Marc Drury and Angela Drury reaped the reward of months of dedicated preparation and training for the Brussels Airport Marathon, which took place on Sunday 3rd November. Both achieved their best marathon times of the year, though found it tough towards the finish, with the highest hill coming in the final 10km and a total elevation of over 1,300ft. Marc recorded a time of 3:22:16 (PB 3:12:44 at Manchester, 2022), finishing 313th of 2,540 overall and 26th of 329 in M50-59. Angela recorded 4:26:56 (PB 4:17:31 in Paris 2023), finishing 1,916th overall (no gender positions shown in official results) and 54th of 85 in F40-49.
.
Above: Marc & Angela Drury, with close up of medal on the right. Thanks for photos.
.
Also on Sunday was the Bonfire Burn 10K at Histon & Impington, near Cambridge, where eight Newmarket Joggers took part. In great form and first home for the Joggers was Mark Hayward (35:11, 5th of 684 overall, 1st of 92 in M40-49), with his fastest time this year remaining at 33:41 in Little Bromley. Then came Tom Elton (44:06 PB, 89th, 18th of 82 in M50-59), beating his previous PB recorded 7 years ago and doing very well in his age group. He gives full credit for his improved form to the club grass track sessions led by coach Mick Graham on a Thursday. Third to finish was Martin Smith (53:12, 283rd, 59th of 92 in M40-49), who successfully helped to pace Bridget Wallwin to a new 10km PB of 53:17. This was a great result, putting her 77th F of 335 and 9th of 73 in F50-59. Also running well were Sarah Last (1:06:26 SB, 264th F, 48th in F50-59), Caroline Mcintosh (1:09:12, 288th F, 14th of 23 in F60+), Jo Bouttell (1:11:53, 308th F, 21st in F60+) and Gillian Green (1:23:56, 331st F, 23rd in F60+).
.
Above left: Caroline Mcintosh, Jo Bouttell, Gillian Green and Sarah Last; above right: Martin Smith, Bridget Wallwin and Tom Elton. All pictured after the Bonfire Burn 10K; thanks for the photos.
.
Above: Close up of the Bonfire Burn medal with thanks to Sarah Last.
.
Framlingham XC, Suffolk Winter XC League at Framlingham Castle, Sunday: This was the opening fixture of the season and attracted around 430 participants from running clubs in East Anglia. 14 women and 21 men represented ‘club’ Newmarket & Sudbury (N&S), which is a joint team from Newmarket Joggers (NJ) and Sudbury Joggers (SJ). Full results and times are not yet out but we do know the overall positions of the runners in our N&S team. From GPS, the distance of the senior race turned out to be approximately 5.3mi/8.5km, consisting of two unequal loops.
.
Above: The Newmarket & Sudbury XC Team at Framlingham before the race. Note Sarah Osborne holding her baby, third from left at the back. Thanks to Daniel Tee for taking the photo.
.
The women’s ‘1st teams’ consisted of the first 4 women to finish for each club. For Newmarket & Sudbury, this was: Sarah Osborne NJ 94th overall, Olivia Carter NJ 145th, Helen Hilario NJ 270th and Rachele Cooper NJ 308th. Great to see Sarah Osborne back in top form after giving birth earlier this year; the baby was there too, looked after by father Daniel Tee.
.
Above from left: Ellie Bithell (nearest camera) and Rachele Cooper; Framlingham Castle; the Castle Moat (empty thankfully).
.
It was the first 7 men to finish for each club who formed the men’s 1st teams. For N&S this was: Joey Bendall NJ 8th overall, Rob Dobson NJ 11th, James Smith NJ 12th, Oliver Daykin NJ 18th, Dan Hutchison NJ 21st, Hugh Tawell NJ 28th and Chris Balmer NJ 33rd.
.
Above from left: Framlingham Castle; the club gazebos in the castle grounds.
.
It was a very good result to have all 7 men so high up in the order. The lower the addition of position points, the higher the team finishes, so it looks good for the men. For our women, we don’t yet know the gender positions, which the points are based on, but it looks like a good start to the season for N&S. The women’s and men’s 1st teams form a total combined team of 11 (4 women + 7 men) and there will be trophies for women’s, men’s and combined teams at the end of the season in the spring.
It was great to have three Junior Joggers competing in the ‘3km’ one loop race, which turned out to be a lot longer at approximately 3.8km/2.4mi. It was the same as the first loop run by the seniors. Cerys Bithell FU17 was first Jogger home at 29th overall, followed by Alex Balmer MU13 50th and Rio Mcandrew MU13 62nd. The number of juniors competing in each category is not yet known.
Our other senior runners formed 2nd teams (next 4 women and 7 men to finish for the club) and 3rd teams in the same way. There will be separate trophies for the winners of these 2nd and 3rd team competitions at the season’s end too. Not all clubs had enough runners for 3rd teams, or even 2nd teams, but we managed it in this fixture, with two reserves to spare. It’s true to say that the main spotlight falls on the first team competitions, which were all there was in the old days of elite XC sport, but these extra competitions give a more inclusive feel to each fixture. Our 2nd and 3rd teams were as follows:
.
N&S women’s 2nd team: Ellie Bithell NJ 314th overall, Helen Wass NJ 338th, Dina Heggum NJ 342nd and Rachael Maltpress NJ 343rd. N&S men’s 2nd team: Bradley Doe SJ 42nd, Piotr Bulacz SJ 46th, Paul Holley NJ 47th, Chris Underwood NJ 58th, Jason Bevan NJ 68th, Stephen Edwards NJ 117th and Shane Mcandrew NJ 119th.
.
N&S women’s 3rd team: Belinda Schofield NJ 360th, Abi Marson NJ 371st, Sianie Painter NJ 403rd and Jan Holmes NJ 408th. Women’s 3rd team reserves: Sarah Sales NJ 409th and Pearl Fay NJ 419th. N&S men’s 3rd team: Reuben Smith NJ 199th, Rob Hawkins NJ 267th, Brian Munns NJ 352nd, Ian Butcher NJ 354th, Mike Sales NJ 372nd, Jim Withers NJ 404th and Chris Aylmer NJ 424th.
.
Roll on Woodbridge XC in December….