Sunday, November 9th, 09:30 am: Seven Newmarket Joggers (NJ) enjoyed a Remembrance Day run in the Stowmarket Scenic 7, which starts and finishes at the Suffolk Leisure Centre and follows a loop along quiet country roads to the west of the town. After the race, two minutes silence was held at 11:00 am, before trophy awards were given out.
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Above from left: Sarah Last, Gillie Green, Caroline Mcintosh; Gillie, Olivia Carter & Jim Withers; bib and medal.
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Mark Hayward M40 was in great form, finishing 3rd of 455 overall in a time of 39:37 and earning 81.74% age grade. Then came Stephen Edwards (49:52, 75th, 5th of 31 in M60-64), with first female NJ finisher Olivia Carter (51:10, 13th F of 219, 2nd of 45 in FS) not far behind; both did very well in their age groups. Then came Sarah Last (1:15:37, 184th F, 21st in F50-54), Jim Withers (1:18:23, 425th, 6th in M70+), Caroline Mcintosh (1:23:23, 206th F, 2nd in F70+) and Gillie Green (1:34:45, 215th F, 18th in F60-64), all with good efforts.
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Saturday, November 8th: Neil Pollard made the trip to Carver Barracks, near Saffron Walden, for the ATW Remembrance Run 10k event. He was in remarkable form and set a new PB of 33:29, 5 seconds below his best ever time. He finished 1st of 222 overall and 1st of 13 in his M45-49 age group, earning an age grade of 87.51%. At an age when most runners might think that a season’s best was the only realistic target, Neil keeps pushing the boundaries further.
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Above: Neil Pollard’s classic running style; approaching the finish; Neil with his wife Hannah after the race.
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Also in 10k mode was NJ ace veteran and ex-jockey Paul Holley, who is currently working in Victoria, Australia, riding out horses for his trainers Simon & Ed Crisford of Newmarket. On Sunday, Paul competed in the Run Geelong 10km on the Victoria coast, clocking 38:07 and coming an impressive 15th of 2,222 runners overall. He finished 1st of 89 in his M50-59 age group (actually aged 59), for an age grade of 85.26%. He has undoubted talent…both on and off a horse.
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Scenes by Paul Holley at the Run Geelong 10km in Victoria, Australia.
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On Friday, 7th November, young Charlie Spencer U20 had another crack at The Ealing Mile in west London, which takes place on the first Friday of every month. The weather was atrocious with torrential rain for most of the race but Charlie still managed a decent time of 5:07, finishing 3rd of 32 overall and only 5 seconds behind the winner. He was representing his 1st claim club Saint Edmund Pacers.
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Charlie Spencer No. 26 in The Ealing Mile.
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RACE WALKING NEWS
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Five Newmarket Joggers (NJ) took part in the final fixture of the 2025 Enfield Race Walking League, held at Donkey Lane in Enfield, North London on Saturday 8th November. NJ are doing very well in this league, thanks to the dedication of our club walkers, coaches and supporters, who have attended the monthly fixtures regularly during the year. Full results are not yet out but it is expected that NJ will be the first team from outside London ever to win the league title.
Suzanne Bailey W60 (60:49) was 1st of 2 in the 5-mile race, George Wilkinson MS (26:32) 1st of 4 in the 3-mile race, with Sophie Blundell GU15 (20:16) and Lily-Ann Cooper GU15 (22:04) 1st and 2nd in the 2-mile event. New Recruit Rio Mcandrew BU13 (09:17) did very well in the mile, which is the longest he can race at his age. All the team members have made big progress this year, with George Wilkinson an excellent coach. Phil Blundell was kindly helping to officiate.
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Above from left: The NJ team at Enfield: Suzanne Bailey, Edson George Wilkinson, Lily-Ann Cooper, Sophie Blundell,
Rio Mcandrew; the race; Rio Mcandrew receiving his U13 trophy.
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CROSS-COUNTRY NEWS
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A great result is surely awaiting….the results of the first Suffolk Winter League fixture on October 26th at Framlingham Castle have been a little held up by certain discrepancies and the final tables have not yet been officially released. However, it seems most likely that the Newmarket & Sudbury (N&S) combined A team of 4 women and 7 men are leading their table of 22 clubs, and that the N&S men’s A team are also leading in their division. The women’s A team are likely to be in second place in their division. This would be a fantastic start to the season for N&S. Regarding the combined B teams, N&S are in 2nd place in their division and the combined C team in 3rd place in theirs, so plenty of strength in depth.
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Top individual age group performers for the women were NJ Kirsty McDermott, 1st of 40 in FS; SJ Ruth Cowlin 1st of 10 in F60; NJ Lilian Corbett 2nd of 9 in U20; NJ Helen Wass 2nd in F60; NJ Sarah Osborne 3rd in FS; NJ Carol Cienna Carter 3rd of 28 in F50. For the men: NJ James Smith 1st of 32 in M45; NJ Neville Clarke 1st of 10 in M70+; NJ Mark Hayward 2nd of 29 in M40; NJ Joey Bendall 3rd in M40; NJ Charles Jones 3rd of 24 in M65; NJ Oliver Daykin 4th of 66 in MS; NJ Steve Edwards 4th of 38 in M60. Key: NJ = Newmarket Joggers, SJ = Sudbury Joggers, who together make up the N&S teams.
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3.5km Junior Results: NJ Harvey Thomas 14:25, 6th of 14 in B15; NJ Noah Poujardieu 16:33, 9th of 26 in B13 (aged 12); NJ Reuben Hilborn-Fox 17:57, 20th of 26 in B13 (aged 11). Our N&S Junior boy’s team of 3 were placed 9th of 20. NJ Rory King 14:20, 13th of 91 overall, 9th of 14 in B17 (aged 16) also did very well in the 3.5km race, representing West Suffolk Athletics.
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Many thanks for all the photos that help bring the report alive.