After a week of wet days and the prospect of a soggy cross country course, Peel Road Runners were relieved to have a mild and dry start to the cross country season at Anslow near Burton Upon Trent on Sunday. The race was the first in the Derby Runner Derby & Staffs Cross Country League with runners taking on a 5.5 mile course around an equestrian cross country course complete with a jump and water splash! First Peeler to gallop across the finish line was second claim athlete, Robert Dyjak, in a time of 32:27 and 6th place overall. Next to finish was Luke Collins in 32nd place; Rob Mace in 39th place; Scott Chapman in 48th place; Mark Boffey in 76th place; Ben Dorkins in 78th place; Phil Neale in 81st place; Darren Truman in 84thplace; Tim Clark in 95th place; Ian Orton in 117th place (having run the Snowdonia marathon the day before!); Michael Hughes in 123rd place; Simon Gordon in 125th place and Lee Guffick bringing the men’s team home. Running for the ladies’ team, Emma Pick was first home in a time of 39:33 and 9th place overall, with Lisa Stretton next to finish in 23rd place; Sarah Boffey in 49th place; Stella Taylor in 60th place; Claire Guffick in 79th place and Jackie Tierney in 80th place. Some great results from both first timers to cross country and seasoned veterans!
Peelers Sandra Ingram and Ian Orton took on the Snowdonia marathon on Saturday. Advertised as one of the hardest road marathons in Britain, the race started in Llanberis before taking in the Llanberis Pass to Pen-y-Pass, passing through Beddgelert at around the 13 mile mark and running up to Rhydd Ddu and Waunfawr. The final three miles of the race begin with a cruel slog over the Bwlch-y-groes pass, then a hair-raising rough trail descent back into Llanberis. Only three weeks after running the London marathon, Orton crossed the line in a time of 5:41:40 with Ingram not far behind in 5:46:39.
Meanwhile across the Irish Sea, Mike Shelton ran the Dublin marathon on Sunday finishing in a time of 3:41:07, an impressive 20 minutes faster than his previous run at Dublin in 2019!
Saturday morning parkruns were as popular as ever with the Peelers this week. At Kingsbury Allen King was first to finish for the club in a time of 22:40 followed by Ben Dorkins (23:24); Neal Dempsey (27:58); Sarah Boffey (29:06); Mark Boffey (29:19); Helen Dempsey (33:51); Kelly Porter (43:21); Wendy Bowyer (43:54); Alison Perry (51:08); Chris Norris (51:39); Alison Dolphin (55:57) and Sarah French (55:58). Sarah French and Ann Hill acted as Tail Walkers at Kingsbury; Alison Dolphin as Park Walker (a role designed to encourage walkers to join in at parkrun without feeling the need to run) and Wendy Bowyer helped with Communications before the run.
Parkrun tourists included: Tim Mudd (27:36) at Brueton; Roger Lloyd (25:47) at Walsall Arboretum; Tony Bryan at Conkers (25:31); Rob Mace at Sandwell Valley (1st finisher and 25th time finishing first in a parkrun!); Chris Bennett (24:58) at Henley Wood, Oswestry; Joy Sykes (30:04) at Tyne Green, Hexham; Mick Stevenson (32:17) at Warwick Racecourse; Michael Hughes (26:41) at East Park, Wolverhampton and Jackie Tierney (29:13) at Beacon Park, Lichfield (Jackie also volunteered before the run).
