RUNNING
Parkrun Junior 2K
2 BRJ’ers were in action at Jubilee Park, namely George Jenner & Alexander Eason, with both finishing just outside their current BRJ 2K PB’s.
Parkrun 5K
BRJ’ers returned to Belvoir Castle, Gt Denham (Course PB for Mark Jackman), Gunpowder, Harlow, Pocket, Storeys Field & University of Northampton.
In Scotland, Stuart Turner made a BRJ Venue Debut at Lanark Moor.
At Huntingdon, Douglas Rowen made his Club 5K Debut (00:24:36) & Melanie Wiiffin completed Parkrun #125.
Bonfire Burn 10K
Felicity Baillie & Nick Harris were among the 621 successful competitors. Felicity Baillie finished in 48th position in a time of 00:41:23 and was 1st Woman in the 18-39 Category. Nick Harris in position 235 in 00:52:17 rocketed to a new Club 10K PB (#4 of 2023) by a 41 Sec margin compared to this event in 2022. Nick was 1st in the slightly unique 60-99 Age Group.
Fireworks Marathon
This Marathon was track based & centred on the Woodson Park athletics track in Ware & comprising 105.5 laps. Kerry Surkitt, a frequent track Marathoneer, who had completed in the hilly Snowdonia Marathon just 6 days before, finished in position 18 / 25 in a time of 5:57:31 & scoring 43.06% towards the Senior Running Championships.
New York Marathon
Annette & David Newton travelled to New York to compete in this iconic & Bucket List event. Their US based son was also competing. The Marathon course is quite tough, although in 2023 the Men’s winner finished ahead of the 51,294 finishers just under the previous course record of 2:05. It was no surprise he was wearing the Super Running shoes that all of the elite runners are wearing these days.
Annette, who has had a great training campaign leading up to New York finished in 4:02:23 in position 15,301 & was 3rd FV70-74. Sadly, David’s training campaign had been severely disrupted by knee issues. so despite missing some key training milestones, such as the Chester Marathon, he was determined to compete & finish. His determination paid off by completing the distance in 4:42:15 in position 28,823. Annette & David’s performances secured them Age Graded Scores of 86.14% & 61.90% towards the Senior Running Champs, Their son Adam, finished in 3:09.
FROSTBITE FRIENDLY LEAGUE
Good weather conditions greeted the Frostbiters and despite the recent wet conditions both courses were surprisingly firm under foot. The exception was at Mile 2 & 4 where the Senior runners faced crossing the strong current of the water overflowing from the river across the Ford into the main lake. All but 1 of the Senior Runners overcame what was was a fun challenge.
The full set of results for Race 2 can be found on the Frostbite Friendly League website.
For your diaries, the next Frostbite event (Race 3 of 6), hosted by March AC over a flat course, takes place on the 10th December 2023 at the sports club adjacent to Whitemoor Prison.
Junior – There were 123 Junior finishers which included 4 BRJ’ers. Sadly, a 5th Junior member, the minimum number of finishers required to secure a team score, sustained an injury thus could not complete the course. Although BRJ lacked a 5th scorer, a number of other clubs found themselves in the same position thus the BRJ squad finished in 6th position of the 13 clubs on the day with 8 League Points & so the team currently lies in 6th place overall going into Race 3 on equal League Points (17) with March & Yaxley. A good Junior turnout at Race 3 could see BRJ move up to 4th position.
The Junior stats for Race 2 were::
Team Scorers – Iris Purser, Henry Reeve, Jack Scott & Tom Sheldon.
Debut at Venue
Iris Purser
Jack Scott
Senior – There were an impressive 461 Senior finishers which included a great turnout by 39 BRJ’ers. These included new member Slawomir Dziarmaga. The BRJ squad finished in 9th position from the 16 clubs with 8 League Points. The team currently lies in 7th place overall just 1 League Point behind March AC.
The Senior stats for Race 2 were:
Team Scorers – William Dales, Alice Edwards, Ruth Foster, Jonathan Harding, Sam Hathaway, Stuart Hathaway, Frank Holmes, Heledd Marshall-Roberts, Paul Mitton, & Andrew Skea.
PB at Venue
William Dales (now 4th fastest BRJ Senior Man at this Venue some 32 Secs behind 3rd placed Keelan Duffy).
Debut at Venue
Richard Braddick
Jon Daulton
Slawomir Dziarmaga
Adam D’Souza
Sam Hathaway
Bryn Jones
Nigel Maggs
Bo Mead
Sarah Noble
Gerry Pye
Mark Sheldon
Caroline Tiller