On Good Friday it was a lovely sunny day for the annual 5 mile Sudbury Fun Run, which started in the centre of town and headed down to Little Cornard on a circular route, finishing in Belle Vue Park, Sudbury. Two Joggers were among the 527 finishers in this event, which was on the morning after the Kevin Henry 5K league race: Miles Johnson (43:11) was in top form in his first 5 mile race of the year, coming home 226th overall and 8th of 32 in the MV60+ race category, a very good performance considering he is actually in the more senior UKA-recognised MV65 age bracket. Chris Aylmer (45:56) came home 274th overall, 10th in MV60+ and was pleasantly surprised to win 1st place for MV65 in the 2019 Suffolk County 5 Mile Championship, which was only open to runners born in Suffolk or resident there for a specified time.
The Great Barrow Challenge Spring Double Marathon event took place on Good Friday and Easter Saturday in the village of Barrow, near Bury St Edmunds and also included a Half Marathon on Good Friday. Two Newmarket Joggers took part in the Half Marathon: Sianie Painter was first Jogger to finish in 2:19:51, 28th of 42 overall, followed by Lisa Jennings (2:32:35) in 33rd position, good performances, especially after their Kevin Henry efforts the evening before. It was a challenging out & back course, nicely downhill for the first half but very noticeably uphill for the return. In a fairly sparse field it was easy to get isolated and navigation wasn’t easy for those unfamiliar with the route, as Sianie can testify.
Hoping to see lots of Newmarket Joggers in Stetchworth this Tuesday evening for a delightful 7 mile cross country training run, followed by a relaxing drink and maybe some nibbles in the Marquis of Granby pub….the ideal preparation for the VLM. Only a 4 mile cycle ride from Newmarket for extra fitness training!
Part of the Stetchworth XC Route taken from Dane Bottom