Parkrun tourism and achievements have been relatively quiet the last couple of weekends, perhaps due to the tailing off of summer holidays and the plethora of local races happening.
Highlights included Rob and Caroline Flyer (sorry, I mean Dyer) setting shiny new parkrun PBs at Watermeadow parkrun – 20:20 for Rob and 23:33 for Caroline – and the unofficial Lake District branch of the club enjoying some tourism at Keswick parkrun, where Paul Davison finished 5th and set a 5k PB of 18:45.
You can find our parkrun club report with all our results for Saturday 23 September here. If you’re new to the club, or just haven’t got round to it yet, don’t forget to add Great Bentley as your running club on your parkrun profile so that we can see your results for the race report.
We have been spoiled for choice with so many local races to choose from the last two weekends. On Saturday 16 September, the cross country season kicked off with the Essex XC Relays event at Weald Park in Brentwood. We entered a men’s team and they did us proud, finishing in 17th place. Well done to the Fantastic Four: Rodger Alexander, Mike Vincent, Rob Dyer and Josh Beaumont.
On Sunday 17 September, 12 blue vests took on the hilly Dedham 10k, where Lisa Briggs finished as the female runner-up in 42:38. Our other finishers were: Steve Bullen – 40:38, Ray Baggs – 45:38, Jon Briggs – 46:40, Ben Hughes-Day – 46:50, Rob Elliott – 49:08, Sarah Davison – 51:09, Martin West – 1:00:49, Debbie Smith – 1:01:47, Alison Clarke – 1:05:59, Dave Jones – 1:05:59 and Claire Poole – 1:06:09.
The Ipswich half marathon was also held that day and 6 GBRC members took part. They were: Gavin Byrne (1:33:38), Chris Smith (1:34:48), Pacian Andrews (1:40:38), Daniel Palmer (1:54:15), Donna Harris (2:01:00) and Tim Clifton (2:10:09). This was a PB time for both Gavin and Dan. Donna Harris not only achieved a PB, but also did so the day after completing a 2 mile swim event and gaining her London classics medal. An impressive achievement, well done Donna!
On the same day, it sounds like much fun was had at the Thaxted Trail half marathon. Paul Davison, Rob Dyer, Tom Komorowski, Magdalena Komorowska and Anthea Colsell completed this narrative trail race in the scenic village of Thaxted, and were rewarded with a Ploughman’s lunch at the end.
Hare & Tortoise Running held ‘The Rebellion’ event at the University of Essex on Saturday 23 September, with a choice of 5k, 10k, half marathon, marathon or 6 hour races. Marion Simmons completed the 10k in 1:01:07 and Larina Marsh ran the half marathon in 2:13:52. We also had 3 runners in the 6-hour timed event: Tim Clifton covered 29.52 miles, Calum Endean completed 26.24 miles and Sarah Blewden completed 22.96 miles.
On Sunday, the Lake District runners finished their tourist weekend with the Keswick half marathon. Despite the challenging weather and elevation, they achieved some fantastic times:
- Paul Davison (15th position and 3rd V50) – 1:31:32
- Fraser Lewis – 1:50:49
- Hien Hoang – 1:55:59
- Kathy Bishop – 1:57:16
- Paul Arnold – 1:59:19
- Yolande Arnold – 2:15:11
Magdalena Komorowska was our sole representative at the Maldon half marathon, but she certainly represented us well. Her time of 1:44:39 on the windy, hilly course was rewarded with a podium finish for 3rd lady and a lovely trophy.
Boxted Runners hosted the warm and windy Langham 10k, 5k and 2k on Sunday and GBRC was well-represented. We had a number of top 10 finishes, with Josh Beaumount placing 4th in the very competitive 5k race (17:01), Craig Slocombe in 8th position in the 10k (37:40 – PB) and Lisa Briggs finishing as 3rd lady in the 10k (42:21). Our other runners in the 10k were: Steve Bullen – 40:33, Malcolm Statham – 43:46, Daniel Palmer – 46:56 (with another PB!), Robbie Lee – 47:29, Dean Pepper – 49:26, Tonie Wilson – 55:07, Charlotte Hammond – 58:17, Karen Johnson – 1:00:29, Debbie Smith – 1:01:32, Dave Jones – 1:02:16 and Jenny Harvey – 1:14:36.
And finally, venturing overseas, Sammy and Martin Cotton completed their third world marathon major in Berlin, finishing together in 5:20:52. What a fantastic achievement and a great note on which to end our report!
Great Bentley Running Club 