Peel Road Runners took part in the third race in the Derby Runner Staffs & Derby Cross Country League on Sunday. Travelling to Allestree Park in Derby, the Peelers were faced with slightly drier conditions than would normally be expected in January, although the dreaded “hill of mud” still proved as challenging as ever on both laps of the race! Although unable to run due to injury, Team Captain Sandra Ingram described the day saying, “it was a struggle to get the teams together (due to injury and illness), but it worked out well in the end. The camaraderie of the other clubs was amazing, they all waited to cheer in our last runner. It was really heartwarming!”
Although men and women run together over the 5.5 mile course they score separately. Rachael Rickards ran a strong race to finish first of the Peel ladies in 13th place overall. Close on her heels, Lisa Stretton put in a great performance finishing in 17th place, followed by Lorna DeSylva, Sophie Galloway and Claire Guffick. Running for the men’s team, second claim runner Robert Dyjak continued his impressive performance this season by finishing 3rd overall in a very competitive field. Second Peeler home for the men was ultra runner Martin Hollamby, who is well used to running on technical terrain and ran strongly finishing in 8th place. Club Chairman Lee Rickards crossed the line in 10th place overall (though maybe regretting his choice of white XC spikes!), followed by Wayne King, second claim Scott Chapman, Darren Truman, Ben Dorkins (on his cross country debut), Roger Lloyd, Simon Gordon and Lee Guffick. The team were also able to take shelter before and after running in their recently purchased and branded gazebo, which was well appreciated and will prove to be a godsend in less favourable weather!
Peel canicross runners were busy this weekend at the Canicross Midlands event held at Lincomb Equestrian Centre near Worcester. Neal Dempsey, running with Banana and Hugo on the 5k course, finished in third place overall. Helen Dempsey ran the same course with Sydney, but was not placed. Both Neal and Helen ran the fun short course (around 3k in distance) with Paddington and Sydney (Neal) and Minnie (Helen). Rob Mace also ran a strong race on the 5 k course with Axis. All six dogs are rescue dogs living their new lives to the full!
The National Running Show at the National Exhibition Centre is always a draw for runners both locally and from further afield. Several Peelers took advantage of the occasion to meet some of the “stars” of the running world and to check out the latest gear and equipment to tempt their credit cards. Mark Boffey was able to chat with the astounding Scott Jurek, an American ultra runner whose impressive record of distance wins include the Hardrock Ultra, the Badwater ultramarathon, the Spartathlon and the Western States 100 mile race. Definitely a day to remember!
Saturday morning parkruns once again proved popular for club members with Kingsbury Water Park drawing the largest number of Peel runners. First to cross the line for the club was Mike Shelton in a time of 22:31, followed by Ben Dorkins (23:21); Darren O’Leary (25:41); Stella Taylor (26:15); Jackie Tierney (29:34); Claire Guffick (30:50); Emma Whorwood (35:19); Ann Hill (35:38); Sarah French (35:41); Nicola Bannister (36:44); Alison Dolphin (38:47); Stephen Andrews (39:46); Wendy Bowyer (40:22); Lee Guffick (41:58) and Chris Norris (47:05). Parkrun tourists included: Andrew Pickard at Hillsborough, Sheffield (23:31); Garth Cox at Chasewater (23:56); Ian Cooper (25:20) and Tanya Murphy (33:06) both at Babb’s Mill, Solihull and Mick Stevenson (32:12) at Warwick Racecourse. Joy Sykes was the sole club hi-vis hero this weekend, volunteering at Carlisle Park parkrun in Morpeth, Northumberland.
