hopwas Woods. A leg-sapping run up through the woods was rewarded with a cramp-inducing downhill stretch onto the canal at Hopwas, followed by a flatter section through Wigginton Park before finishing with a lap of the Castle Grounds in Tamworth. The weather conditions were perfect for the 884 runners who finished the race.

First Peeler home was the in-form Wayne King, finishing in a time of 1:03:00 and in 7^th place out of 884 runners. Following not far behind was Rob Mace in a time of 1:07:57. Third Peeler home was Phil Neale in 1:15:09, closely followed by first lady Peeler Rachael Rickards in a time of 1:16:00. In total 27 Peelers crossed the finish line in Tamworth including Richard Satchwell and Kathryn Adams (1:18:00), Lisa Stretton (1:18:52), Ash Goodman (1:20:21), Craig Smith (1:22:39), Chris Bennett (1:24:53), Natalie Walker (1:24:57), Donna Read (1:28:07), Marcus Fairburn (1:28:11), Andrew Gilman (1:29:01), Helen Chyla (1:29:04), Stuart Hatton (1:29:12), Sophie Galloway (who ran a personal best time of 1:29:18), Carl Hole-Maloney (1:29:20), Joanne Harvey (1:30:28), Sandra Ingram (1:37:18), Claire Guffick (1:46:05), Emma Petricca (1:48:45), Ann Hill (1:53:22), Lisa Vickery (1:56:47), Helen Dempsey (1:59:23), Nicola Bannister (2:12:59) and Alison Dolphin (2:16:13).

Meanwhile, Val Lawson took part in the 10 mile Charnwood Challenge trail run near Loughborough finishing in 2:14:00. The run, which was organised by Nanpanton Scouts, covered an undulating and scenic route that included Windmill Hill, Broombriggs Hill and Beacon Hill. 

Several Peel Road Runners supported Peeler Mike Shelton in his role as Race Director at Saturday’s Kingsbury parkrun by volunteering as finish funnel marshals and timekeepers. Without volunteers there would be no parkruns, so thanks to Alison Dolphin, Claire Guffick, Ann Hill, Sarah French and Alison Upton for representing the club in these roles. 

Running at Kingsbury, Darren O’Leary was first Peeler home on the 5k course in a time of 23:09. He was followed by Mark Boffey (24:11), Ash Goodman (24:19), Lisa Stretton (27:04); Stella Martin (27:14), Jackie Tierney (29:41) and Lawrence Williamson (38:22). 

Parkrun tourists this week were Tanya Murphy at Brueton parkrun (38:04), Garth Cox at Walsall Arboretum (23:39), Tim Mudd at Babb’s Mill (27:41) and Michael Stevenson at Warwick Racecourse (34:50).

Some Peel Road Runners run short, some run long and some run with dogs! This weekend has seen Peelers representing the club at all these different distances in various challenges across the country.

The ever-popular Equinox 24 hour challenge at Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire required runners to run as many laps of a mixed terrain 10k course as they could in a 24 hour period. Representing the Peelers, Sophie Galloway and Andy Pickard completed an impressive 10 x 10k laps (equivalent to 62 miles) in the time available, whilst Jo Insley completed 8 x 10k laps (equivalent to 50 miles) within the 24 hour time limit.

At Sunday’s Chester half marathon, Malcolm Bembridge continued to impress with his consistent form finishing in a time of 1:44:47 having taken advantage of the fast and flat course.

Canicross is a very popular sport which involves running with a dog. Experienced canicrosser and Peeler Rob Mace competed at the Statfold 1 mile event at the weekend and finished in a barktastic time of 4 minutes and 40 seconds, ably assisted by Axis! He then ran as a Guide Runner with Ian McNamara (who is visually impaired), completing the 1 mile course in 10:28, this time assisted by dog Neipher.

Peel parkrunners were also busy this weekend. Kingsbury had the largest turnout of Peelers completing their 5k challenges with the following results: Phil Neale 22:28, Chris Bennett 23:42, Stuart Hatton 24:37, Claire Guffick in a personal best time of 28:07, Clara Walton 30:27, Emma Whorwood 31:24, Roger Eastaff 32:17, Lee Guffick 35:04, Ann Hill 35:28, Alison Dolphin 36:15, Sarah French 37:22, Kelly Porter 37:46 and Stephen Andrews 42:55.

Peeler parkrun tourists this week were: Tim Mudd running at Conkers in a time of 27:58, Darren O’Leary at Sewerby, Bridlington in 24:59, Michael Stevenson at Stratford-upon-Avon in 31:25, Garth Cox at Bedworth in 23:43, Ash Goodman (24:38) and Nick Neale (29:59) at Sutton Park, Tanya Murphy (29:27) at Babbs Mill, Joy Sykes (29:40) at Tyne Green, Hexham and Jacqui Tierney at Edgbaston Reservoir in 29:18.

Peel Road Runners always welcome new members.

After such a long period of cancelled and postponed races, this weekend finally had a feeling of normality about it with Peel Road Runners racing at different events all over the country.

Covering the full marathon distance and crossing the finish line in first place, Martin Hollamby ran the Battle of the Borders trail race on the Long Mynd from Church Stretton on Sunday. The epic trail race consisted of 4000 ft of climb and Hollamby finished in just under 4 hours, a mere 48 minutes ahead of the second placed marathon runner! On Saturday’s Battle of the Borders half marathon, Zoe Schnepp and Michael Shelton ran their trail course with around 2000 ft of climb in 2:20:00 and finished in joint 5^th place overall.

Further north, Sophie Galloway ran a personal best time at the 40^th Great North Run finishing in a time of 2:02:44 on the new undulating course (finishing in Newcastle rather than South Shields). The Great North Run was the largest event to take place in the UK since the lifting of pandemic restrictions with 57000 people registered to run this year’s race!

Closer to home, Mark Boffey ran the undulating Kenilworth half marathon finishing in a time of 1:51:38 and 259^th out of 582 finishers. George Hope also ran and crossed the finish line in a time of 1:56:19 in 312nd place.

Garth Cox was the sole Peeler to take on the Nuneaton 10k course, finishing in a time of 50:16 and 93^rd out of 174 runners.

At the Tamworth 5 Mile race (the final race the in the Burton and District Summer League for 2021), the Peelers were well represented on the undulating course promoted by Tamworth Athletics Club. There was a strong field with a lot of competition between athletes from local clubs and first Peeler back at the stadium was Wayne King in a time of 31:42 and 4^th in the M40 age category. Second Peeler home was Michael Shelton (the day after running his trail half marathon!) in a time of 35:09. He was followed by Lorna Dsylva in 39:22, Roger Lloyd in 40:01, Chris Bennett in 40:04, Darren Truman in 41:23, Stuart Hatton in 41:53, Carl Hole-Maloney in 42:47, Dave Fern in 43:14, Emma Livingstone in 46:51, Sandra Ingram in 47:53, Claire Guffick in 49:03, Alison Upton in 52:54 and Lee Guffick in 1:00:51.

Quite a few Peelers take on the additionial challenges posed by triathlons and Martyn Candy took part in one of the most difficult in the country this weekend by completing the Hellvellyn triathlon in Cumbria. The event requires competitors to complete a swim in Ullswater, a cycle ride to the top of Kirkstone Pass (taking in the infamous “Struggle”) at 1489 ft and finishing with a run up and down Hellvellyn (3118 ft). Candy completed the course in 7:08:26, finishing 19^th in the MV60+ age category.

Despite all the race action this weekend, the Peel parkrunners were busy ticking off their miles on Saturday. Running at the Club home course at Kingsbury parkrun, Mark Boffey was first to finish in a time of 24:42. He was followed by Darren O’Leary in 24:50, Carolyne Browne in 25:45, Darren Truman in 25:56, Garth Cox in 26:00, Stella Martin in 26:29, Tim Mudd in 29:00, Clara Walton in 31:21, Chris Taylor in 31:32, Roger Eastaff in 24:38, Wendy Bowyer in 39:33, Lawrence Williamson in 42:24 and Wayne King in 53:28. The biggest Kingsbury fanfare, however, goes to Peeler Lisa Fletcher who volunteered as a marshal for the 50^th time and without volunteers there would be no parkruns! Ian Cooper ran at Rosliston parkrun finishing in a time of 26:11, whilst Tanya Murphy completed this course in a personal best time of 31:28!

Saturday morning would not be a Saturday morning for many of the Peel Road Runners who like to start their weekends with a 5k timed run around a local park. Starting their weekends off in Peeler style, Zoe Schnepp travelled to Derby to run the Markeaton Park parkrun in a time of 23:29 whilst for Garth Cox, Walsall Arboretum was the venue for his run completed in a time of 23:36. Chris Bennett (24:11), Ann Hill (36:05) and Sarah French (36:07) were amongst the 439 runners who completed the Conkers parkrun, whilst Tanya Murphy ran at Rosliston crossing the line in 40:13. As usual, Kingsbury Water parkrun had the highest compliment of Peelers who made up 14 of the 328 runners at this event. Phil Neale was the first Peeler to cross the line in 22:29 followed by Ash Goodman (23:30), Darren O’Leary (23:51), Carolyne Browne (25:51), Stella Martin (27:08), Mark Boffey (27:53), Claire Guffick (28:32), Clara Walton (28:37), Jacqui Tierney (29:28), Roger Eastaff (34:29), Lee Guffick (36:23), Kelly Porter (36:45), Simon Gordon (38:59) and Alison Dolphin (40:55). Notable runs included Stella Martin’s who is running 5k every day of 2021 to raise money for Cancer Research UK and Claire Guffick’s time, which was a personal best! At Lyme Park in Disley, Andy Pickard ran 25:22 and at Babb’s Mill in Solihull, Tim Mudd finished in 26:39. Finally at Beacon Park in Lichfield, Sophie Galloway crossed the line in 25:24.

On a very wet and cool 21^st August, Joy Sykes took part in the Tri on the Tyne sprint duathlon (5km run, 20km bike, 2.5 km run) and completed the course in 1:48:00. Closer to home at the Spitfire 10km at Cosford, Wolverhampton on Sunday, Neil Dempsey crossed the line in 56:39, followed by Alison Upton in 1:02:07 and Helen Dempsey in 1:06:03.

Peel Road Runners meet at 6.45 pm at the Skate Park car park in Tamworth on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

On Sunday 8^th August, Peel Road Runner Malcolm Bembridge competed in the Compton Verney sprint triathlon. The race consisted of a 400m open water swim in Compton Verney Lake, a 21km mostly flat bike ride and a 5k run around the tracks and trails of Compton Verney estate. Bembridge completed the course in a creditable 1:30:00.

With the return of parkrun, many Peelers headed to Kingsbury Water parkrun on Saturday to take part in the 5k timed run. First Peeler over the line was Rob Mace in a speedy time of 19:57, followed by Phil Neale in 23:10, Ash Goodman in 23:33, Garth Cox in 23:58, Jenna Wilson in 24:33, Stuart Hatton in 24:53, Darren O’Leary in 25:27, Carolyne Browne in 25:49, Darren Truman in 26:58, Simon Gordon in 27:27, Tim Mudd in 27:40, Jacqui Tierney in 30:05, Claire Guffick in 30:21, Roger Eastaff in 36:41, Lee Guffick in 36:44, Alison Dolphin in 36:58, Sarah French in 40:45 and Stephen Andrews in 40:49. Peeler parkrun tourists this week were Andy Pickard running at Penistone (Sheffield) in a time of 23:57, Ian Cooper (24:53) and Tanya Murphy (30:02) running at Babbs Mill near Solihull and Mick Stephenson (31:12) at Warwick racecourse.

The Montane Lakeland 100 is renowned for being one of the hardest and most challenging events on the Ultra running calendar. The circular route encompasses the whole of the Lakeland fells, includes in the region of 6300 m of ascent and consists entirely of public bridleways and footpaths. The route starts in Coniston and heads south before completing a clockwise loop which takes in the Dunnerdale fells, Eskdale, Wasdale and Buttermere before arriving in Keswick. From here the route heads to Matterdale and continues over to Haweswater before returning via Kentmere, Ambleside and Elterwater to the finish at Coniston.

Peel Road Runner Martin Hollamby took on this unique challenge, starting on Friday 23^rd July at 6.00 pm and finishing 29 hours 48 minutes and 14 seconds later, having run 100 miles with minimal stopping through the night and day! This was Hollamby’s first attempt at the Lakeland 100 and he finished in 75^th place out of a starting field of 524 (of whom, only 338 finished). When asked to describe his adventure he said, “It’s difficult to put a nearly 30 hour journey into words. I had a massive smile on my face all the way around – even in the last 20 miles when I slowed somewhat. The scenery was inspiring, made all the better by clear skies and a full moon on Friday and Saturday night. I’d thoroughly recommend this to anyone!”

The winner of the race was Mark Darbyshire (one of the top ultra runners at this distance in the country) in a time of 19:10:27.

Meanwhile following in their dad’s footsteps (or showing him how it’s done?), Sally and Emma completed the Lakeland 1 (mile) event on Friday, collecting their medals without a blister or broken toenail in sight!

Closer to home, but also taking on their own endurance challenge, a group of Peelers were camped out at Catton Park running the Conti Thunder Run 24 hour race starting on Saturday and finishing 24 hours later on Sunday. The Challenge requires runners to complete as many laps of the 10k course in the time as they can. The route is a great mix of terrain and surfaces keeping it engaging lap after lap, covering twisty trails, technical woodlands, open fields, stone tracks, climbs and descents. The race can be entered as either solo runners, pairs or teams.

Running in the solo categories, Ian Cooper completed an impressive 70km whilst Tanya Murphy managed 40 km before frustratingly having to withdraw due to shin splints.

In the team event, Team Peel Road Runners (comprising of Sophie Galloway, Sandra Ingram, Kathryn Adams, Jo Insley, Natalie Walker, Ash Goodman, Darren O’Leary and Andy Pickard) completed 23 10k laps, with an average lap time of 1:02:33. They finished 33^rd out of of 146 mixed teams of between 6 and 8 runners. Meanwhile, Team Peel Pips 1 (comprising Chris Norris, Sarah French, Ann Hill, Chris Bennett and Ian Grigg) and Team Peel Pips 2 (comprising Alison Dolphin, Kelly Porter, Claire Guffick, Stephen Andrews and Lee Guffick) both completed 14 laps, finishing 133^rd and 134^th out of 146 teams. “We are completers, not compeeters!” said Club Secretary, Alison Dolphin, demonstrating the inclusivity of the Peel Road Runners for runners of all abilities.

Finally, the long-awaited return of parkrun was celebrated by runners all over the country on Saturday. Running for the first time since parkrun was cancelled due to the Covid19 pandemic, five Peelers tested out the course at Kingsbury Water Park. First home was Rob Mace in 20:28, followed by Garth Cox in 23:52, Lisa Stretton in 24:41, Tim Mudd in 30:31 and Jacqui Tierney in 31:20. Doing a spot of parkrun tourism, Mick Stevenson represented the club at Northallerton parkrun finishing in 32:31.

Peel Road Runners meet every Tuesday and Thursday at 6.45 pm at the skate park car park in the Castle Grounds.