RUNNING
Parkrun 2k
Alexander Eason at Jubilee Park was the sole BRJ’er in Junior Parkrun 2K action today.
Parkrun 5K
Seemingly a popular weekend for Parkrun tourism with returns to Eglinton (Scotland), Erddig (Wales), Ferry Meadows, Great Notley (Course PB for Mark Jackman), Henlow Bridge Lakes, Kettering (Parkrun #50 for Stephen Rochford), Pocket, Portobello (Scotland) & #25 for Iain Drylie, Rushcliffe (#75 for Kevin Ryan), Soham Village College & Yarborough Leisure Centre.
BRJ’ers made 2 club Parkrun debuts, namely Gareth Thomas at Cranbrook Country Park (where he secured a new Club 5K PB by a 57 Sec margin). Much further afield in Adelaide, Australia, Chloe Wilson debuted at the Alginge Beach Parkrun.
At a still partly flooded & muddy Huntingdon, 4 BRJ’ers filled the top 7 positions & Karen James completed Parkrun #50.
Keith Hall Memorial Thorney 10K
A total of 230 finished this local Fens based event named after Thorney’s late Chairman. Thankfully, the rain had stopped by the race start, but the notorious Fenland Winds were much in evidence with strong headwinds from the turnround point at 5K to just over 8K.
The squad was led home by Richard Orrell in 100th position in 00:47:49, Alison Orrell in 132nd in 00:50:55 & Mike Gullis, in his final race in the 60-64 category, in 140th position in 00:51:50.
Ashby 20M
As part of her training campaign for the Brighton & Manchester Marathons, Felicity Baillie was the sole BRJ’er among the 1,285 finishers in this hilly & wind affected 20 miler. Despite the tough course & conditions, Felicity would have been very satisfied with her performance by finishing in 192nd position in a time of 2:29:37. This time represented a Club 20M PB (#3 of 2023) by a huge margin of 27 Mins 35 Secs compared to her previous PB set at Oundle back in March 2020. Felicity is also now the 3rd fastest BRJ Woman over the distance.
Oakley 20M
As well as the 20 Mile success at Ashby for Felicity Baillie, wet & windy conditions over an equally undulating course in Bedfordshire met the 401 finishers, that included 5 BRJ’ers who produced 2 new 20M Club PB’s & a debut 20 for Jon Daulton.
Neil Whitaker has been troubled with niggling injuries for a while & has been just missing out on a new Club PBs. Thankfull, 2023 has seen a turnaround as in addition to his recent 1/2 Marathon Club PB at Cambridge Neil will be very pleased that he smashed his Club 20M set at MK back in March 2019 by a 6 Min 23 Sec margin. Equally impressive was Alice Synge who secured a 34 Sec Club PB compared to February 2019’s Tarpley. (PB #2 of 2023).
Claire Few & Kate Ruddock, both in training for the London Marathon, bettered the time they set at last weekends MK 20 Miler by 10 mins. The full suite of Club stats:-
| NAME | TIME | POSITION | STATS |
| Neil Whitaker | 2:31:09 | 48 | PB |
| Alice Synge | 2:37:36 | 79 | PB |
| Jon Dalton | 2:53:13 | 156 | Debut Club 20M |
| Kate Ruddock | 3:35:23 | 341 | |
| Claire Few | 3:35:32 | 342 |
MULTI-SPORTS
Walden Junior Duathlon
Henry & Jack Reeve, Iris Purser & Jacob Wrench took part in this popular Junior Duathlon Event.
Tristar 2
Jacob Wrench, in his BRJ debut event, finished 16th in his Age Category place (27th overall) from the 57 Finishers in a total time 00:26:40. Jacob’s individual splits were:-
Run #1 – 00:07:20
T1 – 00:00:35
Bike – 00:14:47
T2 – 00:00:24
Run #2 – 00:03:40
Sadly, both Iris & Jack suffered technical issues in the bike phase so sadly were only able to complete 2 of the 3 laps.
Youth
Henry had better luck than his brother, finishing in position 20 of the 30 competitors in a total time of 00:32:51. His individual splits were:-
Run #1 – 00:08:42
T1 – 00:00:53
Bike – 00:18:40
T2 – 00:00:33
Run #2 – 00:04:02
Ashbridge Standard Duathlon
142 finishers braved the wet & cold conditions that met the participants of the Duathlon & Running events being staged in this region. Stuart Hathaway finished in 57th position (4th in Age Category) in a total time of 2:25:10. His individual splits were:-
Run #1 – 00:41:26
T1 – 00:01:09
Bike – 01:18:43
T2 – 00:01:12
Run #2 – 00:22:48