23rd & 24th December
Parkrun Junior 2k
Just 2 of our Juniors, Alexander Eason & George Jenner were in action, both at Jubilee Park.
Parkrun 5K
BRJ’ers returned to Bedford (Course PB for Kerry Surkitt), Cyclopark, Ferry Meadows, Harwich, Holkham, Irchester Country, Melton Mowbray, Milton Country, Norwich, Pocket, Storeys Field & Thornham Walks.
At Huntingdon, Douglas Rowan secured a new Club 5K PB by a margin of 23 Secs (PB #4 of 2023) & Andrew Stevenson completed Parkrun #25.
25th December
Parkrun 5K
BRJ’ers made returns to Aviemore, Bedford, Bolton, Harwich & Sloughbottom. At Hastings High School, Douglas Rowan achieved his second Club 5K PB of the Christmas period, this time by a 24 Sec margin. Gareth Thomas made a BRJ Debut at Ashford.
At Huntingdon, nearly 400 runners & volunteers , many donning a wide range of festive costumes, were greeted by weather that was without either rain or wind, a balmy 12 Degree temperature & a course that was significantly less wet than a few days before. Keelan Duffy took 3rd position & Will Dales completed Parkrun #150.
30th & 31st December
Parkrun Junior 2K
Jubilee Park stalwart, Alexander Eason, was the sole BRJ’er in action.
Parkrun 5K
BRJ’ers made returns to Corby (5th & 1st Female for Felicity Baillie), Holkham, Keswick, Pocket, South Manchester, St Albans (Kate Ruddock completed Parkrun #300), Stevenage (Course PB for Mark Jackman) & Storeys Field.
There were Club Parkrun Venue Debuts by Seb Burley at Penryn Campus &
Caroline & Ian Smurthwaite at Terry Hershey in (Houston, USA).
At Huntingdon, Keelan Duffy took 1st place.
1st January
BRJ’ers returned to Panshanger & Whittlesey. At Huntingdon, Keelan took the runners-up spot whilst Sarah Noble & Richard Braddick reached Parkrun Milestones namely #25 & 50 respectively.
Ely New Years Eve 10K
In potentially the best weather conditions for very many years, although still having to overcome strong headwinds from 5-8K, 16 BRJ’ers successfully completed the course & earning the bottle of beer offered in lieu of a medal.
The race represented the final “Nominated” event in the 2023 Senior Running Championships. For the 2024 competition, the inaugural event is the Folksworth 15M taking place on 21st January. The full programme of 2024 Junior & Senior Club Champs “Nominated” events appears on the BRJ Website.
Having recovered from a “retirement” with a turned” ankle at the recent Frostbite, Men’s Club Captain & Coach Paul Mitton, led home the BRJ 16 , closely followed by Joe Harding.
Our leading lady today & just dipping under 50 Mins was Heledd Marshall-Roberts & leading home Kerry Surkitt. 2 members, Jon Daulton & Fiona Holland, both secured Club PB’s that were achieved at the 2022 event by margins of 2 Mins 8 Secs & 15 Secs respectively.
Aaron Ball made his Club 10K Debut & 4 of the squad secured a mix of Silver & Bronze Age Category podium positions.
In terms of the Age / Gender Grading scores counting towards the Senior Champs competition, Francesca Lasman achieved the highest of our squad at 77.20 & for the Men it was Paul Mitton at 73.84.
Our unluckiest athlete was Rachael Dent who despite the significant headwinds missed out on a new Club PB by just 8 Secs. Phil Pearsons was delighted with a finish that was 3 Mins quicker than in 2022.
It was also great see Mark Jackman, a very keen Parkrun Tourist, competing in a distance longer than 5K.
Finally, Anna Best completed her 5th 10K as part of a personal challenge to run 70K in 7 x 10K events. Only 2 to go Anna!
The full suite of club results, including the Age / Gender Graded scores counting towards the Running Champs are
| Race: Ely New Years Eve 10K Date: 31/12/23 Nos of Finishers: 510 | ||||
| Position | Name | Time | Age-Grade % | Notes |
| 73 | Paul Mitton | 00:41:02 | 73.84% | |
| 75 | Jonathan Harding | 00:41:11 | 70.58% | |
| 80 | Aaron Ball | 00:41:17 | 65.32% | Debut Club 10k |
| 141 | Jon Daulton | 00:46:03 | 58.56% | PB |
| 199 | Heledd Marshall-Roberts | 00:49:38 | 62.56% | |
| 207 | Kerry Surkitt | 00:50:25 | 67.97% | 2nd FV50 |
| 220 | Fiona Holland | 00:51:11 | 70.30% | PB |
| 234 | Sarah Watts | 00:52:06 | 69.93% | |
| 265 | Mike Gullis | 00:53:03 | 64.81% | |
| 275 | Francesca Lasman | 00:54:01 | 77.20% | 3rd FV65 |
| 286 | Mark Jackman | 00:54:07 | 55.53% | |
| 316 | Rachael Dent | 00:57:17 | 53.19% | |
| 323 | Sue Ray | 00:57:31 | 71.46% | 2nd FV60 |
| 341 | Michael Shaw | 00:58:36 | 57.03% | |
| 405 | Phil Pearsons | 01:02:47 | 53.73% | |
| 418 | Anna Best | 01:04:17 | 69.90% | 2nd FV70+ |
Marham NYE 10K
In this increasingly popular event & with a great finish medal featuring the RAF Marham based F-35 (Lightning) Fighter Jet, Richard Orrell was among the 406 finishers in position 145 in a time of 00:49:22.