Weekly Round Up – 18th October 2021

This weekend was a slightly quieter weekend for Peel Road Runners from a racing point of view, although many Peelers were out and about around the country flying the flag for Tamworth!

V75+ superman, Bob Donovan, ran another marathon! Two weeks after completing the London marathon, Donovan ran the Marston Mortaine trail marathon near Bedford finishing in 5:48:26. This was the fourth in the race series, requiring runners to complete as many laps of the four mile course as possible within a 6 hour period and by completing the marathon distance, he earned the fourth medal to complete the challenge. 

The Oxford half marathon is always a “sell out” event with this year being no exception. It is estimated that 13,000 runners crossed the start line of the fast and flat course, which took in the buildings, parks and universities of the famous city. Clara Walton, the Peelers sole representative at the race, finished in a creditable time of 2:18:00. Asked about the route, she said that the “nice flat course had great spectator support and that she would thoroughly recommend it!”. 

Further west at the Weston Super half marathon, Ian Cooper just ducked under the two hour mark to finish in 1:59:00, followed by Tanya Murphy in 2:29:00. The race is unique in that, whilst it takes in the glorious sites of Weston Super Mare and surrounding Somerset villages on closed roads, it is the only road race to finish a quarter of a mile out to sea on Weston’s Grand Pier!

After Kingsbury parkrun was cancelled last week due to flooding, a sense of normality returned this week for those Peelers who call Kingsbury “home”. First Peeler home was Mike Shelton, a member of the Core Team at Kingsbury, in a time of 20:53. He was closely followed by new member Ben Dorkins, who is showing huge potential and finished in a personal best time of 21:31. Other runners included Chris Bennett (22:52), Mark Boffey (26:58), Sandra Ingram (28:48), Darren O’Leary (28:48), Phil Neale (28:49), Jo Insley (30:43), Emma Whorwood (38:10) and Sarah French (60:00). Peeler Stella Martin, who is running 5k every day in 2021 to raise money for Cancer Research with the parkrun being her 289th consecutive day of running, also ran at Kingsbury and finished in 26:30!

Parkrun tourists this week included: Joy Sykes who achieved a personal best time of 28:10 assisted by her dog, Charlie Barkrunner at Blyth Links parkrun in Northumberland. At Cannock Chase parkrun, Rob Mace finished in third place in a time of 19:45, whilst at Walsall Arboretum Jackie Tierney crossed the line in 59:20. Other tourists included: Andy Pickard (22:08) who ran at Concord parkrun in Sheffield; Tim Mudd (26:24) ran at Perry Hall parkrun; new member Tony Bryan, who ran a personal best time at Conkers finishing in 23:57; Ian Cooper (25:31) at Burnham and Highbridge and Tanya Murphy (31:22) at the same event. At Newborough Forest on Anglesey, Neal Dempsey ran with his dog Banana finishing in 29:55.

At the same parkrun, Helen Dempsey and Sydney completed the course in 32:02. Closer to home at Sutton Park, Claire Guffick finished in a course personal best time of 29:24 and husband Lee Guffick scanned his barcode on 41:37. Mick Stevenson flew the Club flag at Warwick racecourse with a time of 31:46, whilst Club Secretary Alison Dolphin (38:57) ran at Sandhurst Memorial parkrun. Finally just the one ‘hi-vis hero’ this week, with Garth Cox volunteering at Bedworth parkrun.

Show all posts