Category: Weekly round up

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 61^st 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 10^th 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 4^th 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 18^th 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 250^th parkrun at Erddig’s 250^th 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 54^th 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 6^th 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 11^th place overall with Ben Dorkins (38^th); Mark Boffey (81^st); Simon Gordon (84^th); Billy King (87^th); Michael Hughes (90^th) and Lee Guffick (98^th) 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 8^th place. Catherine Tieley was next for the ladies in 17^th place, followed by Lorna D’Silva (21^st); Sarah Boffey (43^rd); Jackie Tierney (45^th); Val Lawson (49^th) and Sandra Ingram (54^th). 

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 3^rd senior lady over the series; Lisa Stretton finished 1^st V45 over the series and Rob Dyjak finished 1^st V40 and 2^nd male over the series. Peel ladies’ team came 2nd overall with the men 4^th, making for 3^rd 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 17^th 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.

Peel Road Runners were well represented on Sunday at the fifth race in the Derby/Staffs Cross Country League at Shipley Country Park near Heanor. Drier ground conditions than last year made for some fast times and Peel runners did not disappoint! First home for the club was second claim runner Rob Dyjak in 3^rd position overall. Next over the line for the club was Wayne King in 8^th place followed by Luke Collins (42^nd); Scott Chapman (46^th); Allen King (66^th); Mark Boffey (81^st); Billy King (96^th); Simon Gordon (103^rd); Chris Bennett (107^th); Michael Hughes (113^th) and Lee Guffick (126^th). First home for the Peel ladies was Emma Pick in 6^th place overall followed by Lisa Stretton (21^st); Lorna Carlin (22^nd); Catherine Tieley (24^th); Ling Zhuang (40^th); Sarah Boffey (50^th); Stella Taylor (61^st); Claire Guffick (66^th); Sandra Ingram (70^th); Jackie Tierney (71^st) and Val Lawson (72^nd). 

Meanwhile in Shrewsbury on Saturday, Steph Attenborough completed the Charles Darwin Day marathon at the Shrewsbury Sports Village. This was her 44^th marathon and consisted of 43.5 laps of a cycle track, which she completed in 5:33:52.

At the weekend’s parkruns, Mike Shelton was first back for the club at Kingsbury in a time of 21:12. He was followed by Ben Dorkins (22:26); Darren O’Leary (24:25); Wendy Bowyer (40:15); Claire Guffick (50:58); Sarah French (57:50) and Lee Guffick (57:52). Parkrun tourists included: Mick Stevenson at Leamington (33:38); Stuart Hatton (26:18) and Marcus Fairburn (29:09) at Conkers; Sarah Boffey (27:41), Mark Boffey (27:43) and Jackie Tierney (28:46) at Newark; Michael Hughes (37:49) at Sixfields Upton, Northampton; Garth Cox (26:32) at Sutton Park; Joy Sykes (29:34) at Blyth Links, Northumberland; Roger Lloyd (24:50) at Chasewater and Allen King (22:56) and Chris Bennett (22:56) at Oaklands, Birmingham.

After a quieter few weeks for racing, this weekend saw Peelers travelling far and wide to take on road and trail challenges. In his first race since the New York marathon in November, George Hope ran the Warwick half marathon and finished the 13.1 mile undulating course in 1:49:53 surprising himself with his speedy result at his comeback race!

The perennial Peel favourite of the Stourbridge Stagger tempted Claire and Lee Guffick back for a second time. Claire finished the hilly and muddy trail 10 mile route in a time of 2:01:22 ( 5 minute course PB) and Lee in 2:23:08 (a huge 24 minute course PB!). Val Lawson also ran an undulating 10 mile trail race, the Winter Bash which started in Ticknall, Derbyshire and followed trails around the National Forest. She finished in 1:55:31, knocking 3 minutes off last year’s result.

Ultra Runner Steph Attenborough completed a challenge, a quarter of which would be enough for most runners! She ran 4 marathons in 4 days at the Enigma Running Quadzilla races. Each marathon consisted of 7.5 laps of Caldecotte Lake at Milton Keynes, which had to be completed within 7 hours. Steph ran consistently each day with a best marathon time of 6:12:59.

At the weekend’s parkruns, Ben Dorkins crossed the line first for the club in a time of 22:11, closely followed by Mike Shelton in 22:14. Other Peelers included Chris Bennett (27:29); Allen King (27:29); Stella Taylor (28:24); Joy Sykes (32:17); Sarah French (53:49); Alison Dolphin (54:04); Ann Hill (54:53) and Wendy Bowyer (54:56). Parkrun volunteers included: Stephen Andrews, Alison Dolphin, Wendy Bowyer, Roger Eastaff, Sarah French, Claire Guffick, Ann Hill and Mike Shelton.

Parkrun tourists included: Stuart Hatton (27:40) and Marcus Fairburn (29:08) at Conkers; Jackie Tierney (30:05) at Jersey Farm, St Albans; Garth Cox (23:50) at Babb’s Mill; Mick Stevenson (33:07) at Warwick Racecourse; Mark Boffey (21:46 – a parkrun pb of 11 seconds!) and Michael Hughes (32:15) at Yarborough, Lincoln.

Peel Road Runners turned out in force at the Derby/Staffs League cross country race at Boothorpe near Swadlincote on Sunday. Running two laps of an undulating course over a reasonably dry course, second claim runner Rob Dyjak was first back for the club in 4^th place overall, with James Stretton snapping at his heels in 9^th position overall. Wayne King ran a strong race to finish in 10^th position, followed by Luke Collins, Scott Chapman, Ben Dorkins, Allen King, Mark Boffey, Tim Clarke, Simon Gordon, Tim Mudd, Mike Hughes and Lee Guffick.

With the ladies’ team hoping to build on their successes this season, Emma Pick was first across the finish line in 14^th place followed by Lisa Stretton, Catherine Tieley, Lorna D’Silva, Sarah Boffey, Claire Guffick, Steph Attenborough, Sandra Ingram and Jackie Tierney. 

The next race in the League will be held at Shipley Park in Derby in two weeks time.

In Northumberland, Joy Sykes and her dog Charlie, ran the Traildog Kielder 10k race crossing the finish line in 1:10:01.

At the weekend’s parkruns, Kingsbury drew a good turnout of Peelers with Allen King first to finish in 22:22. He was followed by Ben Dorkins (23:12); Michael Hughes (26:16); Jackie Tierney (29:09); Emma Whorwood (25:23); Wendy Bowyer (46:14) and tail walkers Claire Guffick (1:01:47) and Lee Guffick (1:01:51). Stephen Andrews, Wendy Bowyer and Mike Shelton also volunteered at this event.

Parkrun tourists included Ian Cooper (29:27) at Brueton; Steph Attenborough (33:03) at Telford; Garth Cox (23:57) at Babbs Mill; Mark Boffey (26:32) and Sarah Boffey (27:25) at Cusworth Hall, Doncaster.Sarah celebrated her 100^th parkrun at Cusworth’s Hall 100^th event … very good planning!