With the autumn marathon season well under way, Peel Road Runner George Hope flew over the Atlantic to take on the challenge of the New York marathon this weekend. This race was the first in his ‘Marathon Majors’ challenge (the other future races being Berlin, Boston, Chicago, Tokyo and London). With preparations for New York being derailed by the Covid epidemic, it has been a long build up for George to this race requiring strong nerves and devotion to training. George crossed the finish line in a creditable 4:44:51 on a course that is renowned to be difficult and in unseasonably warm weather conditions (24 degrees).
Training during the winter months can be challenging, so it’s good to try out something new which is exactly what Claire Guffick, Lee Guffick, Alison Dolphin and Sarah French did when they took on the Bluetits Nipper Dipper at Lake 32 near Cirencester at the weekend. They completed the 100m swim, then took part in the inflatable race with ‘Mr Dolphin’ and came 5th out of 6 teams. A great way to build up core strength for running!
Meanwhile, running the 4th leg of the Peak Running Starlight Relays at Markeaton Park in Derby (a 2 mile trail relay race held in the dark), Val Lawson brought her team home in a lap time of 20:25.
At the weekend’s parkruns, the cool and damp weather did not deter Peelers from their weekly fix. At Kingsbury Martin Hollamby was first home for the club in 21:00, closely followed by Ben Dorkins in 21:52. Next over the line was Garth Cox (24:46); Neal Dempsey (26:56); Darren O’Leary (27:30); Tim Mudd (27:42); Stella Taylor (28:00); Jackie Tierney (29:33); Joy Sykes (31:21); Ann Hill (33:57); Helen Dempsey (33:59); Roger Eastaff (34:01); Wendy Bowyer (59:19) and Chris Norris (59: 23).
Parkrun tourists included: Michael Hughes at Braunstone (25:23); Mark and Sarah Boffey at Forest Rec, Nottingham (24:56 and 28:06 respectively); Allen King (22:23); Chris Bennett (23:08) and Ian Orton (23:41) at Babbs Mill, Solihull and Mike Shelton at Beacon Park, Lichfield (20:07).
