Newmarket Joggers pull together to stage another successful 10K race at the Ellesmere Centre in Stetchworth

On Sunday, 29^th June, Newmarket Joggers (NJ) staged their annual 10K road race at the Ellesmere Centre in Stetchworth, also including a 3K trail race for juniors and a shorter fun run in the playing fields for younger children and parents. It was a warm, humid day but, thankfully, the sun stayed behind hazy cloud for most of the race. There were around 50 NJ volunteers on duty, including setting up the day before and taking down afterwards. A big thank you to all the helpers and special thanks to 10k race director Jim Withers, junior 3k race director Angela Drury, chief marshal Stuart Sowerby and car park coordinator Malcolm Osbourn. After the race, all volunteers were treated to a barbecue-style meal at the Ellesmere Centre, with the bar open for business, plus a game of rounders in the playing fields.

.

The 10K race took runners along the road to Woodditton, through a stud farm off Kirtling Road and then along Maypole Lane towards the outlying village church; this was followed by a steep downhill road plunge and a left turn towards Court Barns, the lowest point of the race at 2.5km from the finish. From there, it was mostly a stiff uphill climb to the finish, which was almost the highest point of the race, so a real challenge for the runners and a true test of stamina.

.

First to finish for the men was Owen Rees of Ipswich Phoenix in a time of 33:38, from Tom McCusker of Cambridge & Coleridge in 34:21; the latter we can proudly claim as being a transient member of Newmarket Joggers around 6 years ago, who has come on in leaps and bounds. Amazingly, the third overall finisher was a female runner by the name of Daisy Glover, whose time of 34:24 earned her a phenomenal age grade of 88.42%.  Daisy was originally from Newmarket and a member of Newmarket Joggers about 7 years ago, before she moved to Framlingham. She was often seen storming along the streets of Newmarket on her training runs. She has an incredible talent for running and has lost no ability since the birth of her child a year or two ago.

.

Looking at the performances of the Newmarket Joggers taking part in the race: Mark Hayward (34:47 SB, 5^th of 206 overall, 1^st of 23 in M40) was first Jogger home and did very well to win the M40 trophy. Then came Oliver Daykin (36:30, 10th, 7th of 30 in MS) and Barley Woodcock (41:59 SB, 29th, 3^rd of 20 in M45), both in great form this year. For our women, relatively new member Carol Cienna Carter (42:32, 4^th F of 65, 1^st of 7 in F50) achieved a feat not dissimilar to Daisy Glover, with an impressive age grade of 84.60%. She’s been motoring along in races since the beginning of the year, although a significant injury problem unfortunately interrupted her training recently. Next female Jogger to finish was young Lilian Corbett (46:54 SB, 10^th F, 1^st of 2 in U21), who has managed to maintain form, despite being very busy with school exams. Third female home was none other than Lilian’s mother Mandy Corbett (48:00, 13th F, 2nd of 9 in F45), a very talented runner in her own right. The latter three female Joggers won the women’s Team of 3 first place award for fastest aggregate time.

.

.

Other Joggers putting in their best efforts were: Christopher Connett (43:04 SB, 10th in M40), Richard Defries 43:39 SB, 4^th in M50), James Thomson (43:58 SB, 12^th in MS), Jonathan Ollington SB (47:33, 9^th in M55), Matthew Wisbey (48:14 SB, 17^th in MS), James Hilton (50:14 SB, 8^th in M45), Ian Butcher (57:57 SB, 5^th in M65), Pete Brisbourne (59:13 SB, 22nd in M40) and Kartik Sadanand (1:16:46 SB, 30^th in MS). Second claim club members Jason Beeton (44:09, 13th in M40) and Lisa Beeton (56:25, 10th FS) did very well representing Thetford AC.

.

.

Seven Junior Joggers competed in the 3K trail race, which ran alongside the Devil’s Dyke for part of the way. First to finish for the boy Joggers was Harvey Thomas (11:32, 4th overall, 4th of 6 in U15B), not far behind the leaders, from Noah Poujardieu (13:42, 4th BU13). First girl Jogger home, and finishing third Jogger overall, was new member Daisy Hyett (13:50, 1st of 3 in U11G), who did exceptionally well for her age and won her age group. Then came another new member Elliot Denston (13:53, 2nd of 5 in U11B) from Rio Mcandrew (15:10, 7th in U13B) and Oliver Hilton (15:14, 4th U11B), all with good efforts. Esther Eaton (15:19, 2nd U11G) was just seconds behind and put in an excellent performance for her age and gender.

.

Ipswich Jaffa did well to win U15B (Seth Bowman, 10:35) and U13B (Flynn Taylor, 12:42), while Saint Edmund Pacers have rising stars in Laila McNeill (13:01) & Kyan McNeill (11:42), who won GU15 and BU11 respectively. The U13G age group winner was the talented Amelie Crawford (13:34) from Ely Runners.

.

Stowmarket Friday 5, Haughley Park, Friday, June 27th: Ten Joggers competed in this 5^th fixture of the Friday 5-mile Series. Mark Hayward (27:26 SB, 2^nd of 360 overall, 1^st of 37 in M40) was bang in form and clocked his second best time in a 5-mile race, with his PB staying at 27:17. Joey Bendall (27:55 SB, 4th, 2^nd M40) was also in great form, only 6 seconds outside his PB and was entitled to the 1st M40 trophy, with Hayward in podium position. Next to finish was Neville Clarke (37:27, 125th, 2^nd of 10 in M70+), who was unlucky to be up against Stephen Mead of Saint Edmund Pacers, one of the top M70+ runners in the county of Suffolk. Angela Drury (45:20, 66^th F of 114, 15^th in F40) was first female Jogger to finish, followed by Joanne Bouttell (53:33, 10^th F60) and Caroline Mcintosh (57:01, 2^nd in F70+). Other Joggers completing the race were: Marc Drury (40:35, 19^th in M50), Brian Munns (43:17, 16^th in M60), Jim Withers (53:02, 7^th in M70+) and Chris Aylmer (55:45, 9^th in M70+).

.

.

.

ROUND UP OF OTHER RACES

.

Anna Mayhew completed the Peak District 25K Challenge in Bakewell, Derbyshire on Saturday 28th June, along with members of LRG (Let’s Run Girls). There were two big peaks to negotiate, for a total of 1,785ft of climb. Official results and placings are not currently available but the elapsed time on her watch was 4:54:23, which seems a decent time for such a difficult route.

.

.

.

On the same day, Joey Bendall took his family to the Red Lodge Colour Run over one mile. His kids seemed to enjoy themselves and got well sloshed (with paint). Their joint family time was 13 min 5s.

.

.

On Sunday, Gillie Green (~41:57) and Sarah Last (~30:32) took part in the Cambridge Race For Life 5K, which appeared to come out a bit short of distance at ~4.6km, but they both enjoyed the scenic route through Cambridge, the atmosphere and the camaraderie.

.

.

TRACK NEWS

.

On Saturday, 28th June, the EMAC (Eastern Masters Athletics Club) Track & Field Championships took place at Biggleswade in Bedfordshire. The event was for those aged 35 and over, who are referred to as ‘Masters’. Top veteran Newmarket Jogger Elke Hausler W60-64 was there to test herself in the 800m and 400m. The weather was warm and a bit windy. In the 800m, she clocked 2:47.20, which was a little adrift of her season’s best time of 2:44.36 but still won her a silver medal in her age group. She really excelled in the 400m, achieving a PB time of 71.55s and taking 1.67 seconds off her previous best for another silver medal. She only started competing at 400m in 2022 (76.22s) and there she was, three years later in her 60s, setting a new PB. This PB earned her a most impressive age grade of 90.78% on Power of 10.

.

.

At the same meeting, Jogger Shane Mcandrew was also competing in the 400m and did well to win a silver medal in his M35 age group. He achieved a really big PB, clocking 58.00s, to take 4.4 seconds off his previous best time; this earned him an age grade of 78.45%, his highest ever. He’s in great form and also set a new 800m PB recently. At the other end of the scale, he ran his first ever marathon at Manchester this year, clocking a very decent 3:46:21, so is pushing the boundaries all round.