Saishin no rēsu repōto e yōkoso or welcome to the latest race report. Parkrun tourism has been taken to extremes over the past couple of weeks and we’ve also seen a few staples of the local running calendar.
Parkrun
PSA – The next GBRC parkrun social will be at Burnham on Crouch on 23/03. If you are looking to head to this event, you can find everything you need to know by clicking on this link https://www.parkrun.org.uk/burnhamoncrouch/
On 15th March in what must be the GBRC record for furthest example of Parkrun tourism, saw Dan Palmer attend Claisebrook Cove parkrun in Perth, Western Australia . Dan completed the course in 24:10 and was 45th out of 256 runners. The course provides views of the city skyline, the Swan River and Optus Stadium. Fair dinkum mate.
Also on 15th March at the start of blossom season in Japan, Rob and Caroline Dyer ran the four lap Meijo Koen parkrun in Nagoya. Both ran their fastest parkruns of the year with 24:10 for Caroline (2nd lady) and 23:01 for Rob.
On 22nd March the Dyers also ran Horinouchi Koen Parkrun. This course offered views of the castle, super friendly volunteers, and the warmest run of the year. Rob took second place in 21:55, with Caroline taking first lady and third place with an all-time parkrun PB of 23:04. Great running in the country that birthed the Ekiden format.
After a milestone birthday, Bev Shortley visited Old Deer Parkrun in Richmond. Celebrating her new age category by taking first place in it, Bev finished in 27:48. Happy belated Birthday Bev.
Colchester Half Marathon
Quite a few years on from Boudica’s invasion of Camulodunum, Sunday 16th March saw another running of the Colchester Half Marathon. This year’s field was the largest for a number of years and saw a number of blues running, marshalling and supporting the event.
Two of the most notable performances came from Andrea James who finished in 1:31:19 and Gavin Byrne in 1:17:24. Andrea was 8th lady home and now sits at third in the GBRC all time top 10. Gavin finished in 13th place and this puts him in 8th position in the GBRC all-time top 10.
Full results are as follows:
Gavin Byrne 1:17:24
Billy Hamilton 1:24:34
Doug Mcgillivray 1:24:46
Chris Warren 1:23:57
Justin Hayhoe 1:28:20
Matthew Illsley 1:28:48
Craig Mitchell 1:28:49
David Allen 1:30:39
David Wright 1:31:17
Andrea James 1:31:19
Luke Falconer 1:32:12
Chris Smith 1:34:15
Jon Mann 1:35:09
Richard Hudd 1:34:39
James Eyre 1:39:25
Robbie Lee 1:40:22
Jennie Stemp 1:41:06
Malcolm Statham 1:44:54
Danny Draper 1:49:11
Kelly Hayhoe 1:47:10
Ashley Coles 1:49:59
Adam Robey 1:52:17
Alex Clancy 1:52:19
Dean Pepper 1:51:25
Megan Clarke 1:53:49
Ben Hughes Day 1:54:50
Paul Arnold 1:55:49
Alan Johnson 2:01:16
Rob Seward 2:05:39
Lindsey Allen 2:07:32
Brian Telford 2:07:39
Tim Clifton 2:07:18
Paul Smith 2:09:19
Janine Simpson 2:12:01
Fiona Gosling 2:17:55
Karen Johnson 2:19:33
Sarah Blewden 2:19:26
Claire Poole 2:28:36
Mersea Mix Trail
Hitting the trails at the Mersea Mix event were Scott Young and Claudia Keitch. Scott reported a finishing time for the five mile event of around 48 minutes. Scott says he did not care for mile three though. Why Scott, why??? Was it dragons?
Gosfield XC
On a course hastily reconfigured to avoid motorbikes, the GBRC men finished in third position with the ladies going one better in second. This left GBRC in second place overall for this event. This was the final event in the XC season with GBRC having a fantastic showing throughout they year to finish third place overall in the league.
Male runners were Mark Jasper, David Wright, Craig Mitchell, Herb Munro, Justin Hayhoe, Jonathan Mann, David Allen, Gerry Gladden, Robin Oakley, Jonathan Briggs and Adam Waller-Toyne.
Representing the ladies were Emily Zethraeus, Meera Rajoo-Oakley, Magdalena Komorowska, Maddie Clifton, Antoinette Wilson, Emma Wright and Lorraine Adams.
St Helena Hero Run
Caroline Searle revealed her secret alter ego of Wonderwoman to run the 5k route in St Helena Hospice’s annual Hero Run. The annual event raises much needed funds for St Helena and with distances of 2k, 5k, and 10k lets everyone display their inner hero. Tim Clifton also took part as one of many Batmen over the 10k distance.
Wymondham 20
Charlie Keitch took part in the Wymondham 20 as part of his training for London Marathon. Charlie described the two lap Norfolk course as undulating. Finishing in 2:20:02 Charlie posed in front of the Abbey and enjoyed a post-race Kit Kat milkshake.
And that’s your lot for this report. Hooroo mate or sayonara until next time.
Great Bentley Running Club 