RUNNING
Parkrun Junior 2K
At Jubilee Park, 2 BRJ’ers secured new Club PB’s, namely Iris Purser by 2 Secs (PB #3 of 2023) & Sophie Marshall-Roberts by 3 Secs.
Parkrun 5K
BRJ’ers returned to Brandon Country Park, Chippenham, Great Denham,, Linford Wood, Market Bosworth Country Park, Market Rasen Racecourse, Milton Country Park (Course PB for Paul Mitton), Milton Keynes, Pocket, Preston Park (Brighton), Roosevelt Island (Washington DC), Rushmere, Storey’s Field & Wolverhampton.
At Braunstone, Chloe Wilson secured a 13 Sec Club PB (#3 of 2023) & at Ferry Meadows, Kerry Surkitt a new Club PB by a 53 Sec margin 1 day ahead of her journey over the London Marathon course.
Serial Parkrun tourist, Mark Jackman, made another Club Parkrun Debut, this time at Wendover Woods.
At a much less flooded Huntingdon on the reserve course, it was great to see Donna Whitaker making a return to Parkrun after a 4 year absence..
Northstowe 5K & 1/2 Marathon
Sadly, the official results website does not allow the identification of Running Clubs thus I suspect that Rebecca Carmody was the sole BRJ’er among the 229 finishers in the 1/2 Marathon. Rebecca finished in position 221 in a time of 2:47:59, just shy of her current Club PB for the distance. If other BRJ’ers took part in either the 5K or 1/2 please let Mike Gullis know.
London Marathon
London Marathon #43 saw a return to the traditional pre-COVID April slot meaning that training during the hot summer months has come to an end. However, the Virtual event that was instigated during the Pandemic continues.
Mass Event – The BRJ was represented by 11 members. Paul Treadwell, the winner of the BRJ Ballot place, was unable to run due to an injury incurred during the latter stages of his training block.
The weather conditions on the day consisted of both light & heavy rain showers which although slightly unpleasant for the group of BRJ supporters would have been more acceptable to the near 49,000 finishers. The number of runners in 2023 was a record although even with the strategy of releasing the runners in Waves there were many points along the course where runners were forced to walk meaning that only the early starters had a realistic opportunity of achieving a PB.
Despite a lack of Club PB’s this year, the event did see 3 BRJ’ers (Jonathan Eason, Jane Jenner & Camilla Rhead) join the BRJ “Marathon Club”.
The BRJ 11 were led home by Keelan Duffy with another sub-2:50 performance although just shy of the PB he set here in 2022. Marcela Gracova was our lead lady & like Paul Treadwell, her training was severely hampered by injury with a longest training run of only 11 miles possible. Unfortunately, a recently introduced Good For Age rule meant it was not possible to defer her place until 2024 so she decided to compete. A finish time of just 15 mins shy of her current marathon PB was a great performance.
Alice Synge, finishing a couple of minutes outside her Club PB, had her 15 Secs of TV fame, being captured at the 24 mile point. Claire Few, Kate Ruddock & Kerry Surkitt were all using the event to raise funds for Charity.
Finally, a year or so ago, Jonathan Eason stated that “he was not a runner”. However, his determination, regular attendance at coached BRJ Track sessions & support in the event from Jane Jenner, Jonathan can call himself a Marathon Runner!
Virtual
Tom Brand was among the 4,266 participants in the Virtual event, but actually using the measured course of the Tissington Trail Marathon. His finish time at Tissington was 5:22:37 which placed him in finishing position 1,873 of the Virtual Marathon.
A reminder that the Public Ballot for the 2024 event being held on Sunday 22nd April, CLOSES on Friday 28th April.
The full suite of BRJ results that include the scores counting towards the 2023 Senior Running Champs, are:-
| Race: London Marathon Date: 23/04/23 Nos of Finishers: 48,629 | ||||
| Position | Name | Time | Age-Grade % | Notes |
| 1355 | Keelan Duffy | 02:48:57 | 72.77% | |
| 6266 | Jonathan Harding | 03:20:09 | 65.70% | |
| 9258 | Marcela Gracova | 03:32:32 | 65.30% | |
| 10560 | Alice Synge | 03:37:20 | 66.87% | |
| 14159 | Camilla Rhead | 03:49:16 | 59.08% | Debut Club Marathon |
| 14774 | Amanda Roland-Convey | 03:51:14 | 65.76% | |
| 19897 | Kerry Surkitt | 04:05:35 | 62.69% | |
| 33380 | Claire Few | 04:52:33 | 58.47% | |
| 33398 | Kate Ruddock | 04:52:39 | 52.61% | |
| 45823 | Jane Jenner | 06:12:14 | 38.68% | Debut Club Marathon |
| 45824 | Jonathan Eason | 06:12:14 | 34.46% | Debut Club Marathon |
| Race: London Marathon (Virtual) Date: 23/04/23 Nos of Finishers: 4,325 | ||||
| 1855 | Tom Brand | 05:22:37 | 45.28% | |