Arkwright & Co 5K Summer League: On Thursday evening, 13th July, Newmarket Joggers turned out in number for the third fixture of six in the Summer 5K League, organised by Saffron Striders at Carver Barracks airfield, near Saffron Walden, where the weather was sunny and warm with a cooling breeze. Official results are not yet out but the Joggers currently stand in =2nd place of 8 in the League as a combined women’s and men’s team; their highest position for many years. There are high hopes that the Joggers have done enough to hold onto 2nd position, with a high overall turnout and excellent performances by their fastest runners. The route was fast and more or less flat, around the disused RAF Debden wartime airfield, finishing with the treat of a 400m lap around the brand new running track, opened earlier this year.
Joggers at the Arkwright & Co 5K Summer League fixture at Carver Barracks. Thanks to Tosh and the team for the photo
Above: The new running track at Carver Barracks.
Ensors Ipswich Twilight 10K, Friday evening, 14th July: Three Joggers were among the finishers of this 2-lap race, which took place in the pouring rain, along partly-flooded cobbled streets and closed roads in central Ipswich. Everyone got a drenching but seemed to enjoy the challenge. Mark Hayward (34:30, 7th of 679 overall, 2nd of 69 in M40) was bang in form and the first Jogger home, from Neil Williamson (50:42, 273rd, 26th of 49 in M45) and Chris Aylmer (1:05:14, 585th, 5th of 6 in M70+).
Misty, twilight scenes in the rain. Above left: Ipswich Town FC stadium alongside the finishing straight and above right: The HQ tent on the practice pitch.
Run Norwich 10K, Norwich, Sunday, 16th July: Four Joggers competed in this race, which attracted a huge field of runners. Putting in an impressive performance was Joey Bendall (35:48, 42nd of 6,761 overall, 29th of 1,824 in MS), followed by Jason Beeton (43:07, 391st, 237th in MS), who recorded his best 10K time this year. For the female Joggers, Rebecca Oettle (46:56, 96th F of 2,845, 60th of 1,287 in FS) finished well up the order in her first attempt at the distance this year, while Caroline Mcintosh (1:11:29, 2,099th F, 13th of 23 in F70+) put in a sound effort as extra training for her planned Helsinki Marathon in Finland on August 6th.
Hebden Bridge 50K, West Yorkshire, Pennine Way, Saturday July 15th: Mike Sales (8:24:26, 89th of 132 overall, 6th of 14 in M50+) took around half an hour less than he did in the same race last year, so his many miles of training along the local East Anglian trails paid dividends. This run included a whopping 5,840ft (1,780m) of climb and the weather was very changeable with rain, hail, thunder, blustery wind and interludes of sunshine.
Above left: Mike Sales at Hebden Bridge, and above right: A sunny moment in the hills. Thanks to Mike for the photos.
Odyssey Aquabike, St Neots, Riverside, Saturday, 15th July: This race involved a 3.8km swim followed by a 180km (2 x 90km laps) bike ride. Daniel Tee (7:24:14, 3rd of 9 in M Open) had a nightmare finish to this race, sustaining a rear puncture with 10 miles of the bike ride to go. Unable to successfully fix the puncture, he was forced to ride on a flat rear tyre to the finish, yet somehow managed 3rd place podium in the Male Open category. That’s how not to give up.
Above left: Daniel Tee (right) on podium in 3rd place; above right, Daniel finishing his swim. Many thanks for the photos.
Moulton 5-mile Challenge Walk, + 1-mile racewalk, Moulton, Cambridgeshire, Saturday 8th July: This event was organised by Moulton Wanderers racewalking club, with awards given out by Callum Wilkinson, a local, top international racewalker. Several Joggers took part in the one mile event as an introduction to racewalking and enjoyed the experience. Junior Cerys Bithell came home first in a time of 11:09 (unofficial), followed by junior Sophie Blundell 2nd, Phil Blundell 3rd, Ellie Bithell 4th and junior Lily-Ann Cooper 5th.
