With an evening of relay racing against other local running clubs, the Washlands Relays are always a popular draw for the Peel Road Runners. The Relays are the third race in the Burton & District Summer Race League and are organised by the Washlands Women’s Running Club in Burton Upon Trent. Runners (in teams of three or four) each run a two mile lap alongside the River Trent and around the Washlands parklands, providing for some very hard fought racing conditions. Peel Road Runners were able to put out nine teams with their mixed team of Wayne King, Emma Pick, Lee Rickards and Martin Hollamby finishing first in the mixed team category. Next to finish for Peel in 19th place overall were Team Peel 2 comprising of Rob Mace, Rachael Rickards, Zac Gibbons and James Stretton. Following them were Team Peel 5 (Luke Collins, Ben Dorkins, Joanne Harvey and Chris Bennett) in 33rd place; Team Peel 7 (Simon Gordon, Dave Fern, Natalie Walker and Wayne King) in 35thplace; Team Peel 3 (Mark Boffey, Phil Neale, Sophie Galloway and Allen King) in 41st place; Team Peel 8 (Emma Livingstone, Jo Insley and Lisa Stretton) in 18th place (ladies’ teams); Team Peel 6 (Clara Walton, Lorna Carlin and Carolyne Browne) in 21stplace (ladies’ teams) and Team Peel 9 (Sarah Boffey, Caroline Evans and Helen Manton) in 28th place (ladies’ teams).
Another Peel favourite over the years has been the Aldridge 10k race, held this year on Sunday 12th June. Three Peelers represented the club on the undulating course, renowned for its long uphill drag at 9k! Helen Manton finished in 1:01:50; Claire Guffick in 1:02:53 and Lee Guffick in 1:20:23.
At the Two Castles Run, a linear race from Warwick Castle to Kenilworth Castle via Leek Wooton (a distance of 10k) Peelers Alison Upton and Emma Whorwood ran well in hot conditions to finish in 1:10:56 and 1:12:14 respectively.
At the Swansea half marathon (starting in the centre of Swansea before following closed roads out to the Mumbles then back along the coastal path) one of Wales’ largest half marathons, Peeler Helen Dempsey was the sole club representative and crossed the finish line in 2:37:00.
Meanwhile, the lure of a Saturday morning parkrun tempted a good group of Peelers out early on Saturday morning. Whether for chasing personal bests or just out for a social run, all agree that parkrun is a great way to start the weekend! At Kingsbury, Garth Cox was first back for the club in 23:48 followed by Chris Bennett (24:43); Dave Fern (25:11); Claire Guffick (29:31); Jackie Tierney (30:02); Roger Eastaff (32:24); Alison Perry (32:48); Joy Sykes (33:03); Ann Hill (36:11); Sarah French (36:16); Alison Dolphin (38:05); Stephen Andrews (43:17); Nicola Bannister (48:51) and Chris Norris (48:52). Parkrun tourists this week included: Tim Mudd (26:17) at Wolverhampton and Mark Boffey (26:51) and Sarah Boffey (29:04).
Continuing their work liaising with local schools to promote running as a sport to KS2 children, Peelers Alison Dolphin, Dave Fern and Martin Hollamby (accompanied by Trev the bear!) visited Millfield School in Fazeley this week. They reported that they had a fantastic morning working with the very enthusiastic and talented children at the school. Next week, the Peelers will be visiting Lakeside School in Glascote.
