With a feeling of spring in the air and a spring in the step of the Peel Road Runners keen to get back to road racing, the Aldi Ashby 20 road race made a welcome return after a two year absence due to Covid restrictions. The race, organised by Ivanhoe Runners, is extremely popular with runners testing their fitness for upcoming spring marathons and also for those moving up from half marathon distance. It also has a reputation for being one of the best 20 mile races in the country, so is well respected among the running community. Ian Allen of Spa Striders was the race winner in an impressive finish time of 1:44:29 with Wayne King the first Peeler to finish the race, having run a very respectable time of 2:09:45 in 27th place overall and 6th in age category. Next to finish for the Peelers was Club Chairman Lee Rickards, who had a superb race crossing the line in 2:19:38, knocking 15 minutes off his previous personal best time at the distance! Another Peeler in great form at the moment is Malcolm Bembridge, who finished in 2:27:41 and 19th in his MV50 age category. Stephen Baker also ran well in a time of 3:08:57, with Sophie Galloway claiming her famous Ashby 20 sweatshirt in a time of 3:38:26 and Emma Whorwood (3:41:08) and Helen Manton (3:43:11) completing the Peel team.
The Stafford half marathon is another iconic road race making its return this year and proving popular with runners both local and from further afield. With the dry and warm weather conditions making for good running, Tony Bryan ran a well-paced race to cross the line in a personal best time of 1:55:07, followed by Joanne Harvey in 1:56:55, Andrew Gillman in 2:05:00 and Helen Dempsey in 2:28:18.
It almost goes without saying that V70+ Peeler Bob Donovan will have run another marathon at the weekend and, not wanting to disappoint, he took on the Pierrepoint Plod 45k (28 miles) run at Holme Pierrepoint in Nottingham on Sunday and finished the 9 lap course in a time of 5:52:00 . Asked about the race, Donovan said, “I got first in my age bracket. Come to think of it, I got last as well. Most of those in my age bracket are not stupid enough to do this!”.
Running at the Canicross Midlands event at Cannock Chase on Saturday, Rob Mace ran the long course of 5k with Axis finishing in 2nd place; the short course of 2.5 km with Molly finishing in 4th place and the “odds and bods” course with Base finishing in 1st place overall.
Saturday morning parkruns proved as popular as ever with Claire Guffick celebrating her 50th parkrun at Kingsbury supported by a great number of Peelers! First home for the club was Mike Shelton in a time of 20:47, followed by Allen King in 22:41. Trevor Thompson was next over the line in a time of 24:18, followed by Darren O’Leary (24:45); Darren Truman (24:56); Mark Boffey (26:40); Jackie Tierney (28:31); Claire Guffick (29:24); Roger Eastaff (31:01); Joy Sykes (31:24); Ann Hill (33:28); Stella Taylor (34:01); Sarah French (34:41); Lee Guffick (36:38); Alison Dolphin (37:15); Nicola Bannister (42:37); Wendy Bowyer (42:42) and Christine Norris (46:28).
Parkrun tourists this week included: Ian Cooper (24:56) and Tanya Murphy (35:07) at Brueton, Solihull; Tim Mudd at Markeaton, Derby (26:07); Dave Fern (24:57) and Roger Lloyd (44:22) at Conkers; Mick Stevenson (30:53) at Northallerton; Garth Cox (24:09) at Chasewater and Ben Dorkins (28:18) at Beacon, Lichfield.
