The Pennine Barrier 50 is a 50-mile ultra marathon which takes in some of the best trails in the Yorkshire Dales National Park with 2593m of ascent. The race starts in the beautiful village of Malham and takes trails through Malham Cove, the Dry Valley of Watlowes, Malham Tarn, Fountains Fell, Janet’s Foss and the Yorkshire 3 peaks of Pen-y-Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough. Lorna Al-Ani took on the challenge and completed the race in 12:24:23, well under the 18-hour cut-off.
This weekend also saw the Prague marathon take place. A 26.2-mile loop that starts and finishes at the historic Old Town Square. Known for being flat and scenic, the route winds through the city centre, running along the Vltava River banks, crossing bridges, and passing landmarks like Charles Bridge and Vyšehrad Castle, largely in the UNESCO-listed area. Ash Baldwin completed the marathon in an incredible time of 02:41:57, and Rachel Naylor completed in 04:47:49.
On Sunday, the Great Birmingham run took place. Winding through the streets of Birmingham, the race offers 10k and half-marathon distances, with a few peelers taking part across both. Ian Orton and James O’Connell both raced in the half-marathon, with both achieving PB’s. Ian completed in a quick time of 01:36:35 (just over 3 minutes knocked off his previous PB time), and James finished in a very respectable time of 01:43:46.
In the 10K, Jamie Abbiss and Daniel Bird both competed. Jamie was first back 38:50, closely followed by Daniel in 44:25.
Peel Road Runners were out in force on Parkrunday (otherwise known as Saturday) with Kingsbury Water Park and Tamworth Castle Grounds both well attended.
At Kingsbury Water Park, Phil Neale was first back for the club in 22:00, followed by Ash Goodman (23:05), Anne Whitby-Smith (24:59), Ben Dorkins (25:22), Simon Gordon (26:33), Roger Eastaff (29:45), Dave Fern (31:00), Jo Insley (33:00), Jackie Tierney (33:39), Emma Whorwood (33:41), Alison Upton (33:52), Claire Guffick (33:53), Wendy Bowyer (33:59), Lee Guffick (34:06), Ann Hill (34:23) and Mike Shelton (46:34).
At Tamworth Castle Grounds, first back was Matt Salisbury in 19:51. Hot on his heels was Danny Beardmore in 20:17, followed by Allen King (23:13), Chris Bennett (23:39), Samie Futrill (24:56), Wayne Richardson (24:57), Daniel Bird (26:28), Jo Bovington (26:43, new PB), Roger Lloyd (26:52), Cheryl Flint (43:36) and Sarah Boffey (01:01:24).
In parkrun tourism, Tim Mudd ran 26:16 at Coronation Park. Graham Lane, 26:45 at Crewe. Emma Pick, 21:39 at Dalby Forest. Jo Sharman (01:03:46) and Steph Attenborough (01:03:47) at Dewsbury. Michael Stevenson, 40:30 at Northallerton. Katie Stretton, 24:27 at Pont-y-Bala. Ian Orton ran 41:04 at his 250th parkrun at Sheffield Castle, along with Mike Hughes (43:47). Finally, Lee Rickards ran 19:40 at Walsall Arboretum.
Peel Road Runners meet every Tuesday and Thursday at the Castle Grounds Skate Park car park at 6.45 pm for a 7.00 pm start. We also have our walking group meeting on Tuesdays, at the same time and same meeting place. New members are always welcome.