RUNNING
Parkrun Junior 2K
BRJ Junior, Finley Harrison, was in action at Cambourne taking 4th position in a time of 00:09:05, just shy of his current Club PB.
Parkrun 5K
A number of local Parkrun’s were again cancelled due to the flooding. BRJ’ers returned to Bug Hunter Waters (Course Bests for Claire Ashton & Kathy Unwin), Bushy (20th year Parkrun celebration), Clare Castle, Coventry, Daventry, Dereham, Eden Projet (Parkrun #75 for Joanna Watts & Course Best by Michelle Caspersz), Hastings High School, Hellbrunn (Salzburg, Austria), Hove Promenade, Milton Country (Course Best for Simon Mayes), Storeys Field (Course Bests for Sophie & Stanley Coe), Westpark (Munich, Germany) & Whittlesey (Course Best by Nick Harris).
Alice Edwards & Alice Noyes returned to the Riemer Parkrun (Munich, Germany) in a mid-week Parkrun “special” to mark Germany’s Unity Day.
Amie & Sarah Taylor-Hall made a BRJ Parkrun Debut at Worthing followed by a refreshing seas swim.
At Huntingdon, Jim Greenley secured 3rd place.
Standalone 10K
2 BRJ’ers completed this longstanding Letchworth based event. Of the 1,294 finishers, Ashley Benningfield secured position 1,145 in a time of 1:08:46 & Claire Raywood position 1,284 in 1:26:09.
Chester Marathon
In her second full Marathon this year, the London in April (3:34:49), Women’s Captain Felicity Baillie, completed the Chester Marathon alongside 4,525 finishers in position 751 in 3:23:30, just short of her current Club PB of 3:21:51 set in 2023 at Brighton. An Age / Gender Graded score of 67.53% counts towards the Senior Running Champs.
Also running was former member, Jade Wren. Her marathon PB as a BRJ member, set back in 2017 at Brighton, was 5:39:51. However, Jade’s new PB is now 4:05:15. Clearly her new life living in the hilly Lake District suits her!
5 Valleys Ultra (55K)
Tom Brand successfully completed a Lake District based Ultra event. Their were 4 different races on offer being the 2 Valleys (22K distance), 5 Valleys (55K), 7 Valleys (110K) & the 13 Valleys (180K).
Tom selected the 5 Valleys meaning his race started in Waterside (Ambleside) & transited through Borrowdale, Bassenthwaite, Thirlmere, Ullswater & Windermere Valleys with a welcomed race finish after 55K (34.18 Miles) in Keswick. The course included a total elevation of 2,303M. Of the 476 finishers, Tom finished in position 222 in 9:52:42.
Tour de Tirol Running Festival
Alex Howard made a return to Soll in Austria to compete in all events in the 3 day Running Festival which comprised races over 10K, 23K & 42K.
Day 1 – Soller Zehner 10K – The village 10K was held in stormy & wet conditions. Alex finished in position 241 / 394 in a time of 1:01:29.
Day 2 – Kaiser Mountain 42K Marathon – The Saturday race started in the village of Soll, with the course running through the local villages of the Skiwelt Region, within the Wilder Kaiser mountain range. The finish line of the marathon was at the summit of the Hohe Salve which had a elevation of 1.829 metres above sea level. The rainy conditions that had affected Friday’s 10K turned to snow which significantly affected the higher levels of the mountain. The final 4K was especially challenging with each of these kilometres taking Alex around 19 mins each. The challenging weather conditions forced 138 starters to retire. Of the 264 successful finishers from 31 countries, Alex completed the course in position 257 in a time of 7:10:32.
Day 3 – Polver Trail 23K – The race started in Soll in brilliant sunshine over a course comprising roads & trails circling the local Juffinger Joche mountain. After a 1,200M ascent the final event of the festival finished back in Soll. Alex completed the distance in position 285 / 295 in a time of 4:17:47. A celebratory beer, or 2, was well earned.
Frostbite Friendly League (Race 1 – St Neots)
Race 1 of the 6 race 2024 / 2025 series has, since 2004, being held at Priory Park, St Neots & hosted by Riverside Runners. Both runs this year were held in sunny conditions & despite all of the recent rainstorms the course was remarkably dry.
JUNIOR
9 BRJ’ers were among the 138 finishers taking on the 1 lap 1.5M course.
For all Junior competitions, the total finish positions of 5 finishers makes a teams overall score. Team scorers must consist of the top 2 Boys & 2 Girls. The 5th scorer can be either a Boy of Girl.
In race 1, our 5 scorers were Jack Scott (15th), Joey Phillips (35th), George Jenner (37th), Katie Lasseter (42nd) & Clemmie McCreadie (84th).
The Junior team made a great start to the competition having scored a total of 213 Race Points & securing 4th league position from the 14 teams. The squads race stats were:
Debut at Venue – Liv Coleman-Bragg, George Jenner, Clemmie McCreadie, Ettie McCreadie, Joey Phillips, Jack Scott & Florence Stevenson. Our unluckiest athlete was Katie Lasseter who missed out on a new Venue PB by just 9 Secs,
SENIOR
22 BRJ’ers were among the 349 finishers. The Senior course route had remained unchanged since 2004 but for for 2024, a 3rd “Out & Back” section was added to the final lap increasing the total race distance by 300 metres up to approx 5.2 Miles. For this reason, there were no Senior Venue PB’s secured this year..
For the Senior competitions, the positions of 10 finishers count towards the teams overall score. Senior scorers are the top 3 Men & 3 Women. The remaining 4 scorers can be either a Man or Woman.
In race 1, our 10 scorers were Seb Burley (37th), Cameron Taylor-Hall (50th), Paul Mitton (81st), Slawomir Dziamara (84th), Mark Sheldon (88th), Frank Holmes (105th), Robin Cooper (108th), Emily Miller (120th), Christine Howard (127th) & Heledd Marshall-Roberts (191st).
Our senior team scored a total of 991 Race Points & securing 8th league position from the 16 teams. The squads race stats were:
Debut at Venue – Michael Branson, Anthony Charters, Robin Cooper, Slawomir Dzriamaga, Bryn Jones & Emily Miller.
The full set of results for both races can be accessed via the Frostbite Friendly League website. For your diaries, Race 2 hosted by Bushfield Joggers, takes place on 3rd November at Nene Park, Peterborough.
MULTI-SPORTS
Thruxton Mass Attack Duathlon
Stuart Hathaway successfully completed the Standard distance event based on laps of the Thruxton Racing Circuit, near Andover. From the 40 finishers, Stuart finished in position 10 in a total time of 2:11:25. Stuart secured the bronze medal in his Age Category. Stuart’s stats were:-
Run 1 (11.4K / 3 Laps) – 00:48:21
T1 – 00:01:07
Bike (38K / 10 Laps) – 1:03:40
T2 – 00:02:04
Run 2 (3.81K / 1 Lap) – 00:16:11