Welcome to your June newsletter.  I know, I know, it’s late! So, without further ado, let’s get onto the news and notices:

• Don’t forget it’s round two of our trail runs in July.  You have until the end of the month to take part.  Everything you need to take part is available from our website.

• This year’s Geoff Day memorial 5K will take place on Sunday 17 August with the race starting at 9am. We’ll also be laying on some fun and games afterwards. More details to follow ASAP.

• Our next two helpings of parkrun tourism will be taking place on 30 August and 13 September. Thanks to ongoing roadworks on the Orwell Bridge, exact locations will be confirmed once we know them, but we’ll be doing either Harwich parkrun or Felixstowe parkrun in some order.

• We’re still on the lookout for people to take part in this year’s Essex Way relay on Sunday 7 September. You can find out more about the race and the different stages online and sign up to run for Bentley using our handy online form.

• Finally, make sure you save the date for the 5k XC relays on Saturday 11 October. We’ll be asking for names soon and it would be great to see a huge Bentley turnout this year.

What our men have been up to

Our men had a fantastic June:

• Craig Mitchell set a new mile PB at Chelmsford Athletics Club.
• Gavin Byrne ran a blistering time of 16:48 in his first ever track 5k.
• Lots of you took on the Friday 5 series including Steve Bullen, Gav Byrne, Martin Cotton, Danny Draper, Mark Harris, Justin Hayhoe and Chris Thornton, with plenty of cracking times along the way.
• Billy Hamilton and Chris Warren both won their age group categories at Boxted 10k.
• Steve Bullen (who probably needs his own newsletter) added another age group trophy to his collection at the High Easter 10k.
• Doug McGillivray stormed to second place in the Stour Valley Half Marathon.
• Dave Allen and Paul Arnold conquered a marathon to round off the Long Course Weekend.
• Richard Hudd put in a huge shift at Endure 24, racking up almost 90km.
• And finally, Adam Toyne and David Balfour notched up some serious mileage at the Suffolk Back Yard Ultra and the Cateran Yomp.

With all that in mind, you’re probably wondering: what kind of man could top all of this to become Runner of the Month? Well, let me tell you:

• This man started June by covering 33 miles at the Suffolk Back Yard Ultra.
• Two weeks later, this man completed his sixth Stour Valley Marathon in 6:30:59.
• And just a week after that, this man ran 25 miles at the Orwell Challenge, finishing in 5:55:07.

This man is Tim Clifton, our men’s Runner of the Month for June.

What our ladies have been up to

June was just as packed for the women’s squad — well done to everyone who got out there and raced.

Let’s start with our multidiscipline athletes:

• Kate Collin completed her first Olympic distance triathlon in Harwich (we suspect it’s the first of many).
• Maddy Allen and Vicky Presland smashed the Long Course Weekend, completing a full Ironman across three days.

Also trying something different was Leoni Harvey, who had fun with mud and obstacles at the Summer Wolf run.

The Friday 5 series kept our ladies busy too, with Kelly Hayhoe, Sammy Cotton, and Donna Harris all representing the club.

Inga Hayden-Cooper kept pushing her County Grand Prix campaign with a strong run at Springfield Striders Friday Night 5 in Pleshey.

Our parkrun regulars were out in force — Meera felt “like an old dear” at Old Deer parkrun, while Sarah Evans bagged a first finish at Colchester Castle’s Duncan’s Gate route. And there was another parkrun first finish… more on that shortly.

At 10k distance:

• Donna Parker-Evans is back racing on UK soil and ran the Race for Life 10k.
• Karen Brady braved the hills of Boxted.
• Lisa Briggs got sweaty at Kesgrave (her hard-earned T-shirt was too hot to wear!).
• Andrea James took on the new DBS 10k in Dedham and came away with a 1st place trophy — brilliant!

Onto the longer stuff:

• Larina Marsh and Andrea Markwick tackled the scenic Stour Valley Half Marathon, fuelled by frozen oranges (top tip from Andrea).
• Larina also completed 14 miles at the Orwell Challenge despite a tumble at the end, so we wish her the speediest of recoveries.

The Mickey Edwards series wrapped up with some impressive results, especially from Angel and Lacey, two younger members racing for the first time.

A special shoutout to Daniella Harris, who:

• Improved in every Mickey Edwards time trial.
• Took home the winner’s shield.
• Improved her Harwich 5k time from May.
• And ran in the Sudbury Friday 5.

Congratulations on a fabulous June, Ella!

And finally, it was another tough choice for our ladies Runner of the Month, but one person really stood out.

This lady:

• Took first place at Szczecin parkrun with a Polish PB.
• Ran 50k at the “Cliffs in the Morning” trail race.
• And earned a silver age-group medal, finishing 8th overall.

Huge congratulations to Magdalena Komorowska, our ladies Runner of the Month for June.