It was a busy week for the club, which kicked off on Thursday evening 9th June, when the Joggers hosted the third of the monthly Hockeys 5km League fixtures on Newmarket Heath, over training grounds behind the Rowley Mile racecourse. This race attracted over 350 participants from 8 local running clubs in Cambridge, Haverhill, Ely, Saffron Walden, Royston and Newmarket. All participating runners received one point for their club, while the first 5 men and first 5 women of each club received significantly more points, according to their finishing position within their gender. Success in this league basically hinges on the speed of a club’s first 5 male and female finishers, backed up by the points earned by the total number of club participants.
Scene on Newmarket Heath before the start of the Hockeys 5k League race. Thanks to the team for the photo.
There were 46 Newmarket Joggers in the race; 28 men and 18 women, plus other Joggers generously helping to marshal and organise the event. Many thanks for those helpers. This is easily our best turnout of the season and should help to improve our position in the league. The results, gender positions and official times are not yet available, but we do know the overall order of finish of our runners, with some unofficial times from GPS watches [shown in brackets]. Our top 5 female point earners were: Hannah Parsons 147th, Olivia Carter 150th [22:35], Rebecca Oettle 163rd, Danielle Jones 189th [24:06] and Jo Haynes 228th. Our top 5 male point earners were: Neil Pollard 9th [16:45], Jimmy Smith 12th [16:59], Mark Hayward 16th [17:10], Paul Holley 18th [17:15] and Joey Bendall 19th [17:16]. It’s clear that our men’s team had a very good evening, with the top 5 finishers all inside the top twenty overall positions. The top 5 women also put in some of their best efforts to date but it’s hard to judge until the female gender positions are known. The Joggers’ men currently stand 4th of 8 clubs in the league table, while the women are =7th, so we can hope for some upward movement as a result of this home fixture.
Above: Timekeepers Andy Hayward and Rebecca Hannah. Also in the background from left, Sarah Martin, Baz Colley, Sarah Kinston, Caroline Mcintosh and Lisa Chatterton (race director). Thanks to the team for the photo.
Next to finish for the women were: Nicole Smith 265th, Helen Wass 284th, Angela Brennan 293rd, Sophie Adams 306th, Jackie Hall 307th, Jan Holmes 309th, Bridget Wallwin 315th, Sarah Kinston 320th, Kate Warboys 329th, Joanne Bouttell 336th, Caroline Mcintosh 339th, Pearl Fay 344th and Sianie Painter 354th (backmarker). Next for the men were: Sam Sadler 26th, Shane Basing 59th, Joe Cormack 77th, Andy Fryatt 82nd, Christopher Underwood 92nd, Jonathan Pye 110th, Jonathan Ollington 114th, Mark Feary 117th, Sam Chapman 120th, Neville Clarke 136th, Jon Brooker 145th, Aaron Self 171st, Brian Munns 180th, Stephen Cousins 181st, Tom Elton 196th, Rob Hawkins 221st, Baz Colley 222nd, Paul Roberts 227th, Jeremy Reader 229th, Jim Withers 269th, Alan Thornhill 294th, Chris Aylmer 304th and Malcolm Osbourn 323rd.
Above: Jeremy Reader’s van, full of all the essential equipment and supplies for the race. Thanks to Jeremy for the photo.
Framlingham Friday 5 Series, Friday June 10th. The first 5 male Joggers to finish in the Hockeys 5k League fixture at Newmarket were out again in force, just 24 hours later, for the 3rd Friday 5 (mile) Series fixture at Framlingham. Despite breaking all reasonable rules of rest and recovery, they pulled off a tremendous win, finishing 1st of 54 five-member club teams, based on their total overall finishing positions as follows: Neil Pollard 4th of 395 runners overall (27:15, 2nd of 37 in M40, all-time PB!), Paul Holley 7th (27:56, 1st of 40 in M55), Mark Hayward 8th (28:02, 4th in M40), Jimmy Smith 11th (28:23, 6th in M40) and Joey Bendall 16th (29:18, 6th of 51 in MS). Neil Pollard, Paul Holley and Mark Hayward also won 1st prize of in the men’s open race category, finishing 1st of 54 three-member teams. Other Joggers putting in good performances were Neville Clarke (36:00, 2nd of 11 in M65), Brian Munns (38:59, 28th in M55) and Jim Withers (46:55, 7th in M65).
Above: The victorious 5 Joggers, who won the Framlingham Friday 5 team prize, from left: Joey Bendall, Paul Holley, Mark Hayward, Jimmy Smith and Neil Pollard. Many thanks to the team for the photo.
Hampshire Hoppit Trail Marathon, Sunday June 12th. Not content with two very tough races on Thursday and Friday evening, Paul Holley decided to add an extremely difficult trail marathon to his agenda on Sunday 12th June, which involved 2,278 feet of climb over the South Downs. He duly clocked 3:18:42 and finished in 3rd position of 209 runners overall, 1st of 51 in M50-59, certainly earning his goody bag and a free pint of Hoppit Ale.
Above: Paul Holley relaxing after the gruelling Hampshire Hoppit Marathon. Many thanks to Paul for the photos.
British Masters Athletics Championships, Derby, Saturday June 11th. Elke Hausler entered the track 1500m race for W55-59 and came 2nd in an impressive time of 5:54.69. This earned her 88.08% age grade, her highest club Indigo standard this year. She is now looking forward to the World Masters Athletics Championships in Tampere, Finland, at the end of June/beginning July, where she will be competing in the 8km XC and 5000m track events.
Shuttleworth hoohaah 10K, Sunday 12th June: Several joggers ran in this 3rd and final leg of the hoohaah series, and were able to claim their special hoodie prizes for completing all three. Hannah Parsons was in great form, with a podium time of 46:10, finishing 3rd F of 118 and 2nd of 46 in F45-54. Then came Baz Colley (56:34, 92nd of 230 overall), Sarah Martin (1:06:11, 66th F), Sarah Kinston (1:09:57, 84th F) and Orla Dockery (1:12:53, 96th F).
Top left: Shuttleworth House; top right, the three series medals in the hoohaah 10k series. Above: Sarah Martin and Baz Colley with medals after the race, Many thanks to Sarah Kinston and to Sarah and Baz for the lovely photos.
Ferry Meadows Midsummer 10K, Peterborough, Sunday June 12th: Two Joggers had a crack at this race. Joe Cormack (41:56, 43rd of 458 overall, 8th of 30 in M35) put in a tremendous effort to take over 7 minutes off his 10km PB, which had stood at 49:00 since the Cambourne 10K in 2019. Joe has come on in leaps and bounds over the last year. Then came Jeremy Reader (51:07, 130th, 18th of 33 in M45) also in good form with his best 10km time this year.
Joe Cormack and Jeremy Reader with well-earned medals in the Midsummer 10k at Ferry Meadows, Peterborough. Many thanks to Jeremy for the photo.
Sutton Beast 10K, Cambridgeshire, Sunday June 12th: Sarah Boneham (49:03, 7th F of 71, 3rd of 10 in F50) enjoyed a good run in this tough, hilly race, with a club platinum age grade performance of over 70%.
Cheddar Omnium, Cheddar Gorge, Saturday June 11th: Phil Blundell had a go at this slightly quirky event, involving 100m sprint (16.8s, 5th/16), ~400m hill climb (2m:20s, 7th of 16), 1km race (4m:51s, 9th of 16) and 6km race (41m:18s, 6th of 16) over trail courses. The idea was to add up your finishing positions in each event to find the overall winner. Phil finished about mid-table and hopefully enjoyed the experience. He was competing in the Bronze Omnium event, with other Silver, Gold and Platinum options.
Marston Forest 5K, Bedfordshire, Friday June 10th: Andrew Taylor (20:48, 62nd of 341 overall, 6th of 32 in M45) put in a very decent effort but found the conditions a little too hot to go for a PB.