At the Run Through Events Solihull half marathon on Sunday, the race followed an undulating route on closed roads and paths starting in Solihull town centre before going out to Knowle, the villages of Barston and Eastcote and then returning to the town centre. Local Kingsbury parkrun directors, Mike Shelton, Matt Green and Tim Gould representing both Peel Road Runners and Badgers (who are good friends off the course but very competitive against each other out on the road!) ran strongly considering the hot and humid conditions. Shelton was first over the line for the trio in 1:39:40, with the others close on his heels. A Peel win! Neal and Helen Dempsey also took part in the half marathon, finishing together in 2:55:54.
The Burton 10k on Sunday was the sixth race in the Burton & District Summer League. It is a very competitive 10k race fielding runners from most of the local running clubs. The race starts at Shobnall, then gradually climbs on quiet country lanes to Anslow before runners are rewarded with a swift downhill section back to finish and a “lap of honour” around the athletics track at Burton Athletics Club. In form Peeler, Wayne King, ran another strong race to finish 14th overall in a time of 38:35. Next over the line for the club was Mark Boffey, who finished in a personal best time of 49:10, followed by George Hope (54:40); Gemma Pritchard (59:59); Emma Livingstone (1:01:38) who beat her personal best by over 3 minutes and Sarah Boffey (1:05:07).
A 9.00 am start for parkrun in the depths of winter might be an incentive to stay in bed a bit longer, but during a heatwave such as we are seeing at the moment, 9.00 am is actually a lovely time to run! Taking advantage of the slightly cooler early morning condtions, the Peelers were out once more at our local parkruns. At Kingsbury, Tim Clark was first home for the club in a time of 22:59 followed by Lisa Stretton in 24:50; Roger Eastaff (32:09); Jo Insley (39:37); Alison Dolphin (42:50) and Nicola Bannister (42:51). Meanwhile, Tim Mudd took on the shady but undulating course at Rosliston, finishing in 27:23 whilst Mark Boffey ran at Arrow Valley, Redditch finishing in 30:50. Running at Babb’s Mill in Solihull, Garth Cox finished in 24:07 whilst Mick Stevenson headed west to Hastings High School in Burbage to cross the line in 32:56 and Jacqui Tierney headed north to Uttoxeter to take on the Bramshall Road parkrun, finishing in 31:55.
