Above left: Adrian Whittle & Alan Shand in full gear near Fort William; Alan Shand, David Walker & Adrian Whittle in Newmarket.
Two Newmarket Joggers, Alan Shand (aged 71) and Adrian Whittle (61), with the expert help and guidance of the Newmarket Open Door Chair David Walker, have embarked on a fundraising expedition along the 230-mile Cape Wrath Trail in northwestern Scotland. The unmarked and remote route starts at Fort William and proceeds over wild and rugged terrain, all the way to the northwestern tip of Scotland, towards Cape Wrath lighthouse. It involves over 40,000 ft of climb, as well as dangerous bog and river crossings along the way. There is no way it could be run; more of a back packer’s hike, with the amount of climb and type of clothing they will wear, plus rucksacks to carry essentials. They are hoping to complete the journey in 8 days, covering nearly 30 miles per day, which would be an incredible achievement. At least Alan and Adrian will not need to carry their tent and all their food supplies with them, as David Walker will be driving a vehicle with all food and equipment. He will be setting up the tent at each overnight stop, planning the routes in advance and preparing all the evening meals. They left Fort William on Sunday 24th May and are expected to arrive at Cape Wrath on Sunday 31st May. If anyone would like to sponsor them, the link to the Newmarket Open Door page is:
Lyn McIntyre is fundraising for Newmarket Open Door
Above left: scene of Cape Wrath Trail; right: Newmarket Open Door supporters at Portland House, Newmarket, with Chair David Walker left, Alan Shand & Adrian Whittle in blue at front.
Above: Adrian Whittle (front, left of banner) and Alan Shand (right of banner) promoting their fundraising expedition at Run Newmarket recently. Newmarket Open Door Chair David Walker is behind the banner.
ARKWRIGHT & CO/TURNERS 5K SUMMER LEAGUE
The results have just been released for the 2nd fixture at Histon, organised by Histon & Impington Runners on Thursday evening, 21st May. . There was an overall turnout of 487 runners from the eight teams in the league, consisting of 195 women and 292 men. Newmarket Joggers (NJ) had a turnout of 18 women and 28 men. Looking at the top 5 NJ female finishers, Newmarket Jogger Izzy Talbot Price once again finished first overall female runner in a very fast time of 18:03, with the able support of Carol Cienna Carter 20:29, 12th F, Helen Hilario 22:44, 32nd F, Elke Hausler 23:00, 38th F and Lilian Corbett 23:13, 43rd F. This helped to keep the NJ women’s team =3rd of the 8 teams in the league, with Cambridge & Coleridge (C&C) top and Ely Runners second. For the NJ men, Thomas Hemsley 17:15, finished 1st NJ and 24th M of 292, just ahead of Sam Sadler 17:16, 25th M, James Smith 17:46, 35th M, Mark Hayward 18:29, 54th M and Barley Woodcock 19:21, 81st M. This helped the NJ men’s team move up to 6th position from 7th. In the lead for the men are C&C from Royston Runners. Overall, the NJ combined women’s and men’s team are in 5th position, so plenty of scope for improvement. Those finishing outside the top 5 women and men in their club all helped to improve their team’s score by one point per person, regardless of time and position. So it was an all round team effort.
Above left: Joggers relax after the Summer League 5K in Histon; right: first female finisher Izzy Talbot Price pictured recently at Beccles Quay, before a trail run with Jimmy Smith.
FRIDAY 5 SERIES
The 1st fixture was at Kirton, near Felixstowe, on Friday evening 22nd May, organised by Felixstowe Road Runners. Seven NJs competed in this 5-mile race. First Jogger to finish was ace veteran Neville Clarke (37:40, 171st of 454 overall, 1st of 6 in M70+), from Brian Munns (46:09, 23rd in M60), Helen Wass (46.09, 96th F of 168, 8th in F60), Neil Williamson (46:34, 44th in M50), Jan Holmes (49:49, 11th in F60), Jo Bouttell (50:40, 14th in F60) and Jim Withers (53:05, 4th in M70+). Next fixture will be at Framlingham on 29th May.
Above from left, Joggers at Kirton Friday 5: Jim Withers, Helen Wass, Jan Holmes, Brian Munns, Neville Clarke & Jo Bouttell.
TRACK & RACE WALK NEWS
In the recent Cambridgeshire Open T&F meeting at St Ives on May 20th, Harvey Thomas (U16) clocked a season’s best time of 2:16.24 in the 800m, earning 79.92% age grade.. His PB stands at 2:13.69 in 2025.
The results for the Enfield Race Walking League fixture on April 11th have just come through. Lily-Ann Cooper (U16) was the only Newmarket Jogger competing at the event. She did very well to gain a PB of 19:15.0 in the 3000m racewalk, earning 65.28% age grade; her highest ever. She actually capped that on 2nd May at the Bury St Edmunds T&F Open by recording 12:45.2 in the 2000m racewalk, earning an age grade of 65.38%. She is improving rapidly. At the same meeting, Rio Mcandrew (U14) clocked 10:49.5 (72.92%) and Sophie Blundell (U16) 11:52.6 PB (71.37%) in the same 2000m event, both doing very well.
Many thanks for the photos.