Does rain stop play? Not when you are a Peeler. What should be the start of running with the warmth of sun on your back continues to be dodging the puddles of water from the never ending rain. However, that has not stopped a good few Peelers from achieving new pbs over the weekend.
‘Grin and bare it’ conditions did not deter Martin Hollamby from achieving an excellent time of 2:57:24 at the Boston UK Marathon on Sunday. The route allows runners to experience the big open skies of coastal Lincolnshire but that unfortunately also allows strong headwinds to hinder your pace. Typical Martin, he oddly enjoyed it.
The Uttoxeter Festival of Running, which includes a scenic but tough half-marathon, was the running choice of several Peelers on Sunday. First Peeler to sprint home was Emma Pick (1:30:58), a new course pb by over 4 minutes and the third female. Mark Boffey followed with an impressive pb of 1:47:06. Allen King (01:47:35) came in next, followed by Billy King (2:00:04), with Chris Bennett (2:00:06) hot on his heels – both achieving pbs. Tim Mudd (2:02:05) swiftly followed a great run in preparation for the Leeds marathon in two weeks time. Sarah Boffey (2:26:42) completed the lineup of Peel runners.
Team Dempsey, Helen and Neil, ran the final Longhorn Canicross race at Thoresby Hall, Newark. Both finished in 1:16:00 racing in incredibly wet conditions. Neil’s running partners were Banana and Elvis; Helen ran with Minstrel and Sydney. A plethora of parkruns was the 5k running choice for a whole host of Peelers on Saturday. Running at Tamworth, Lee Rickards finished in 21:36; Chris Bennett (22:49); Ian Cooper (25:22); Stuart Hatton (25:35); Marcus Fairburn (28:27). Wendy Roe (30:20) at Lichfield; Lisa Stretton (24:56); Darren O’Leary (25:30); Claire Guffick (27:34); Lee Guffick (34:07); Alison Perry (35:20); Vickie Bowyer (38:52); Laura Bowyer (38:53) and Nicola Bannister (44:43) all ran at Kingsbury Water Park. Tim Mudd (27:34) ran at Newark; Garth Cox (26:50) ran at Gedling; Jacqueline Tierney (29:38) at Clifton; Ian Orton (23:56) at Warwick; Emma Pick (20:27) at Trentham Gardens; Mark Boffey (23:22) and Sarah Boffey (33:31) visited Llangollen to run on the Old Railway Trail. Further afield, Steph Attenborough (33:10) and Joanne Sharm (33:09) included a parkrun whilst visiting Zuiderpark, The Hague, Netherlands. And last but certainly not least, Michael Hughes (29:33) enjoyed his run in Jablonna, Poland.
