Sudbury Fun Run 5M, Good Friday April 18th: The most popular event for Joggers over the Easter weekend was the established, annual Sudbury Fun Run, which counted towards Newmarket Joggers’ own Grand Prix competition, as well as being the Suffolk County 5M Championship race and one of the Suffolk Grand Prix fixtures for 2025. The age categories were complicated by being in 10-year bands for the overall race and 5-year bands for the Suffolk Championship.
Above, Joggers in Sudbury Fun Run, back row from left: Richard Defries, Neville Clarke, Angela Drury, David Percy, Helen Hilario, Stephen Edwards, Jimmy Smith; front row from left: Cienna Carter, Pearl Fay and Marc Drury. Thanks for team photo.
First home for the club was Jimmy Smith (28:52, 10th of 558 overall, 3rd of 76 in M40-49, 1st of 13 for Suffolk in M45-49). This earned Jimmy his highest age grade of the year, at 80.08%. Then came David Percy (32:08, 46th, 6th of 87 in M50-59, 3rd of 16 for Suffolk in M50-54), Marc Drury (32:52, 59th, 8th of 87 in M50-59, 5th of 16 for Suffolk in M50-54) and Stephen Edwards (34:09, 76th, 4th of 40 in M60-69, 2nd of 10 for Suffolk in M60-64).
First home, and bang in form for the NJ women, was Carol Cienna Carter (34:42, 8th F of 224, 2nd of 54 in F50-59, 2nd of 10 for Suffolk in F50-54, age grade 82.37%), from Helen Hilario (37:38, 17th F, 4th in F50-59 and in F50-54 for Suffolk), Angela Drury (44:31, 66th F, 13th of 51 in F40-49, 3rd of 7 for Suffolk in F40-44) and Pearl Fay (59:56, 189th F, 13th of 21 in F60-69, 3rd of 3 for Suffolk in F65-69).
Also putting in big efforts were Richard Defries (35:52, 105th, 16th of 87 in M50-59, 7th for Suffolk in M50-54), Neville Clarke (36:52, 125th, 1st of 11 in M70+, 1st of 8 for Suffolk in M70+, age grade 79.07%) and Chris Aylmer (57:51, 506th, 10th of 11 in M70+ and 7th of 8 for Suffolk). In addition, Carol Carter, Helen Hilario and Angela Drury achieved 3rd place trophy for Newmarket Joggers in the women’s 3-person team competition.
Battersea Park 10K, Easter Saturday, April 19th: Neil Pollard (33:34, 1st of 542 overall, 1st in M45-49 by over 2 minutes, 86.59% age grade) came within a few seconds of a PB in this race, which he described as something to stretch his legs before his London Marathon attempt on April 27th. That must be Neil’s equivalent of a taper run….
Above left: Neil Pollard in Battersea Park; right: The 10k medal. Thanks to Neil for photos.
Fakenham 5K Fun Run, Easter Sunday, April 20th: Phil Blundell and his 12-year-old daughter Sophie Blundell took part in this popular, annual charity race, which follows a 5-lap course around Fakenham town centre. Phil recorded a time of 22:23, his quickest 5k this year, finishing 73rd of 304 overall and 10th of 24 in M45-49. Sophie also recorded her best time this year, finishing 15th F of 115 and 7th of 42 in F Open (U40).
Phil and Sophie Blundell also ran in the Stanwick 10K and 2K respectively, on Easter Monday, April 21st in Northamptonshire. Phil recorded 48:53 for his 10k, finishing 118th of 360 overall and 8th of 27 in M45-49. Sophie recorded 08:19 in her 2k, finishing 8th F of 37 and 23rd of 92 overall. She did well to come 3rd of 9 in her F12-14 age group.
Stevenage Spring 10K, Hertfordshire, Easter Monday, April 21st: Sarah Kinston (1:05:15, 155th of 208 overall, 66th F of 107, 10th of 16 in F50-54) was not far from her best time this year (1:04:10), which was in the London Winter 10K Run in February.
Above left: Sophie Blundell after her Stanwick 2k race with 3rd place category trophy; middle: Sarah Kinston in Stevenage Spring 10K; right, Sarah’s 10k bib and medal. Thanks to Sophie, Phil and Sarah for the photos.
Zig Zag Easter Challenge, Brandon Country Park, Good Friday, April 18th: Suzanne Bailey (1:14:40, 28th of 54 overall, 18th F of 36) chose to do the 2-lap course, equivalent to a quarter of a marathon (~10.6km), enjoying a nice, relaxing trail run. Caroline Mcintosh kindly helped in this event as a volunteer.
Sussex Road Relay Championships, Preston Park, Brighton, Saturday April 19th: Kirsty McDermott returned to her former hunting grounds in Sussex for this event. She ran in an all-female, 3-person team, possibly from Crawley Run Crew, with each member running 2 x 1-mile laps. Her 2-mile time was 12:05, earning an age grade of 76.50%, with the team finishing 2nd in its category; so a very good performance.
Above left: The Relay 3-person team, with Kirsty on right; above right: Kirsty in action. Thanks to Kirsty for photos on Strava.
PREVIOUSLY MISSED EVENT: Apologies….
Little Bromley 10K, Essex, Sunday, April 13th: Four Joggers competed in this race. In excellent form was Hugh Tawell (34:15, 14th of 563 overall, 8th of 99 in M Open, age grade 78.00%), followed by another great veteran performance by Neville Clarke (46:13, 161st, 1st of 7 in M70-74, 79.12%); then came Brian Munns (1:06:14, 484th, 21st in M60-64) and Jim Withers (1:07:45, 500th, 6th in M70-74).