ROAD RACES
Starting with the road events, four Joggers competed in the annual, Richard Bennett Felixstowe Coastal 10M race, which followed an out & back route along the promenade and took place in perfect, sunny, weather conditions on Sunday morning. Charles Jones (1:13:33, 83rd of 554 overall, 77th M of 318, 2nd of 16 in M65-69, age grade 78.40%) was first Jogger home in his first 10-mile outing this year, doing very well in his age group, as always. Next came Andy McKeague (1:23:07, 166th M, 17th of 39 in M40-44), also in his first 10M this year, followed by Jan Holmes (1:42:22, 157th F of 234, 7th of 14 in F60-64) and Jo Bouttell (1:47:53, 192nd F, 10th in F60-64). The latter two have planned marathons coming up soon.
Above left: Charles Jones, Jan Holmes & Jo Bouttell before the Felixstowe Coastal 10M; right: Jo and Jan at the finish line.
On the same day, over in Buckinghamshire, the Leighton 10M took place. Oliver Daykin (59:46, 6th of 192 overall, 6th M of 125, 6th of 32 in MS, 73.62%) did very well in his first known attempt at this race distance.
Carol Cienna Carter and Richard Defries travelled to Copenhagen in Denmark to take part in the World Athletics Road Running 5km Championships, which took place on Saturday, 19th September. These championships welcomed athletes of all abilities, from below 13 minutes to over an hour for 5km, and attracted a total of 8,217 participants in all, including 3.714 women and 4,503 men. Cienna was particularly aiming to achieve a good result in her age group category. She did this in style, clocking 19:22 and finishing 2nd of 235 in F55-59, with a top class age grade of 90.19%; she was 125th F finisher overall. Richard also put in his best 5km of the season at 19:13, finishing 16th of 297 in M50-54 and achieving an age grade of 79.18%. It was certainly a successful weekend for both of them.
Above: Cienna Carter & Richard Defries at the World Athletics 5km Championships
Rounding off the road races, three known Joggers, and possibly more, took part in the Chariots of Fire Relays in Cambridge, representing their places of work in 6-person teams and helping to raise valuable funds for the British Heart Foundation. Each person in the team ran one ~1.7-mile (~2.7km) lap of the course, handing the baton to the next runner in the team. Sarah Osborne (despite being 6 months pregnant) clocked 13:10 in her leg, the second quickest time in her team called ‘Synopsys’. They finished 108th of 201 mixed teams in a time of 1:23:29. Ryan Carter, in mixed team ‘TANG Gym’, clocked a fast time of 11:02 and the team finished 38th in 1:16:35. Dan Bainbridge, for team ‘Jan Tetzlaff Mixed 2’, clocked 12:28, helping them to finish 113th in 1:24:02.
An interesting fact is that the winning men’s team ‘Team FLYCARB’ had only two members: Jack Gray and Josh Elston-Carr, both top athletes; they alternated laps, with each doing 3 laps. They finished in 0:49:56, a minute ahead of the second team and 1st of 51 men’s teams.
Above left: Sarah Osborne in the Chariots of Fire Relay; right: Dan Bainbridge (3rd from right) with his ‘Jan Tetzlaff’ mixed team.
TRAIL RACE
Four Joggers opted for the scenic, yet gruelling, Fields & Forests Ultra in Norfolk, between Thetford and Diss, over approximately 34.7 miles (55.8km). First Jogger home was Jackie Henley (8:08:03, 41st of 57 overall, 17th F of 29, 3rd of 3 in F55-59). She had put in a huge amount of training miles over the previous months, aimed specifically at this race, which must have helped her to keep a steady, comfortable pace all the way through. Sianie Painter (9:16:50, 48th, 22nd F, 1st of 1 in F60-64) no doubt enjoyed the lush scenery, and perhaps the tranquility and relative isolation of a long run in a smallish field of runners. Then came Sarah Last (10:00:23, 51st, 25th F, 5th of 6 in F50-54) followed by Gillian Green (10:46:14, 29th F, 1st of 1 in F65-69), who both put in steadfast efforts to complete the course. Two runners retired before the finish.
Above: NJs Sianie Painter on left, Gillian Green 2nd from right and Sarah Last 3rd from right, plus LRG runners.
Above: Gillian Green & Sarah Last before the race, plus their Fields & Forests scenery shots
Above: relaxing after the Ultra race.
TRACK & FIELD NEWS
Newmarket Joggers (NJ) have been taking part in two local area Track & Field Leagues since 2025, usually on a monthly basis from April/May to July/August: the EMAC (Eastern Masters Athletics Club) League and the EAL (East Anglian League). The EMAC League is for senior athletes aged 35+, while the EAL is for all ages, including juniors. In the EMAC League, NJ join with Saint Edmund Pacers (SEP) to form team NJ/SEP, also including West Suffolk, while in the EAL they join with Ely Runners (NJ/ER).
Both these leagues held regional finals over the weekend of 19th/20th September, where the leading three women’s and men’s teams from the local area leagues were invited to take part in a decider, with other teams from the wider region. The EMAC final was on Saturday in Milton Keynes, to which the NJ/SEP women’s team were invited. The NJ/SEP men’s team did not qualify for the final.
For the EAL regional finals, NJ/ER men’s and women’s teams were invited to take part at the Bury St Edmunds track. We don’t yet have any results from the EAL finals at Bury St Edmunds, though we do know that NJ Cerys Bithell did very well to win her 800m race, so we look forward to hearing more details. NJs taking part were Cerys Bithell, Ellie Bithell, Shane Mcandrew, Marie Poujardieu and Cheryl Thomas.
Above left: the NJ/SEP/WS team at Milton Keynes, with NJ Caroline Mcintosh in blue; right: Caroline in the W70 100m race.
In contrast, the EMAC results have been fully released by Open Track. Unfortunately, only one NJ (Caroline Mcintosh W70) attended the EMAC final in Milton Keynes, while the team had six other athletes at the event (Christine Anthony W60, Eloise Bird W50, Catherine Peck W35, Dawn Mason W60, Lesley Linden W50 and Anna Slater W35). The short story is that the NJ/SEP/WS women’s team finished bottom of the 8 competing clubs, although they did put on a very good performance considering the low turnout, with Christine Anthony of SEP scoring a lot of points in the track races and all the other athletes putting in good efforts. NJ Caroline Mcintosh took part in the W70 100m (26.29s PB, 58.69%, 5th of 5), W70 Discus (7.24m PB, 5th of 6) and W70 Shot Put (4.24m PB, 5th of 6), scoring valuable points. The combined (women plus men) winners of the finals were Marshall Milton Keynes AC, with Peterborough & Nene Valley AC 2nd and Cambridge & Coleridge AC 3rd. Different positions applied to the women’s separate competition, which was more relevant to the SEP/NJ/WS situation, i.e. lacking a men’s team. This time Peterborough were top, from Thurrock/Loughton in 2nd and Marshall Milton Keynes AC third. A results chart is shown below of the women’s competition at Milton Keynes.
Above: The results chart for the EMAC women’s finals at Milton Keynes, showing Peterborough & Nene Valley AC at the top, Thurrock Loughton in 2nd place and Marshall Milton Keynes AC in third. NJ/SEP/WS finished bottom but were by no means disgraced; they fought hard.
Many thanks for all the news and photos,
Enjoy your running!
Chris