Heath Race: A record participation in the annual Newmarket Heath Race on Thursday evening, 1st May. This ~5.4km race, over the hilly, Bury Side racehorse training grounds, was organised by Newmarket Joggers, with Race Director Angela Drury and all the club volunteer marshals and helpers doing a fine job. There was also a 2km race for junior girls and boys aged under 15 years, which attracted 60 participants. A pizza van and homemade cake stall (run by Jenny Osbourn) were popular attractions after the races.
The Heath Race was open to allcomers. Newmarket Joggers were honoured to field the first male finisher (Robert Dobson, 18:11, 1st of 279 overall, 1st of 22 in M40-49, age grade 84.60%) and first female finisher (Cerys Bithell, 21:38, 1st F of 120, 1st of 6 in FU20, 75.42%). Jogger Neville Clarke (25:09, 76.21%) won 1st place trophy of 6 in M70+, while Helen Hilario (25:16, 70.91%) was 1st of 28 in F50-59. Altogether, 26 Newmarket Joggers competed, with lots more volunteer helpers.
In the Junior 2km race, 9 Joggers competed, listed in order of finishing: Sophie Blundell (08:04, 2nd of 21G, 1st GU13, 73.06%), Noah Poujardieu (08:13, 4th BU13), Rio McAndrew (08:43, 5th BU13), Solomon Brokenshire-Dyke (08:46, 6th BU13), Esther Eaton (09:15, 1st GU11, 66.77%), Amber Smith (09:22, 3rd GU13), Oliver Hilton (09:30, 11th BU11), Imogen Stephens (09:52, 2nd GU11), Dolcie Cross (09:52, 4th GU13). The standard was high throughout.
The Clive Purbrook Stable & Stud Trophy, awarded to teams of 3 from the horseracing industry in Newmarket (containing at least one male and one female runner), went once again to Rossdales (equine vet), with Baker McVeigh (equine vet) in second and Haggas (horseracing stable) in third. Congratulations to Rossdales and thanks to all who took part.
MK Festival of Running, Milton Keynes, Monday 5th May: Five Joggers took part in the MK Marathon. First home in his first ever marathon was Hugh Tawell (2:42:22, 9th of 1,934 overall, 5th of 653 in SM, 75.72%), managing an impressive top ten finish overall. Next to finish was Chris Burns (3:30:10, 434th, 71st of 230 in M40-44), not far from his 3:26:38 PB at Manchester last year, followed by Helen Hilario (4:02:49, 127th F of 453, 17th of 50 in F50-54), who is having a great year of running and holds a PB of 3:54:23 in London 2024. Angela Drury (4:30:28, 221st F, 34th of 75 in F40-44) was expertly paced by her husband Marc Drury (4:30:28, 117th of 162 in M50-54), who has a marathon PB of 3:11:03. She was happy that she had got the best out of herself on the day, with her PB remaining at 4:17:31 in Paris 2023.
Above left: Angela, Marc & Helen after the MK Marathon; right: The medal. Thanks for lovely photos.
In the MK Half Marathon on the same day, Adam Maltpress (1:36:08, 155th of 2,325 overall, 19th of 155 in M45-49) put in a sound performance and did very well in his age group, his PB remaining 1:32:40 at Cambridge 2024. His wife Rachael Maltpress (1:59:17 PB, 231st F of 913, 30th of 121 in F40-44) ran a near perfect race and was so chuffed to have finally got under two hours.
Above: Adam & Rachael Maltpress in MK Dons football stadium after the MK Half Marathon. Thanks for great photo.
ROUND UP OF OTHER RACES
Breckland 10K, Croxton, near Thetford, Monday, May 5th: Four Joggers competed in this road race. Martin Smith (51:02, 151st of 302 overall, 9th of 15 in M45-49) was in good form, with Bridget Wallwin (54:42, 54th F of 123, 6th of 12 in F55-59) not far behind and also performing well. Then came Sarah Kinston (1:05:46, 101st F, 15th in F50-54) and Caroline McIntosh (1:10:28, 114th F, 11th in F65+) with good efforts. For Caroline, it was just 8 days after her London Marathon, so not a day for a PB attempt.
Above left: Martin Smith, Bridget Wallwin, Sarah Kinston and Caroline McIntosh; right: The medal. Thanks for photos.
Ipswich Twilight 5K, Saturday May 3rd: This was a very high class race, including a number of elite UK runners. Jogger Joey Bendall (16:31, 41st of 579 overall, 2nd of 32 in M40-44, age grade 83.05%) put in an excellent effort against very strong competition.
Ashdon 10K, near Saffron Waldon, Essex, Monday, May 5th: Hanneli Stevenson (54:50, 80th of 150 overall, 19th F of 57) and Steve Oglesby (54:50, 81st, 62nd M of 93) ran together for mutual support in this trail race, which was quite tough and hilly.
Walden Tri, Saffron Walden, Essex, Sunday May 4th: Two Joggers and a friend entered this sprint triathlon event as a female relay team of 3, representing Newmarket Cycling & Triathlon Club, of which they are also members. Friend Sheila did the 400m pool swim (12:22), Jogger Jo Bouttell the 23km bike leg (52:11) and Jogger Pearl Fay the 5k run leg (35:36) for a total of 1:42:28m, including transitions. They finished 5th of 5 in the relay but all the teams were fairly close.
Above left: Jo, Pearl & Sheila after Walden Tri; middle: Biker Jo, taking her ankle timer off to give to runner Pearl; right: Pearl finishing her 5K leg. Thanks for the photos.
Thames Towpath 100M Ultra, Saturday, May 3rd: Jimmy Smith completed 39 miles of this race but had to call it a day due to a badly upset stomach and severe headache. He had not been well in the week before due to a norovirus infection, so had clearly not recovered properly. We wish him a speedy recovery.
RESULTS OF FIRST SUMMER 5K LEAGUE FIXTURE AT HISTON & IMPINGTON NOW IN!
Arkwrights and Turners 5k Results – Fixture 1
The results were recently released for the first of the Arkwright & Co/Turners Summer 5K, which took place on Thursday evening, 24th April. We had some very good times posted by our fastest runners and couldn’t have asked for more. Of the 8 competing local running clubs, the NJ women’s team stands in 3rd place, while the men’s team is in 5th position. As a combined men’s and women’s team, NJ stands, perhaps fortuitously, in 3rd position, but no room for complacency. We had a good turnout, with 52 Joggers competing for the club: 23 women and 29 men.
The first 5 high-scoring finishers for NJ women were: Cerys Bithell 18:53PB, 2nd F of 179; Sarah Osborne 19:40, 5th F; Helen Hilario 22:08, 25th F; Carol Cienna Carter 22:11, 27th F; Rebecca Oettle 22:46 36th F. For the men, it was: Joey Bendall 16:28, 8th M of 301; Hugh Tawell 16:36, 12th M; Sam Sadler 17:44, 30th M; Jonathan Pye 18:02, 37th M; Jason Bevan 18:39, 59th M.
The top 5 positions, by gender, were added together for each competing club (e.g. for NJ women = 2+5+25+27+36 = 95, obviously the lower the score the better); then the total number of runners of each club by gender (including the top 5) was deducted from this figure to reduce it by a point per person (for NJ women, 95 – 23 = 72). That way, everyone who ran for their club was helping to reduce (and therefore improve) their team’s score.
Cambridge & Coleridge, as expected, are in the lead, with Ely Runners in second, for both women and men. We know C&C have a very high class team, but they also managed to field a huge total of 89 runners (34 women and 55 men), even more than Ely’s 85 (30 women and 55 men). This put the total points for C&C’s women and men into the negative zone, which often happens for them. This is perhaps where we could improve a little, with the biggest turnout we can manage. We look forward to the second fixture at Ben’s Yard, Ely on Thursday evening, May 8th.
TRACK, FIELD & WALK NEWS
On Sunday, 27th April, the first of the East Anglian League (EAL) track & field events took place at the Cambridge University track, Wilberforce Road. The results have only recently been circulated and added to Power of 10. There were some very good performances by Newmarket Joggers in the Ely & Newmarket team that we represent (called ‘Ely Composite’ in the results at present). A highlight for NJ was in the 800m event: Cerys Bithell (2:21.2 PB, 1st of 5 in U20W, age grade 83.09%) and Harvey Thomas (2:22.7, 1st of 5 in U15B, age grade 77.95%) were great achievements against high class competition. In the 400m, Rory King U17M (64.0s, 70.94%) and Lorraine King W50 (89.7s, 67.34%) both did well in their age groups, as did Andrew Sandeman SM (65.8s, 65.62%). In the 200m, Amber Smith U15G [aged 12] (31.7s, 75.58%), Phil Blundell M45 (29.6s, 74.63%), Sophie Blundell U15G [aged 12] (32.8s, 73.05%) and Lewis Stinger U13B [aged 11] (33.1s, 69.27%) all had very good runs. In addition, Amber Smith put in a great run in the 100m (14.9s, 77.18%). It was good to see that some of the NJs tried out some field events, such as shot put, javelin and long jump, including Sophie Blundell, Phil Blundell, Andrew Sandeman and Cheryl Thomas.
Enfield Race Walk League, Donkey Lane, Enfield, Essex, Saturday, 3rd May: Lily-Ann Cooper, Suzanne Bailey and Edson George Wilkinson were representing NJ in this racewalking league and all did very well. Full results are not yet in but Lily-Ann won her U15 race and George won the 10K race, while Suzanne clocked about 1:15:14 in her W60 10K race, which would earn her a very good 69.72% age grade. Newmarket Joggers’ team of 3 are currently clear leaders in this league.