On Sunday, 22nd February, a total of 30 Newmarket Joggers turned out for the popular, annual 10-mile and 20-mile races, organised by Saint Edmund Pacers of Bury St Edmunds, with headquarters at the old Beyton School Campus near Thurston.
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Above: Newmarket Joggers at the Tarpley 10-mile race. Front row crouching: Lynda McCormack, Pearl Fay, Cienna Carter, Caroline Mcintosh. Back Row: Andy Fryatt, Chris Underwood (behind), Angela Brennan, Anna Mayhew, Rob Pollard behind Anna?, Francine Dasseville, Tristram Hilborn, Richard Gash, Jo Bouttell, Richard Defries, Sergio Pelado?, Helen Hilario, Mark Hayward, Sarah Osborne. Thanks for team photo.
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In the 10-mile race, Neil Pollard (57:45 PB, 2nd of 340 overall, 1st M of 186, 1st M45 of 25, 83.12% age grade) and Mark Hayward (57:52, 3rd overall, 2nd M, 1st M40 of 21, 80.93%) were both in absolute top form and gave it everything they had. Additionally, one had to admire the brilliant Daisy Glover of Framlingham Flyers, who managed to win the race outright, almost 3 minutes ahead of the field, with an astonishing time of 54:53 (90.56% age grade). This race appears to be Neil Pollard’s first attempt at the distance, according to Power of 10, while Mark Hayward has a PB of 55:37 in 2023.
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Above from left: The podium winners Mark Hayward, Neil Pollard, Sarah Osborne & Cienna Carter; the women’s
winning team of 3, Hannah Pollard, Sarah Osborne & Cienna Carter. Thanks for photos.
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The next two Joggers to finish were female and both did exceptionally well to achieve podium positions: Sarah Osborne (1:07:00 PB, 2nd F of 154, 2nd of 29 in FS, 74.40%) and Carol Cienna Carter (1:08:35 PB, 3rd F, 1st of 16 in F55, 87.02%) both put in top class runs, with Carol achieving a most impressive age grade…nearly as high as Daisy Glover. It’s not often an athlete in the F55 age group finishes in the top three of a highly competitive race like this. With Neil, Mark and Carol finishing in the top three podium positions, their 1st place age group trophies went to the next in line, as is generally the rule. Hannah Pollard (1:16:05 PB, 8th F, 1st of 29 in F45) also did very well to come first in her age group, receiving her rightful trophy.
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Above: Hannah Pollard with 1st place F45 trophy; Helen Hilario’s bib and t-shirt; Richard Defries & Cienna Carter
with Suffolk Grand Prix 2025 medals, which were awarded at this event. Thanks for photos.
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In the 10-mile 3-person team awards, Newmarket Joggers women came top, with Sarah Osborne 2nd F, Carol Cienna Carter 3rd F and Hannah Pollard 8th F making up the team. The men’s team came second, with Neil Pollard 1st M, Mark Hayward 2nd M and Richard Defries 20th M.
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Other individual results for Joggers in the 10-mile race were as follows: Richard Defries 1:08:35 PB, 3rd in M50; Chris Underwood 1:09:49, 9th in MS; Andy Fryatt 1:13:31, 4th in M55; Tristram Hilborn 1:16:26, 7th in M45; Helen Hilario 1:17:25 PB, 2nd in F50; Sergio Pelado 1:19:28 PB, 10th in M45; Aaron Self 1:21:42 PB, 27th in MS; Francine Dasseville 1:36:47, 18th in F50; Anna Mayhew 1:39:26, 10th in F55; Joanne Bouttell 1:42:34, 11th in F60; Angela Brennan 1:42:33, 20th in FS; Richard Gash 1:51:11, 33rd in M55; Lynda McCormack 1:53:26, 6th in F65; Caroline Mcintosh 2:04:24, 4th in F70+; Rob Pollard 2:09:17, 43rd in MS; Pearl Fay 2:12:48, 8th in F65.
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Above: Anna Mayhew finishing Tarpley 10M; Anna with LRG members; Tristram Hilborn finishing 10M. Thanks for photos.
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In the 20-mile race, first Jogger home was Oliver Daykin (2:04:53 PB, 5th of 317 overall, 4th of 73 in MS) followed by Jimmy Smith (2:08:49, 11th, 4th of 27 in M45) and Carlos Campon-Alonso (2:20:06 PB, 37th, 3rd of 38 in M50. Great PBs by Oliver and Carlos, while Jimmy’s PB of 1:57:25 was achieved back in 2017. He has been concentrating on ultra trail running in recent years and has a 100-mile trail ultra planned for April, so this was a good training run for him. Newmarket Joggers took third place in the men’s 3-person team awards, with Oliver Daykin 5th M, Jimmy Smith 11th M and Carlos Campon-Alonso 33rd M making up the team. Other results for Joggers in the 20-mile race: Jon Brooker 2:42:42 PB, 3rd in M60; Marc Drury 3:02:50, 23rd in M50; Angela Drury 3:27:08 PB, 21st in F45; Dan Bainbridge 3:27:08 PB, 71st in MS; Jan Holmes 3:33:14 PB, 6th in F60; Alan Shand 3:36:02, 2nd in M70+.
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Above: Dan Bainbridge on his way up the hill at the 19-mile sign…only 1 mile to go. Thanks for photos.
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OTHER RACES
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Also on Sunday, the Zig Zag Thetford Festival of Running took place in Thetford Forest. Two Joggers took part in this multi-lap race, with each lap being approximately 3.3km, so that 8 laps totalled a marathon in distance. Olivia Carter (1:00:54, 12th of 93 overall, 4th F of 59) opted for two laps, which was equivalent to a quarter marathon of about 10.6km or 6.6 miles, finishing high up the order on this hilly course. Lisa Jennings (2:06:19, 41st of 46 overall, 30th F of 35) decided on 3 laps to make approximately 15.8km or 9.8 miles. These odd distances of laps are perhaps not ideal. An alternative would be to make each lap 5km or 10km and then add on the extra bit at the end (a short out & back) to make the distance up to a half marathon or marathon.
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It was the second fixture of the Enfield Race Walking League on Saturday, February 21st at the QEII Stadium in Enfield, north London. Newmarket Joggers regularly take part in this league and managed to finish top last year. The results will be reported as soon as they are available. There was also the BMAF (British Masters Athletics Federation) Indoor Track & Field Championships at Lee Valley on Saturday but no Newmarket Joggers appear to have taken part.