Unusually for GBRC there didn’t appear to be much racing going on but with the recent heat I don’t blame you so, like a shot of espresso this race report is small, intense and full of energy.

Layer Marney 10K

Just missing out on a mention from the last newsletter was Karen O’ Grady took on a 10k trail run through the Tudor estate of Layer Marney tower, the tower itself has been there since the 16^th century. The event was well attended, and the course itself was a tough one but this didn’t deter Karen who had a great run on the day.

Birmingham Canal Canter

Canals were once played a vital part of the UK’s industrial revolution making the transporting of heavy goods far easier, however now they have a far more recreational use, such as being used to navigate a 30 mile LDWA event. The Birmingham canal canter took place on the 2^nd of August offering walkers three different distance to choose from, 18.5 miles, 26,5miles and 30 miles Helen’e Tyler and her sister took on the full 30 mile challenge, the delightful scenery offered a welcome distraction from the extreme heat of the day this definitely helped Helen’e and her sister to finish the route in style.

ATW 5K Road race

This Friday night event is a calendar highlight pulling together the regions finest and fastest runners for a night of racing and those were just the ones in the blue vests. Throughout the evening there are multiple 5k races each one based around differing finishing times to accommodate all abilities. The runs themselves are self seeded so you can enter which ever race you feel most comfortable running in on the day. There were plenty from Bentley there, 22 I believe many ran their fastest times of the year, I know Martin Cotton and Paul Smith both got 5k pbs and a special mention for Bev Shortly who came away with silver for her age category, well done Bev, there’s no stopping you at the moment!

SVP100

The Stour valley path is an ultra distance event that starts a 6am in Newmarket and follows the Sour valley all the way to Brantham, this is a total of 100k, there is a shorter option which is still a staggering 50k, this section commences at 1pm from Sudbury. There was only one GBRC runner in the race this year and he is no stranger to the course and given the tough conditions and the fact this year had the highest number on non-starters and DNF’s make’s Doug Mcgillivray’s time of 4hrs 57mins 27secs even more impressive, great running as always Doug.

Parkrun round up

The Sharp’s ran at Castle haven in County Cork both of them finishing 1^st in their age category on this wooded coastal Parkrun

The Cotton’s were off on another spot of Parkrun tourism the time at Jeskyns community Woodland Parkrun

Whilst on a camping trip to Suffolk Dan Palmer visited the local Parkrun of Thomas Mills only to bump into Tom and Mags

Tom and Mags were back in Parkrun action the following week finally ticking off the fourth compass point for the N’E’S’W challenge at West Stow country park where the two story coffee shop does delicious coffee apparently.

Head coach Caroline ran ay Wansted Flats Parkrun where she confirmed it was indeed flat but also very dusty as well.

Mary Ann Taylor visited Medina Parkrun the Ilse of Whites only Parkrun which would explain why it was a busy and when the Parkrun briefing suggests you need to save something for the end you know it’s not going to be flat!

That’s all from for this time folks hope you enjoyed reading about what everyone in GBRC has been up too in the last couple of weeks, as always apologies if I have missed anyone out.