A myriad of May medals

· by · in Race Reports. ·

At the start of a very busy racing weekend, it looks like parkruns were a little quieter than usual and many who did run were saving their legs for a big effort the next day. Nonetheless, 41 GBRC members still completed a parkrun on Saturday and here are some highlights from our local parkruns:

  • Anna Lyon, coming back strong from injury, was the 5th female and first in her age category at Harwich parkrun (26:17)
  • Also at Harwich, Laura Cook achieved a new parkrun PB with a time of 28:16
  • Jonathan Briggs got a course PB of 22:04 at Markshall parkrun
  • Rumour has it that Doug McGillivray was the first finisher at Highwoods parkrun in a super speedy time, but as the first finisher is ‘unknown’ on the results, this journalist (who always checks her sources) has no way to confirm the rumour!   

Further afield, Martin Cotton and Sammy Cotton visited Valentines parkrun in Ilford (27:21 and 31:08 respectively), Richard Heath finished 7th at Blickling parkrun in Norfolk (20:09) and the Dyers visited Sizewell parkrun in Suffolk for the first time (25:23 for Rob and 26:46 for Caroline).

Parkrun results for everyone who has added Great Bentley as their running club on their parkrun profile can be found in one place on our consolidated club report. If you’re new, don’t forget to update your parkrun profile and add your club.

Also taking place on Saturday, in the grounds of a top-secret location (spoiler – it’s a bunker in Essex), Leoni Harvey completed the Nuclear Races ‘Rush Saturday’, a 7k obstacle course event in muddy farmland, in 2:08:14. Perhaps she could be tempted to share some action shots, but for the time being here’s her lovely medal:

Sunday saw us spoilt for choice for races to enter. The Colchester 10k proved by far the most popular among our club members, with 28 taking part in this race. Josh Beaumont was the first blue vest to complete the finishing lap around the track, with an amazing PB of 35:36 and finishing in 11th position out of 515 runners. He was followed by Jon Mann (40:14), Paul Connell (40:47), Gerry Gladden (42:51), Adam Robey (44:25 – PB), Magdalena Komorowska (44:53 – PB), Hien Hoang (46:51 – PB), Andrew Dyer (47:13), Paul Arnold (47:52 – PB), Inga Hayden-Cooper (49:34), Brian Telford (51:58), Bev Shortley (52:03), David Balfour (53:12), Marion Simmons (54:13), Nick Eddings (54:36 – PB), Emma Wright (55:23), Zoe Willis (56:40), Charlotte Hammond (57:33), Larina Marsh (1:00:10), Karen Johnson (1:00:34), Laura Cook (1:02:55), Frank Gardiner (1:03:24), Carly Martin (1:08;06), Belinda Palmer-Barnes (1:09:11), Karen O’Grady (1:10:10 – PB), Gary C (1:10:15 – PB), Natalie Martin (1:11:52) and Mel Willsmore (1:17:19).

Well done also to those club members who gave up their time to be part of the pacing team and help others accomplish their goals.

The Colchester Zoo Stampede 10k also took place on Sunday and, with 1388 entrants, proves that running is popular enough now for one city to put on two races of the same distance on the same morning. This race was the one for those who you like hills, animals, early starts or all of the above (just don’t set your alarm for Monday and start late, like Ben Myhill!)

The small band of blues at this event finished as follows: Craig Slocombe (36:57 – 8th position and a PB), Lisa Briggs (42:17 – 4th lady and a PB), Meera Rajoo-Oakley (46:19 – fastest time since 2018), Ben Myhill (46:37), Sarah Davison (49:17) and Lindsey Allen (55:02).

Moving from road to trails, Martin and Sammy Cotton completed the ‘Hare and Tortoise’ Blackwater trail half marathon in 2:34:13 and 2:43:51. This was huge achievement for Sammy in particular, after only being given the green light to get back to her usual running activities two weeks ago. Lots more summer racing to come from her, no doubt!

The Spring marathon season continues, and Sunday saw the 27th Halstead & Essex marathon taking place. Three blues took on the challenge and were rewarded with excellent times: Chris Warren in 03:04:24, Charlie Keitch in 3:04:49 (PB) and Malcolm Statham in 3:40:15. There were also county bronze medals for Charlie and Chris in their age categories. No wonder they look so happy/slightly shocked. Congratulations gents!

Don Welsh and Stephen Cartwright swapped their running shoes for walking shoes to complete the ‘Pier to Pier’ walk. The walk was 14 miles in total between the piers of Clacton and Walton and, raising valuable funds for St Helena Hospice. Well done on completing this challenge for a great cause!

It’s not often you see runners shivering on the start line in May, but it clearly makes for excellent racing conditions based on all of this week’s results. Well done everyone!