RUNNING
Parkrun Junior 2K
6 BRJ’ers participated at 3 Parkrun venues;
Cambourne #160 – Finley Harrison finished in 6th position.
Cottenham Recreation Ground #136 – Ewan Mackie finished in 5th position with a new Club 2K PB (#5 of 2025) by a 15 Sec margin compared to Jubilee Park #318.
Jubilee Park #319 – 4 BRJ’ers participated with Ethan Ward taking 1st place overall & with the significantly improved conditions underfoot 3 of them secured new Club 2K PB’s:
1). Eloise Eason by 53 Secs compared to Jubilee Park #318 (PB #3)
2). Ethan Ward by 20 Secs compared to Jubilee Park #281
3). Sammie Webb by 18 Secs compared to Jubilee Park #318 (PB #2)
Parkrun 5K
There were 74 BRJ’ers participating in a Parkrun with returns to Aviemore, Bug Hunters Waters (Course Bests by Tom Brand & Alison Orrell), Doddington Hall, Falkirk, Great Denham, Happy Valley Cyprus (Course Best by Claire Ashton), Henlow Bridge Lakes, Kettering, March, Pavilion Gardens, Pocket, Preston Park Brighton, Storeys Field, Stratford-upon-Avon, Whittlesey & Wimpole (Course PB by Kate Ruddock).
At Ferry Meadows, there was a new Club 5K PB for Kim Olivier (PB #2 for 2025) by a margin of 22 Secs & a Course Best for Andrew Stevenson. Finally, Paul Mitton was delighted to spot the Flying Scotsman locomotive travelling on the Nene Valley Railway!
Alice Noyes made another BRJ Parkrun Venue Debut, this time at Darebin near Melbourne, Australia.
At Huntingdon, William Dales in his 175th Parkrun finished in 2nd position overall.
Great Yarmouth 10K
A late result from 2nd March saw Ian Percy finish in position 93 / 524 in a time of 00:47:40. This represent a new Club 10K PB by a significant 4 Min 9 Sec margin compared to June 2024’s Bassingbourn 10K. This will be a great confidence builder ahead of his forthcoming Marathon.
Cambridge 1/2 Marathon
There was a significant BRJ turnout for the 2025 event with excellent early morning weather conditions. This would have been particularly welcomed by those individuals having to wait on Midsummer Common for the later start times, although the warmer weather later in the day was not to everyones liking.
The event attracted the highest ever number of participants with 13,575 of them completing the distance.
The revised waved process appeared to work reasonably well at the start but the narrower roads that the runners encountered during the latter stages of the race did produce some bottlenecks. Notwithstanding these challenges & the slightly unexpected warmer conditions, 4 BRJ’ers achieved new Club 1/2 Marathon PB’s. These were:- :
1). Fiona Green by 3 Mins 8 Sec compared to December 2024’s MK Winter 1/2 (PB #2 of 2025)
2). Adam D’Souza by 1 Min 55 Secs compared to November 2024’s St Neots 1/2 (PB #2)
3). Emily Miller by 1 Min 51 Secs compared to October 2024’s Great Eastern Run (PB #2)
4). Eszter Gulacsy by 1 Min 15 Secs compared to St Neots 2024 (PB #1)
Additionally, 3 members successfully made their club debuts over the distance namely, Matthew Gerrett, Karen Shurlock & Pippa Waite.
The BRJ squad was lead home by Simon Mayes followed by Neil Whitaker just 7 Secs behind. For our ladies, a new PB saw Emily Miller as our lead lady followed by Felicity Baillie just 15 Secs behind.
For the second time, Nicki McMahon was an official Race Pacer leading the group of runners hoping to finish in 2 hours. Her fantastic pacing skills saw her group cross the finish line 17 Secs within the target time. Alexandra Smart was also on Pacing Duty today.
The full set of results & stats are:
| Race: Cambridge 1/2 Marathon. Date: 9/03/25 Nos of Finishers: 13,575 | ||||
| Position | Name | Time | Age-Grade % | Notes |
| 1175 | Simon Mayes | 01:31:28 | N/A | |
| 1189 | Neil Whitaker | 01:31:35 | N/A | |
| 1281 | Adam D’Souza | 01:32:31 | N/A | PB |
| 1738 | Emily Miller | 01:36:11 | N/A | PB |
| 1774 | Felicity Baillie | 01:36:26 | N/A | |
| 1818 | Mica Covell | 01:36:52 | N/A | |
| 2013 | Jim Greenley | 01:38:20 | N/A | |
| 2835 | John Clark | 01:43:26 | N/A | |
| 2960 | Simon Pascoe | 01:44:20 | N/A | |
| 3648 | Matthew Gerrett | 01:47:48 | N/A | Debut Club 1/2 Marathon |
| 4058 | Eszter Gulacsy | 01:49:49 | N/A | PB |
| 5257 | Kerry Surkitt | 01:55:58 | N/A | |
| 5728 | Pippa Waite | 01:57:50 | N/A | Debut Club 1/2 Marathon |
| 6213 | Nicki McMahon | 01:59:43 | N/A | |
| 7253 | Helen Richardson | 02:04:34 | N/A | |
| 7706 | Karen Shurlock | 02:06:57 | N/A | Debut Club 1/2 Marathon |
| 7753 | Fiona Green | 02:07:11 | N/A | PB |
| 7826 | Megan Wilson | 02:07:33 | N/A | |
| 8293 | Gerry Pye | 02:10:14 | N/A | |
| 9161 | Karen Gilchrist | 02:15:16 | N/A | |
| 11266 | Alexandra Smart | 02:30:09 | N/A | |
| 11233 | Louise Clinton | 02:30:14 | N/A | |
| 11234 | Camilla Rhead | 02:30:14 | N/A | |
| 11568 | Chloe Rudd | 02:33:36 | N/A | |
| 11755 | Kathy Unwin | 02:35:49 | N/A | |
| 12087 | Juliet Aungier | 02:40:12 | N/A | |
| 12428 | Dan Ainscow | 02:45:05 | N/A | |
| 12681 | Lisa Shacklock | 02:49:30 | N/A | |
| 13169 | Jane Ainscow | 03:02:18 | N/A | |
| 13277 | Iain Drylie | 03:06:42 | N/A | |
UK Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships
At Nottingham’s Woollaton Park, Keelan Duffy was among the 8 Senior Men representing Cambridgeshire against 43 other teams. The Senior Men raced over a hilly 10K course with Keelan leading home the Cambridgeshire team in position 103 from the 566 finishers in a time of 00:33:52. Cambridgeshire finished in 21st position.