Arkwright & Co/Turners Summer 5K League, Carver Barracks, Saffron Walden, Thursday evening, July 17th: Straight from the press and in record time, the results are in for the 5th and penultimate fixture of the Summer 5K League. Newmarket Joggers’ (NJ) women’s team has maintained their 2nd place out of 8 clubs in the league, while the NJ men’s team has climbed from a tie for 5th to 4th position. Cambridge & Coleridge AC (C&C) continues to dominate both competitions with a strong lineup of runners. Overall, as a combined women’s and men’s team, NJ holds 3rd place, with C&C leading and Ely Runners in 2nd. The final fixture is set to be hosted by C&C on Thursday evening, August 14th, at the Genome Campus in Hinxton, South Cambridgeshire. This season has been the best for the NJ women’s team in years, and the club eagerly anticipates the final fixture and awards presentations in August.
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Above left: Joggers at Carver Barracks; right: Cienna Carter and Tom Elton, winners of the Baz Colley Trophy. Thanks for the great photos.
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At Carver Barracks, 489 runners participated, including 196 women and 293 men, racing along the service roads of the old wartime airfield and finishing with a lap on the new athletics track within the base. Newmarket Joggers brought 22 women and 31 men. The top five NJ female scorers were Kirsty McDermott 17:48 SB, 3rd F of 196; Isabelle Talbot-Price 17:59 SB, 6th F; Sarah Osborne 18:27 SB, 8th F; Cerys Bithell 18:41 SB, 9th F; and Carol Cienna Carter 19:33 SB, 18th F. For the NJ men, it was Mark Hayward 16:10 SB, 21st M of 293; Joey Bendall 16:27 SB, 28th M; James Smith 16:44 SB, 35th M; Paul Holley 16:51 SB, 41st M; and Sam Sadler 16:58 SB, 44th M. These leading NJ runners were backed by all the other NJ participants, who reduced the aggregate positional scores of the top female and male runners, boosting the team’s overall score.
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Before the race, Cienna Carter and Tom Elton were presented with the Baz Colley Trophy, for the most improved runners in the Arkwright/Turners Summer 5k League.
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In the Junior 2K race, Sophie Blundell (7:34, 3rd F) and Oliver Hilton (8:17, 9th of 17 overall) both ran their best times this year.
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Ipswich Twilight 10K, Friday, July 18th: Five Joggers took part in this race, held on a beautiful evening with the sun low in the sky. The race followed a 2-lap route along the closed roads and cobbled streets of Ipswich’s historic town centre. Oliver Daykin performed impressively, finishing as the first NJ runner and 18th out of 1,314 overall, achieving a personal best of 36:13. Next was Hannah Pollard (43:10, 4th female of 520, 1st of 59 in F40), in excellent trophy-winning form, followed closely by second-claim member Jason Beeton (43:34, 177th, 25th in M40), representing Thetford AC. Chris Aylmer (1:08:51, 1,157th, 6th in M70+) had an enjoyable run and was happy enough with his form. Unfortunately, Neil Pollard took a wrong turn near the finish and decided to pull up. His pace up to that point (~9.5km) was 5:37/mi (3:29/km), indicating an estimated finish time of ~35 minutes, which would have placed him around 13th overall and winner of the M45 trophy.
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Above from left: Hannah & Neil Pollard before the race; Hannah with medal after the race; Hannah with ice cream and medal. Thanks for the nice photos.
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Above top left: The start of the Ipswich Twilight 10K; top right: The finish line on the football stadium practice area; bottom left: Ipswich Town FC, the race HQ; bottom right: The River Orwell nearby. Thanks for photos.
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The Nova Scotia Marathon took place on Sunday, July 20th, at the southwestern tip of Nova Scotia, Canada. Caroline McIntosh (6:19:59, 98th out of 104 overall, 1st F 70-74) found the course challenging due to its unexpected 640 feet of elevation. Using a run/walk strategy, she bravely completed the race, which started near Barrington Passage, crossed a sea causeway to Cape Sable Island, looped around the island’s coast, and returned to the finish line on the causeway. The weather was a cool 13°C, and the scenery was stunning. Along with the marathon, there were other running events, including a half marathon, with a total of 510 participants.
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Above, top left: The start of the Nova Scotia Marathon; top right: Caroline with medal & tee-shirt; middle left: Caroline’s Strava plot around Cape Sable Island; middle right: Island scenery; bottom left: Cape Sable Island in the distance with the causeway leading over the sea from the mainland; bottom right: Island scenery; lobsters are popular around these parts. Thanks to Caroline for photos.
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Caroline praised the event organizers for their efforts, noting that food was provided before and after the race and water stations were available every 3km. Despite missing the 6-hour official cut-off time, she still received her chip time, medal, T-shirt, and towel, as did slower runners behind her. She jokingly attributed her non-moving time (not much of it actually) to chatty marshals at the water stations.
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The biggest challenge for Caroline was the journey from Hamilton, Ontario, to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where she and her husband stayed for the race weekend. The trip involved a 40-hour train ride, including a 9-hour delay from Toronto to Halifax, leading to their arrival at 3:30 a.m. on Friday—not an ideal marathon preparation.
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TRACK NEWS
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Eastern Athletic Association T&F Champs, Cambridge, Saturday 19th July: Harvey Thomas U15M (2:17.97, 5th, 80.63%) and Sophie Blundell U15W (2:42.47 PB, 7th, 78.76%) competed in the 800m. Harvey gave a strong performance in a tough heat but couldn’t beat his earlier PB of 2:13.69 from this year. Sophie excelled, achieving a new PB and her highest age grade so far.
East Anglian League T&F, Peterborough, Sunday 6th July: Newmarket Joggers teamed up with Ely Runners in this league, though individual performances were recorded for each club.
100m: Rhys Turnbull-Bester SM (12.4 PB, 5th, 78.95%) and Seb Barrett U13M (16.2 PB, 5th, 69.69%) both reached impressive age grade standards.
200m: Rhys Turnbull-Bester SM (25.3, 76.25%) and Shane Mcandrew M35 (27.0, 75.96%) performed well, though not attaining PBs. Elke Hausler W60 (33.6 PB, 85.86%) delivered an outstanding run in her first known 200m attempt.
CERYS CATCH-UP:
English Schools T&F Champs, Birmingham, 11/12 July: Representing Cambridgeshire, Cerys Bithell U20 participated in the 1500m Steeplechase, achieving a new PB of 5:22.37. Cambridgeshire came 13th of 17 counties in this event. If you’re good at jumping and running, like Cerys, it’s very wise to home in on the steeplechase event, which is much less contested than the ordinary running events.
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Southern Athletics League, Grays, Essex, 22nd June: NJ Cerys Bithell U20 competed in the 400m (62.0 PB, 80.79%) and the 1500m Steeplechase (5:39.4, % n/a), running as a non-scoring athlete in a separate heat. Notably, her performances were faster than eight of the twelve A and B team members.