Turning Great Bentley Blue

We’ll kick off this double race report with two Saturdays’ worth of parkrun results.

Highlights from 27 January:

Bee Harris and Laura Cook did some local tourism at Burnham-on-Crouch parkrun (31:37 and 34:35);
Martin and Sammy Cotton visited Thetford parkrun (27:00 and 33;05);
Emily O’Neil was the first female finisher at Mersea Island parkrun (24:41); and
GBRC scored a ‘first finisher’ double at Highwoods, with Jon Mann finishing first overall (20:21) and Lisa Briggs as first female (22:51), both with new course PBs.

Highlights from 3 February:

A PB for Kelly Hayhoe (23:29) Colchester Castle parkrun;
Mark Jasper was first finisher at Clacton Seafront parkrun with a PB of 17:41, followed by new member Flynn Eyre in second position in a time of 18:36;
Robbie Lee finished 6^th at Mersea Island parkrun (22:46);
Emily O’Neil (24:30) and Simon Leggett (30:05) touristed at Castle Park parkrun in Bishop’s Stortford;
Sarah Blewden ran her way to a PB at Highwoods parkrun (29:54); and
‘Furthest away parkrun’ prize of the fortnight goes to Brian Telford for visiting Krakow parkrun (28:32).

On Sunday 4 February, Steve Bullen was our sole representative at the Lavenham ‘Old Railway’ 10k race, a multi-terrain event organised by Raw Trail Events. He finished in 11^th place on this challenging course, in a time of 46:53.

The main event of the weekend was the best race of the year (it’s only February, but I’m calling it!), our very own Great Bentley Half Marathon. The lucky blue vests drawn to run, cheered along those windy country lanes by their clubmates, were:

Gethin Hughes – 1:33:19 (PB)
Paul Brazier – 1:36:12
Magdalena Komorowska -1:49:33
Paul Arnold – 1:51:33
Dean Pepper – 1:55:00
Donna Harris – 2:05:44
Dave Jones – 2:07:56
John Ferdinand – 2:18:39
Martin West – 2:23:52
Debbie Smith – 2:27:25
Zoe Reynolds – 2:51:14