Peel Road Runners launched the BDSL Spring / Summer 2018 racing season with the ‘Run in the Forest’, a 5-mile mixed terrain race held at Conkers last weekend.
Following a successful winter Team Cross Country season, the Peel Road Runners head into the summer season with high spirits and an influx of new members eager to impress on both individual & team levels.
For the men it was Ashley Baldwin who was the first Peeler to cross the finish line in 4th position overall with his time of 29:11mins. Lee Rickards was next to finish in 14th position with a time of 30:49mins. Behind Lee was Michael Shelton who ran a 34:11mins for his 43rd place finish. Malcolm Bembridge 35:53mins (58th place), Phil Neale 36:13mins (62nd place), George Hope 39:03mins (95th place), Dave Fern 39:42mins (101st place), Richard Finnegan 39:57mins (105th place), Rob Hirst 41:29mins (123rd place) & Marcus Fairburn 42:23mins (133rd place) complete the Peel Road Runners mens times & placements. The results leave the mens team in 4th place overall.
For the Peel Road Runners womens it was Rachael Rickards who lead the team home with her time of 38:01mins, 16th fastest female on the day and 80th place overall. Lisa Jones-Bignell ran a terrific 39:12mins to finish behind Rachael as the 23rd fastest female and 98th position overall. Sandra Ingram finished with a time of 42:08mins to finish in 129th place overall followed home by Christie Rosser 42:32mins (136th place), Laura Cox 43:35mins (153rd place), Val Lawson 45:30mins (180th place), Stella Martin 45:45mins (183rd place), Helen Manton 47:56mins (209th place), Lisa Fletcher 49:40mins (220th place), Caroline Evans 51:38mins (231st place) & Moira Twiggs 58:56mins (265th place). The results leave the womens team also in 4th place overall.
Last weekend was also the date for the re-arranged Stafford Half Marathon which saw Peelers breaking ducks and setting new Personal Best times. The previous cancellation due to the weather conditions allowed a little extra preparation time for the participants. Running her first (and last?) ever H/M was Emma Pick who made best use of the extra time to break her 13.2mile duck and finish with a time of 1:39:42hrs. Carolyne Browne also ran at Stafford and was the first Peeler to set a new PB on the day with her time of 1:56:40hrs. Jo Insley was delighted to break the 2hr barrier with her new PB time of 1:59:17hrs finishing just ahead of Helen Chyla with her time of 1:59:19hrs.
Running solo for the Peel Road Runner men was Lawrence Williamson who finished his run with a superb time of 1:23:08hrs.
‘Marathon Man’ Bob Donovan successfully ran the Boston Marathon last weekend, however, it wasn’t the one over in the USA, instead Bob travelled to Boston in Lincolnshire to run the lesser known, but just as tough, Boston Marathon. He completed the 26.2 miles in a time of 5:04:14hrs.
With other events / races taking place over the weekend it was a smaller than usual turnout for the Peel Road Runners at Kingsbury Water Park for the Saturday morning 5k Parkrun.
Owen Slater was the first Peeler to finish with his time of 25:46mins ahead of Adam Chyla who ran a 27:25min 5k and smashed his previous best time. Lisa Fletcher was the first Peel female finisher on the day with her time of 30:20mins, ahead of Wendy Bowyer who ran a time of 35:41mins and Jo Insley putting the finishing touches to her pre- Stafford HM training who finished with a leg loosening time of 39:36mins and is now only 1 Parkrun away from the 50 runs milestone.
Michael Stevenson was the sole Peel Road Runner tourist when he went running at the Basingstoke Parkrun last Saturday and finished with a time of 29:07mins for his 5k.
Individual Awards:
Peel Road Runners were amongst the individual prize winners for the Derby Runner Cross Country League 2017/18 XC Awards. In the Derby / Staffs Division it was Robbie Baden who won the award for being the 2nd place male runner over the whole season. Emma Pick went one better with her first-place female award across the whole series of races and Val Lawson won the award for the first female in her age category.
Peel Road Runners meet every Tuesday and Thursday at 7pm at the Snowdome in Tamworth.
New members are always welcome.
