It may actually be to hot to trot but it hasn’t stopped you lot, so find a bit of shade and have a little read of what everyone has been up to.
Stour valley half marathon and marathon
Starting in the valley, well the Stour valley that is with the Stour valley trail half marathon and marathon. This is where Doug Mcgillivray despite getting a little lost and having ask for directions still managed to steal second place, You should have had a bag of breadcrumbs to mark the route for next time Doug. Andrea Markwick and Larina Marsh both ran at the half as well Larina would have normally ran the marathon distance but was giving her bones a break, I don’t think many people would consider a hot, hilly trail half marathon “giving themselves a break” Both ladies finished in under 3hrs which considering the heat and hill is a great time!
It was Tim’s fourth time in a row running the full marathon distance at this event and despite having a dodgy leg he got round in about 6.5 hours, I’m sure Tim is already planning on going back for a fifth time.
Szczecin Parkrun
Club secretary Magdalena Komorowska ran the Szczecin Parkrun which takes place in Arkoński Park in Poland. The treelined route takes you round the Arkoński swimming pool and the delightful looking Golplana lake. Mags managed to get a Polish Parkrun PB and first lady coming 13th overall.
Miles for miles
The clues in the title for this one, as it was quite simply a one mile track race held at the Chelmsford Athletics club. Simple or not a one mile is a tough nut to crack as it really is all or nothing, Craig Mitchel gave it his all and ran the mile in a PB time of 5mins 26secs and came 4th in his age group.
Kesgrave 10K
Kesgrave 10K is name that rolls of the tongue easily, but if you say it few times it becomes a tongue twister, have a go and you’ll see what I mean. What isn’t so easy is running it in relentless heat that the country has been gripped in. None the less ladies vice-captain Lisa Briggs and club chairman Paul Davidson took to the tarmac and ran round in time of 43mins 24secs and 43mins 24secs respective. Both took away shiny medals and t-shirts to match, t-shirts aren’t shown in the picture as they were still both leaking profusely well after the race,
Maldon 5k series
Craig Mitchel was back for a fourth time at the Maldon 5k series and he’s not slowing down with all his times comfortably under the 19 minute mark with his latest time being 18mins 39secs. Well done craig and I hope you get another ‘18’ in your next race there.
Micky Edwards (final race)
It was another warm Wednesday for the last race of the series, but it didn’t stop plenty of you turning up and giving it your best shot. One person in particular was Daniella Harris who was our worthy winner of the series. Daniella steadily improved on her times throughout the series with her last race being her fastest, congratulations to you incredibly well deserved.
Stowmarket Friday 5
The penultimate race in the Friday 5 series was held in Stowmarket and was well attended by a battalion of Blues which included Sammy Cotton who was running the race on her Birthday. This particular course has a bit of a sting in the tale as the last half mile or so is uphill. This didn’t slow down any of the Bentleys that took it on with all of them putting in some great times, including Steve Bullen who came first in his age group and won a log. Please see the picture below for times, well done everyone and happy birthday Sammy.
Cliffs in the morning ultra 50k
This one is epic, and the word cliffs is meant in a very literal sense and is certainly not for the faint hearted! The scenery is incredibly varied covering, beaches, woodlands, and humongous hills (mountains) making the course both visually and physically breath taking.
The not so faint hearted Magdalena rose to the challenge and took on some seasoned fell runners and achieved 2nd in her age group with a time of 6hrs 38mins 22secs which earned her a well deserved place on the podium.
Stunning stuff as always Mags!
Orwell challenge 2025
This challenge first took place back in 1976 with the idea being that it was an event that could be enjoyed by runners and walkers alike giving them access to the Suffolk countryside whilst the money raised helped local charities and good causes. There are 4 different distances to choose from 14 miles up to ultra marathon distance.
Tim Clifton and Paul and Sarah Davidson took on the 25 mile challenge and despite the heat all had a great time and commented on how wonderful the route was. Paul and Sarah chose to walk the route, whilst Tim ran it and did so in a time of 5hrs 55mins 7secs
Larina Marsh tackled one of the shorter distances and unfortunately took a tumble towards the leaving her quite bruised and with a pair of broken sunglasses. Despite the tumble Larina did thoroughly enjoy the course and has vowed to return, hope your back running soon.
The Long course weekend
All the way down on the west coast of Welsh Wales is where the biggest multi-sport event in Europe takes place. Over three days up to 11,000 athletes take on a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride and to finish it off run a marathon. If you manage to complete all three of these within their designated cut off time you earn yourself a much converted fourth medal. All four of these medals connect together to make one single glorious piece of race bling. Maddy Allen, Dave Allen and Paul Arnold all toughed it out to earn themselves this fantastic medley of medals, Paul was quite rightly pleased with his results as he had suffered with a sprained ankle which had hampered his training somewhat. Maddy managed to run a PB marathon time of 4hrs 30mins after the previous two days of gruelling swimming and cycling. A big well done to all three of you.
That wraps it up for another two weeks I’m sure there will be plenty more to write about as the weeks go by, but for now I hope you enjoyed reading about the amazing things GBRC have been up to.
Great Bentley Running Club 