With spring upon us and near perfect weather conditions the first weekend in April proved to be a busy one on the racing front for Peel Road Runners.
On Saturday, Martin Hollamby took part in the Shropshire Way 80k race. A circular route with stunning scenery running alongside parts of Offa’s dyke and taking in various peaks (Ragleth, Pole Bank, Striperstones) with around 3000m of ascents and descents including steep technical trails/fells. Martin completed the race to finish 5th overall in a time of 8 hours 57 minutes, which is a 53 minute PB for this distance.
Also taking part in ultra-marathon racing this weekend, Mike Shelton, Luke Collins, Jo Sharman and Steph Attenborough took part in the ‘A Coventry Way’ challenge. A 40-mile self-navigated loop around Coventry, starting and finishing in Meriden and being 95% on trail paths. With the recent good weather there was a lot less mud on the course then previous years making it ideal for running. Mike and Luke completed the race in 8 hours 23 minutes, 70 minutes quicker than last year. Steph and Jo completed the race in 11.29.54.
A couple of peelers took part in the Brighton Marathon on Sunday. Rachel Naylor made her marathon debut and ran a great time of 04.29.26. Ash Baldwin, no stranger to the marathon distance, ran a very impressive race to finish in 6th place in an amazing time of 02.39.02. Ash also took 6 minutes off the Peel club record for the marathon distance with this result which has stood in place since 1999.
Sunday saw the ever-popular Cathedral to Castle race take place. Starting at Lichfield Beacon Park and finishing at Tamworth Castle grounds, the 10-mile multi-terrain race takes in road, trail and towpaths. This race always attracts a lot of runners and this year was no exception with a big turnout from Peel Road Runners with some peelers also taking the opportunity to include this as part of their marathon training long runs by making an early start and running from Tamworth to Lichfield before heading back in the race. First back for the club was Chris Samson in 01.05.30. Followed by Phil Neale 01.19.23, Allen King 01.22.15, Richard Satchwell 01.22.26, Samie Futrill 01.22.31, Lorna Carlin 01.23.34, Lisa Stretton 01.24.09, Katie Stretton 01.24.09, Simon Gordon 01.29.34, Billy King 01.30.06, Helen Chyla 01.30.28, Sam Cart 01.30.39, Ian Orton 01.32.33, Tony Bryan 01.32.41, Gemma Pritchard 01.32.54, Chris Bennett 01.34.08, Andy Gilman 01.36.51, Stuart Hatton 01.37.33, Liam Pring 01.40.11, Claire Guffick 01.42.01, Emma La Planche 01.44.56, Lisa Barnes 01.48.22, Neal Dempsey 01.49.38, Emma Whorwood 01.54.14, Emma Livingstone 01.55.05, Jo Insley 01.55.05, Ann Hill 02.04.53, Helen Dempsey 02.09.07, Roger Eastaff 02.13.53, Lee Guffick 02.13.55, Nicola Bannister 02.27.06 and Alice Bannister 02.27.06.
Also on Sunday a couple Peelers attended 10k races. Matt Salisbury took part in the Drayton Manor 10k, with course running through the theme park. Matt finished in 30th place with a new PB time of 41.44.
Roger Lloyd ventured to the Peak District to race in the Monsal Trail 10k. The route goes along the old railway line through tunnels, over the spectacular Monsal viaduct and all the while surrounded by the beautiful Derbyshire scenery. Roger finished in 11th place out of 118 runners in a time of 49.37.
In parkrun news, as always these were well attended by the Peel Road Runners. Tamworth Castle Grounds and Kingsbury Waterpark had the biggest Peeler attendance.
At Tamworth, Lee Rickards was first back in 18.24, closely followed by Samie Futrill who was 1st lady with a new PB time of 23.34. Following Samie was Simon Gordon 24.51, Tony Bryan 24.52, Tracy Ford 28.04 and Sandra Ingram 33.52.
At Kingsbury Water park the peelers were led in by Katie Stretton 26.03, Claire Guffick 30.04, Roger Eastaff 35.12, Lee Guffick 35.13, Ann Hill 46.55 and Nicola Bannister also 46.55.
With Parkrun tourism Tim Mudd ran Battlestead Croft 28.29. Jackie Tierney ran 28.57 at Belton House. Ian Orton 26.13 and Mike Hughes 31.26 at Gloucester City. Allen King 22.05 and Chris Bennett 23.08 at Holbrooks. Garth Cox 23.57 at Markeaton. Amy Jones 29.07 at Wolverhampton. Jo Sharman 58.26 and Steph Attenborough 58.28 filled the tail walker role at Perry Hall.
International tourism, Ben Dorkins travelled to Hasenheide in Berlin, Germany and ran a time of 25.42. Peel Road Runners meet every Tuesday and Thursday at the Castle Grounds Skate Park car park at 6.45pm for a 7.00pm start. We also have our walking group meeting on Tuesdays, same time and same meeting place. New members always welcome
