At the Great Birmingham Run half marathon on Sunday, Peelers Donna Reid and Judith Matthews were the sole club representatives. Both ran strongly to finish well under two hours with Donna finishing in 1:53:00 and Judith in 1:54:18.
Meanwhile, Ian Orton was the sole club representative at the Coronation 5k Fun Run in the Castle Grounds crossing the line in 23:53 and 6th place overall.
At the weekend’s parkruns, Kingsbury drew the greatest number of Peelers with Ben Dorkins first to finish in 21:54, followed by Darren O’Leary (23:21); Phil Neale (23:22); Simon Gordon (24:16); Garth Cox (25:59); Claire Guffick (28:33); Jackie Tierney (30:49); Emma Whorwood (31:29); Joy Sykes (32:04); Roger Eastaff (33:45); Lee Guffick (35:38); Martyn Candy (35:43); Ann Hill (36:23) and Wendy Bowyer (36:24). Parkrun tourists included: Tim Mudd (25:53) at Endcliff, Sheffield; Dave Fern (28:46) at Conkers; Mick Stevenson (33:43) at Fountains Abbey; Chris Bennett (24:15); Sarah Boffey (27:48); Mark Boffey (27:50) and Darren Truman (27:50) at the Wammy, Newcastle Under Lyme (Mark Boffey was celebrating his 150th parkrun at this event!); Ian Orton (23:36) at Edgbaston Reservoir and Michael Hughes (39:05) at Abbey Park, Leicester.
Entries are now open for the Gate Gallop 10k and 4.5k Fun Run on Sunday, 25th June in aid of St Giles Hospice. For more information see www.avtiming.com/gategallop or look on St Giles website.
The May Day Bank Holiday weekend traditionally sees the Uttoxeter half marathon kick off the second race in the Burton & District Summer League race series. The undulating, but scenic course is a favourite amongst the Peelers and with much cooler weather this year than last, racing conditions were good. First across the finish line for the Club was Wayne King running strongly after his recent Manchester marathon and finishing in a time of 1:22:51. Next to finish for the club and first Peel lady back was Emma Pick in 1:35:27 and 10th lady overall, then Luke Collins (1:37:55 – a 3 minute personal best); Allen King (1:43:32 – a 3 minute personal best); Natalie Walker (1:55:15); Catherine Tieley (1:56:41 – a 4 minute personal best); Chris Bennett (2:00:50); Gemma Pritchard (2:06:32) and Caroline Evans (2:22:22). Running in the 10k race, Billy King ran a great personal best time of 53:19.
At the weekend’s parkruns, Kingsbury drew the largest number of Peelers, with the following results: Ben Dorkins (21:48); Tim Clark (23:00); Garth Cox (24:20); Vici Richardson (24:24); Mike Shelton (24:24); Paul Scholte (26:02); Stella Taylor (28:09); Claire Guffick (28:13); Jackie Tierney (29:33); Helen Manton (30:09); Joy Sykes (30:52); Lee Guffick (36:02); Ann Hill (36:39); Wendy Bowyer (36:41); Sarah French (59:44); Chris Norris (63:40); Stephen Andrews (66:47); Alison Dolphin (66:52) and Alison Perry (66:55).
Parkrun tourists included: Ian Grigg (36:16) at Torbay Velopark; Steph Attenborough (67:51) at Brueton; Ian Orton (24:57) at Forest Rec, Nottingham; Allen King (26:01) and Darren Truman (26:59) at Beeston, Nottinham; Sarah Boffey (30:04) and Mark Boffey (32:48) at Leicester Victoria; Michael Hughes (36:19) at Monsal Trail; Tim Mudd (23:50) at Alvaston and Simon Gordon (25:42) at Fulbourn Hospital, Cambridge.
Entries are now open for the Gate Gallop 10k and 5k races on Sunday, 25th June in aid of St Giles hospice. For more information see https:/www.avtiming.com/gategallop or St Giles hospice website.
With the TCS London marathon back to its normal April date after several years of disruption due to Covid restrictions, Peel Road Runners had two representatives at this year’s over-subscribed race. Having trained together Mike Shelton was accompanied by the irrepressible Trev the Bear, and was running to raise awareness and funds for St Giles Hospice. Despite carrying the extra weight of Trev, Mike still managed to finish in 4:06:29 (a pb for Trev at the distance!) and took time out from his race to be interviewed by TV presenter, J J Chalmers!
Ticking off yet another marathon in her ever-increasing collection, Steph Attenborough ran an 11 minute personal best at London, finishing in 4:38:41!
Closer to home, Caroline Evans took part in the scenic and testing Malvern Hills trail half marathon which included 2600 ft of elevation, finishing in 3:23:00.
At the weekend’s parkruns, Ben Dorkins ran just short of his best time this year at Kingsbury to finish in 22:10, followed by Darren O’Leary (23:40); Sophie Galloway (27:13); Roger Eastaff (31:39); Martyn Candy (35:45); Stephen Andrews (40:55); Chris Norris (62:37 – 1st FV70+); Lee Guffick (62:38); Alison Dolphin (63:29) and Wendy Bowyer (63:30). Parkrun tourists included: Jackie Tierney (29:45) at Richmond; Ian Grigg (37:30) at Torbay Velopark; Ian Orton (24:50) at Dudley; Garth Cox (23:50) at Brueton; Dave Fern (27:55) and Marcus Fairburn (27:59) at Conkers; Emma Pick (25:59) at Lyme Park; Steph Attenborough (30:43) at Victoria Dock, London; Tim Mudd (25:28) at Cheltenham; Mick Stevenson (33:04) at Warwick Racecourse; Mark Boffey (25:06) and Michael Hughes (35:48) at Beacon Hill.
Entries are now open for the Peel RR Gate Gallop 10k race and 5k Fun Run to be held on Sunday, 25th June with all proceeds going to St Giles Hospice. See https://www.avtiming.com/gategallop for more details.
At Sunday’s Manchester marathon, following a period of solid and consistent training, Wayne King was rewarded with an amazing personal best time of 2:49:44! Furthermore, seven Peelers chose the Manchester marathon as their first at the marathon distance and all finished with impressive results, including Simon Gordon (4:10:46 – first marathon); Lorna D’Silva (4:10:46 – first marathon); Mark Boffey (4:11:52 – a 9 minute personal best); Gemma Pritchard (4:22:30 – first marathon); Michael Hughes (4:27:15); Chris Bennett (4:47:57 – first marathon); Sarah Boffey (5:08:00 – first marathon); Emma Whorwood (5:16:00); Claire Guffick (5:18:26 – first marathon); Lee Guffick (6:11:56 – first marathon). Meanwhile at the Newport marathon in Wales, Steph Attenborough ran her 61st marathon crossing the line in 5:36:13.
Closer to home at the Cathedral to Castle 10 mile race, Phil Neale was first home for the club in a time of 1:15:46 and 10th in age category. He was followed by Allen King (1:16:41); Ben Dorkins (1:19:52); Tim Clark (1:22:23); Rachael Rickards (1:23:34); Donna Reid (1:24:16); Natalie Walker (1:26:06); Ian Orton (1:26:15) (who then finished, drove to Conkers and ran in the Run in the Forest 5!); Judith Matthews (1:27:12); Tim Mudd (1:27:34); Jenna Colin (1:27:48); Darren Truman (1:29:16); Tony Bryan (1:30:26); Andrew Gillman (1:30:00); Helen Chyla (1:30:49); Carolyne Browne (1:31:28); Stuart Hatton (1:35:53); Sophie Galloway (1:37:49); Maisie Griffiths (1:38:00); Emma Barley (1:42:28); Clara Walton (1:46:54); Emma La Planche (1:48:54); Neal Dempsey (1:50:29); Joy Sykes (1:52:15); Roger Eastaff (2:05:12); Wendy Bowyer (2:06:09); Alison Upton (2:09:26); Helen Dempsey (2:09:27) and Nicola Bannister (2:13:07).
Stew Baker was the sole club representative at the Cannock Chase trail half marathon, finishing his first half marathon on a decidedly ‘lumpy’ course in 2:11:49.
As the first race in the Burton & District Summer League, The Run in the Forest 5 mile race hosted by South Derbyshire Road Runners is always a popular race with the Peelers. Unfortunately this year the race clashed with the ever-popular Cathedral to Castle race, but that didn’t deter a good turnout of Peelers from running the race. First back for the club in an impressive time of 32:50 and 4th lady runner was Emma Pick, followed by James Stretton (33:44); Luke Collins (34:34); Scott Chapman (34:36); Mike Shelton (37:26); Lisa Stretton (38:54); Catherine Tieley (39:43); Darren O’Leary (40:18); George Hope (42:00); Emma Livingstone (47:45); Val Lawson (47:49); Dave Fern (48:04); Ian Orton (48:29); Caroline Evans (49:18); Jackie Tierney (50:01); Helen Manton (50:09) and Sandra Ingram (50:09).
Finally, a quick ‘shout out’ to a few of our parkrunners especially Jackie Tierney, Mark Boffey and Michael Hughes who ran at the Peel parkrun in Salford(it had to be done!) and F70+ Chris Norris, returning from a period of illness, who ran at Kingsbury parkrun improving on last week’s finish time.
Peel Road Runners are starting a new Couch to 5k course from 18th April for anyone who would like to start running to improve their fitness. See Peel RR Beginners Facebook page for further details or contact via club website.
Serial distance runner Steph Attenborough took advantage of better weather this weekend to run the Phoenix Running Fortitude Ring half marathon at Walton on Thames on Saturday, which she completed in 3:22:14. She then followed this by running the very popular Brighton marathon on Sunday in a time of 5:44:05.
Closer to home, Val Lawson took part in the 6 mile 7 Pools Run in Sutton Park crossing the finish line in 1:06:52.
At the weekend’s parkruns, Jackie Tierney travelled to Wrexham to run her 250th parkrun at Erddig’s 250th event! She finished in 31:54, supported by Mark Boffey (26:03) and Michael Hughes (42:06). Now living down south, Ian Grigg ran at his new local parkrun finishing in 48:29. Closer to home, Emma Pick ran at Rosliston in a time of 22:28, whilst Marcus Fairburn (28:51) and Dave Fern (29:50) travelled to Conkers for their parkruns. Tim Mudd (25:14) travelled to Telford, whilst Garth Cox (24:17) ran at Perry Hall. At Kingsbury, Ben Dorkins was first over the line for the club in a time of 22:06, followed by Tim Clark (24:09); Beth Woodward (26:24); Darren O’Leary (26:55); Mike Shelton (26:55); Claire Guffick (31:56); Alison Dolphin (43:10); Lee Guffick (43:11); Joy Sykes (1:04:23) and Sarah French (1:04:26). Finally, Rob Windridge (27:49) ran at Burnham and Highbridge; Steph Attenborough (32:10) at Brooklands; Michael Stevenson (33:32) at Warwick Racecourse and Ian Orton (26:47) at Beacon Hill Country Park. Sarah French, Joy Sykes and Chris Norris volunteered at tail walkers at Kingsbury parkrun.
As a local, ‘gold standard” race organised by the Ivanhoe Runners in Ashby de la Zouch, the Ashby 20 road race has always been well supported by the Peel Road Runners. Lured by the promise of sweatshirts and cheese cobs at the finish line, several Peelers took on the challenge of the undulating two lap course. Despite a cold damp start, the weather improved as the morning went on and Tim Mudd was first back for the Peelers in a time of 3:14:12, closely followed by Carolyne Browne in a time of 3:19:17. Sarah Boffey ran a well paced race to finish in 3:44:27 with Emma Whorwood not far behind in 3:52:03, a particularly good result for Emma as a period of injury and illness had negatively impacted her training. Running her first race at this distance, Claire Guffick was close on Emma’s heels crossing the finish line in 3:56:49 with husband Lee (also first time at distance) finishing in 4:28:30.
Continuing with her quest to run 100 marathons, Steph Attenborough ticked off her 54th marathon at Staines-on-Thames with Saturn Running’s ‘Chasing the Numbers’ 7 lap marathon on Friday in a time of 6:34:48. On Sunday, she ran the Phoenix running half marathon event at Walton on Thames, crossing the line in 3:10:00.
Parkrun events proved as popular as ever over the weekend with Kingsbury drawing the greatest number of Peelers. First home for the club was Ben Dorkins in 22:39, followed by Phil Neale (23:03); Tim Clark (23:52); Darren O’Leary (24:13); Mike Shelton (24:34); Jackie Tierney (30:04); Roger Eastaff (34:55); Wendy Bowyer (37:55); Ann Hill (37:56); Alison Dolphin (1:04:16) and Sarah French (1:04:17). Parkrun tourists included: Garth Cox (23:47) at Walsall Arboretum; Stuart Hatton (25:50); Tony Bryan (28:12); Marcus Fairburn (28:55) and Dave Fern (30:05) at Conkers; Allen King (23:29); Chris Bennett (24:54) and Darren Truman (25:41) at Clifton, Nottingham and Mark Boffey (23:14) at Chasewater.
With warm weather on the horizon but not quite here yet, Peel Road Runner Phil Neale flew out to Spain to take part in the sunny Barcelona marathon at the weekend. He finished the flat and fast course in a very respectable 4:17:38 commenting that the course was “definitely a PB course, but I suffered a bit with the heat at the end … however I still absolutely loved the marathon!”
Many Peelers run a 20 mile race prior to their marathons as a way of seeing how their training for the distance is progressing. With this in mind, Wayne King travelled to the flat and fast Twin Lakes 20 near Milton Keynes where he finished in 6th place overall and covered the 20 mile route in 2 hours and 7 minutes!
Last week, Malcolm Bembridge also showed a clean pair of heels when he ran the Chester 10k and finished in 48:44, while Chris Bennett and Helen Dempsey took on the Stafford half marathon finishing in 1:56:57 and 2:53:21. Also running on Sunday in the beautiful grounds of Staunton Harold, Clara Walton competed in the 5k Canicross event with Nanook, finishing in 29:40.
From the weekend’s parkruns: at Kingsbury, Mike Shelton was first home for the club in a time of 21:19, followed by Tim Clark (23:14); Darren Truman (25:55); Michael Hughes (25:57); Dave Fern (29:12); Claire Guffick (30:10); Roger Eastaff (36:09); Wendy Bowyer (37:56) and Lee Guffick (37:56). Parkrun tourists this week included: Jackie Tierney (29:01) at Colwick, Nottingham; Sarah and Mark Boffey (27:26) at York; Ian Grigg (35:44) at Torbay Velopark; Garth Cox (23:49) at Arrow Valley, Redditch; Tim Mudd (25:17) at Mansfield; Stuart Hatton (26:01), Marcus Fairburn (29:00) and Tony Bryan (29:38) at Conkers; Martin Hollamby (19:12) at the Whammy, Newcastle Under Lyme; Mick Stevenson (33:43) at Warwick Racecourse and Ian Orton (27:26) at Beacon Hill, Loughborough.
After a series of six races, Sunday saw the final race in the Derby/Staffs Cross Country League with Peel Road Runners racing on a scenic and relatively dry two lap course at Foremark reservoir. A good turnout ensured some great racing from team members with second claim runner Rob Dyjak first to finish for the club in 4th place overall in the men’s race. Finishing his first full season with Peel, U20 runner James Stretton showed great form and maturity to cross the line in 11th place overall with Ben Dorkins (38th); Mark Boffey (81st); Simon Gordon (84th); Billy King (87th); Michael Hughes (90th) and Lee Guffick (98th) making up the men’s team. First home for the ladies’ team, Emma Pick finished in 4th place overall closely followed by Lisa Stretton in 8th place. Catherine Tieley was next for the ladies in 17th place, followed by Lorna D’Silva (21st); Sarah Boffey (43rd); Jackie Tierney (45th); Val Lawson (49th) and Sandra Ingram (54th).
This race brought the cross country season to a close with some great racing over the winter and the best ever turnout of club members participating. Eight Peelers ran every race and, in the individual results, Emma Pick finished 3rd senior lady over the series; Lisa Stretton finished 1st V45 over the series and Rob Dyjak finished 1st V40 and 2nd male over the series. Peel ladies’ team came 2nd overall with the men 4th, making for 3rd placed team on the combined score.
Away from the cross country field, Steph Attenborough ignored everything the weather threw at her this last week and completed her 7 marathons in 7 days ‘Week at the Knees’ challenge! With finishing times ranging from 5:42:35 through to 6:52:05, she showed a huge amount of resilience and self belief to complete the challenge under such difficult weather conditions. She was joined by Peeler Michael Hughes on Wednesday, who completed his marathon in 4:50:41.
Chris Bennett was the sole Peeler to take on the Stafford half marathon this year, crossing the finish line in 1:56:57.
With many local parkruns cancelled due to icy conditions, parkrun Peelers had to travel to get their 5k fix this week. Sarah Boffey (27:58); Mark Boffey (27:59) and Jackie Tierney (28:51) ran at Brueton; Stuart Hatton (25:18) and Marcus Fairburn (28:50) ran at Conkers; Chris Bennett (22:54); Darren Truman (25:18) and Ian Orton (26:17) ran at Babb’s Mill and Tim Mudd (25:37) ran at Irchester, Wellingborough.
Cool, dry and calm conditions provided near perfect running conditions for those Peel Road Runners who took on the challenge of the Florette Fradley 10k race on Sunday. The two lap flat course is renowned as a fast course which, continuing his recent run of good form, Allen King took advantage of and was first home for the club in a time of 46:12 followed by Darren Truman in 49:49. Billy King finished his first ever 10k race in 51:12, showing great potential. Next to finish was Stella Taylor in 57:57, then Jackie Tierney (57:59); Emma Barley (59:43); Clara Walton (1:00:41); Emma La Planche (1:03:02); Emma Whorwood (1:04:27); Ann Hill (1:08:05); Alison Upton (1:08:43); Lee Guffick (1:13:29); Roger Eastaff (1:17:06); Wendy Bowyer (1:18:27) and Sarah French 1:18:28.
At the weekend’s parkruns, Mike Shelton was first home for the club at Kingsbury in a time of 20:39 followed by Tim Clark (23:39); Phil Neale (24:21); Garth Cox (25:51); Sophie Galloway (26:26); Stella Taylor (27:46); Jackie Tierney (28:49) and Joy Sykes (31:11). Parkrun tourists included: Stuart Hatton (25:10) and Marcus Fairburn (29:19) at Conkers; Allen King (23:16), Chris Bennett (23:43) and Darren Truman (25:13) at Rushcliffe, Nottingham; Mark Boffey (22:41) and Michael Hughes (36:19) at Alvaston, Derby; Mick Stevenson (33:00) at Warwick Racecourse and Tim Mudd (25:56) and Steph Attenborough (54:34) at Market Bosworth Country Park.
On Sunday, Peeler Gemma Pritchard ran the Birmingham Festival of Running half marathon in Sutton Park. Gemma finished her second half marathon on the undulating multi-lap course in a time of 2:09:26. Steph Attenborough also ran strongly to finish in 2:23:04, a day after completing the Winter Railway Ultra 28 mile event in 7:26:56!
Being part of the Peelers is not just about running but also about supporting other clubs and runners, so when the call went out for additional marshals to help Ivanhoe Runners (Ashby) at their cross country race at Ravenstone in Leicestershire on Sunday the club was happy to help. With sunny weather and a scenic course, it felt good to be on the ‘other side of the fence’ for a change!
Peel Road Runners were represented at a variety of parkruns this weekend with a good turnout at Kingsbury. First to cross the line there was Ben Dorkins in 22:00 and 17th place, followed by Tim Clark (22:48); Lisa Stretton(25:05); Stella Taylor (28:17); Jackie Tierney (28:43); Claire Guffick (30:12); Joy Sykes (30:34); Ann Hill (35:32); Roger Eastaff (35:37) and Lee Guffick (38:02).
Parkrun tourists included: Sophie Galloway at Torbay (26:07); Tony Bryan at Rosliston (27:08); Allen King (22:35) and Darren Truman (25:59) at Brueton; Garth Cox (23:36) at Walsall Arboretum; Stuart Hatton (25:35) at Conkers; Mick Stevenson (33:53) at Northallerton; Mark Boffey (22:17) and Michael Hughes (37:11) at Warwick Racecourse and Mike Shelton (20:32) at Beacon Park, Lichfield.
