On Thursday evening, in the 5th of 6 fixtures of the Kevin Henry 5K League at Kedington, near Haverhill, Jamie Sales and Hannah Parsons were top performers for Newmarket Joggers. On a very hilly route, Sales clocked 17:21, his best 5K time this year and was 10th of 194 male runners overall. Parsons finished 26th of 155 female runners in a time of 22:54. Others in the top-scoring first five finishers for the Joggers were, for the men: Jason Bevan 31st male (18:54), Sam Sadler 37th (19:13), Marc Drury 60th (20:27) and Jon Brooker 76th (21:20); and for the women: Ruth Eberhardt 30th female (23:25), Emma Newman 31st (23:29), Megan Beecroft 33rd (24:04) and Claire Acklam 38th (24:50). The best age graded performances were by Jamie Sales (74.8%), Neville Clarke (73.6%), Claire Acklam (72.8%), Jon Brooker (71.3%) and Marc Drury (70.0%).
30 other Joggers also completed the race and earned valuable extra points for the club; for the women: Danielle Jones (25:40), Eleanor Bithell (25:41), Lisa Johnson (27:08), Jan Holmes (27:10), Sarah Sales (27:21), Rebecca Fordham (27:26), Meera Mahadevan (28:14), Sianie Painter (28:23), Angela Barnes (29:29), Lisa Winnington (29:55), Sophie Adams (31:19), Caroline Mcintosh (32:01), Rebecca Hannah (36:49), Jenny Osbourn (36:58), Rachel Allen (38:29) and Emma Reader (40:20); and for the men: James Tweed (21:44), Phil Blundell (21:53), Neville Clarke (22:37), Nicholas Acklam (23:11), Jeremy Reader (23:37), Craig Ladley (23:56), Brian Munns (23:59), Baz Colley (25:17), Joe Cormack (25:20), Mike Sales (25:26), Jim Withers (26:38), Alan Thornhill (29:30), Chris Aylmer (30:51) and Malcolm Osbourn (32:34).
Joggers are currently struggling in the league, last of the 6 competing clubs in the men’s, women’s and combined competitions, so all will hinge on the final fixture hosted by Cambridge & Coleridge AC at the University Ground in Cambridge on 5th September, when our fastest runners and a big turnout will be needed to try and lift us off the bottom.
On Sunday it was the St Neots Riverside Anniversary 10K, in which three Joggers were taking part: Miles Johnson (57:23), Lynda McCormack (58:34) and Mary Marsh (1:05:07). McCormack did very well to finish 2nd of 15 in her FV55 age group and is in very good form this season.
Also on Sunday, at the Great Barrow Challenge HQ in the village of Barrow near Bury St Edmunds, three Joggers competed in the First Sunday of the Month 10K: Rebecca Fordham (55:00), Adam Maltpress (55:02) and Caroline Mcintosh (1:09:33). Mcintosh had already run in the 5K event, clocking 33:13 an hour before the 10K, so did well to complete both races, with only around 25 minutes rest between.