The impact of Storm Eunice was felt all over the country this weekend causing many events to be cancelled for safety reasons. One of the victims was the penultimate race in the Derby Runner Staffs & Derby cross country race due to be held at Shipley Country Park near Derby. The race was to be held on land owned by the Woodland Trust land and the Trust removed permission for the event because of safety concerns. Other victims of the weather were local parkruns including Kingsbury and Rosliston, again cancelled due to health and safety concerns.
However, some events were able to go ahead. One of these was the How Hard Can It Be Winter Railway ultra marathon at Coalport near Telford on Saturday, 19th February. The route took runners along the banks of the River Severn between Ironbridge and Bridgnorth, following the route of the old railway line on an out and back loop of 9.4 miles. Veteran V75+ marathon runner Bob Donovan was not phased by the weather and completed 28 miles in a time of 5:26:12 … an extremely impressive result for anyone, let alone someone of Bob’s age! An inspiration for all Peelers!
After two years of postponement due to the Covid pandemic and storm Darcy in 2021, the Rugeley Runners 10 mile road race finally took place on Sunday, 20th February. The undulating and scenic course circled the beautiful villages of Longdon and Upper Longdon before heading back to Rugeley through the AONB Cannock Chase finishing with an exhilarating downhill run back to the finish. Helen Manton was the sole Peeler at the race and finished the 10 mile course in a creditable time of 1:51:00.
With Kingsbury and Rosliston parkruns cancelled due to safety concerns, many Peelers took advantage of an extra hour in bed. However a few club members ran at other parkruns across the country. These included: Jackie Tierney at Milton Keynes in 29:13; Tim Mudd at Brueton in 26:02; Joy Sykes at Tyne Green in 29:31; Ian Cooper (25:21) and Tanya Murphy (35:12) at Babbs Mill and Mick Stevenson at Warwick Racecourse in 30:50.
