Thursday evening, 19:30, 5th June, Newmarket Heath: The biggest club event of the week was undoubtedly the home fixture of the Arkwright/Turners 5K League, the 3rd fixture of 6 in the series. The official results are not yet out, but there was a big turnout of runners from all the participating clubs and enough helpers and marshals to make for an enjoyable race. A big thank you to club secretary Wendy Ancill for her excellent race organisation.
Above: Brian Munns and Jim Withers (hidden behind) setting out the course at the 4km sign, with measuring wheel; scene of the poly-track section, where everyone found the grass track along the edge faster😁.
Relatively new member Kirsty McDermott finished first female overall, as she did in the previous fixture last month at Ben’s Yard near Ely. She clocked an impressive time of approximately 18:18, worth 81.79% age grade, and is proving a great asset to the club; not only for her speed but for her absolute enthusiasm for running and generous encouragement of others. The top 5 women and 5 men from each participating club score the highest points, according to their position within gender, with all others scoring one point for their club. We will need to wait for confirmation for the other top positions. Coming into this race, NJ women stood 3rd of the 8 competing clubs in their table, and NJ men =5th of 8 in theirs.
Above, from top left: Wendy Ancill, with Liam Elvidge behind; Andy Fryatt, Olivia Carter and Kirsty McDermott; Barley Woodcock & Mark Hayward. Bottom from left: Jon Brooker with Kirsty; Phil Blundell finishing race. Thanks for all photos taken by Kirsty, bar the one of Phil…not sure who took that, but thanks too.
Sudbury Friday 5, June 6th, Great Cornard: Seven Joggers made the trip to Great Cornard for the 3rd fixture of this popular summer series, featuring the challenging Kedington Hill. First home for the Joggers was Marc Drury (32:30 SB, 51st of 318 overall, 7th of 36 in M50-54), doing very well in his age group. Then came Brian Munns (42:51, 226th, 13th of 20 in M60-64), Angela Drury (44:22 SB, 54th F of 94, 12th of 16 in F40-44), Jim Withers (49:19, 290th, 4th in M70+), Jan Holmes (76th F, 4th of 8 in F60-64), Jo Bouttell (51:49 SB, 84th F, 5th in F60-64) and Caroline Mcintosh (56:07 SB, 90th F, 3rd in F70+), all with good efforts and a number of season’s best performances.
Above, at Sudbury Friday 5, from left: Jim Withers, Jan Holmes, Brian Munns, Jo Bouttell, Angela Drury, Caroline Mcintosh and Marc Drury. Thanks for team photo.
Also on Friday evening, it was the Marston Forest 5K in Bedfordshire. 5k specialist Andrew Taylor (20:41 SB, 64th of 367 overall, 11th of 56 in M50-59) did well to achieve a year best time.
On Sunday, in the village of High Easter, near Great Dunmow in Essex, the High Easter 10K took place. Chris Underwood (40:39 PB, 45th of 331 overall, 22nd of 80 in SM) smashed his previous PB by 45 seconds and has been improving steadily since he took up regular running around 8 years ago.
Above: Chris Underwood (317) setting his new 10k PB at High Easter. Thanks to Chris for photo.
Meanwhile, three Joggers competed in the Zig Zag Valley Of The Owls Run at Barrow, near Bury St Edmunds. Suzanne Bailey (1:06:36, 58th of 83 overall, 26th F of 43) ran with a friend over the out & back 10km route, taking it fairly easy. In the one lap half marathon, Catherine Bragg (2:01:01, 45th of 143 overall, 11th F of 58) did very well in her first known race this year, finishing well up with the leaders, Caroline Mcintosh (2:50:32, 53rd F of 58) also ran in the half marathon, treating it more as a training run for her Nova Scotia Marathon in July.
Above from top left: Suzanne Bailey & friend after 10K race; close up with medals; the medal; Zig Zag official photo. Thanks to Suzanne and Zig Zag Running for great photos.
Not far away, in Nowton Park, Bury St Edmunds, Sarah Last (46:39) ran in the Race For Life, taking it easy with a friend.
Above: Sarah Last on right with friend; Sarah’s bib & medal; the scene at Nowton Park. Thanks to Sarah for photos.
Also on Sunday, in the Nene Valley Swim-Run Sprint 10K at Sibson Lake, Stebbington, to the west of Peterborough, Sarah Osborne took on her first swimming race since the birth of her baby. This tough event involved 5 swim sections and 6 run sections, alternating all the way through. It was supposed to be 10km in all, but Sarah recorded well over 11km. She did extremely well to finish 1st female of 16 and 4th of 32 overall, in a time of 1:24:01, showing she has lost none of her form over the last year or two.
Above: Sarah Osborne 1st on the podium in women’s Swimrun 10K Sprint; Sarah emerging from the River Nene after one of her swim legs. Thanks to Sarah for photos.
Apologies for two missed results from previous weeks. In the Edinburgh Marathon on Sunday 25th May, Oliver Daykin (2:44:49 PB, 38th of ~10,500 overall, 20th in U35M) put in a tremendous effort to take over 7 minutes off his marathon PB, seven years after his only other known marathon at Chester in 2018.
Also on 25th May, in the Run Dorney Lake Half Marathon, near Windsor, Matthew Lagden (1:55:29, 98th of 217 overall, 24th of 44 in M30-39) put in a very good effort in his first known race for the club.
TRACK & FIELD NEWS
Just through from the organisers, we have the preliminary results for the EMAC (Eastern Masters Athletics Club) 2nd of 4 fixtures, held at Cambridge University Athletics Track on Wednesday 4th June. This is a track & field competition for ‘masters’ athletes aged 35 and over. In this league, Newmarket Joggers (NJ) form a joint team with Saint Edmund Pacers (SEP). The other four main participants are Cambridge & Coleridge AC, Peterborough and Nene Valley AC, Ryston Runners and West Norfolk AC. After two fixtures, NJ/SEP currently stand 4th of the 5 participants in the league, with Peterborough narrowly leading from Cambridge in both men’s and women’s divisions, although home-team Cambridge won both divisions in this fixture.
Above: A good turnout by Newmarket Joggers and Saint Edmund Pacers at Cambridge University Athletics Track: Joggers spotted from left: Suzanne Bailey,. Shane Mcandrew, Rachael Maltpress, Krystal Szerszon,, Adam Maltpress, Elke Hausler and Richard Defries. Thanks for team photo.
The main track events contested were the 200m, 800m and 3,000m, plus the 4 x 400m relay and 2km race walk. In the field, the chosen events were the javelin, discus, pole vault and triple jump. Female Newmarket Joggers in the individual track events were Elke Hausler in the W60 3,000m (12:26.4, 1st of 4, earning a huge 92.98% age grade), and Suzanne Bailey in the W35+ 2km race walk (14:24.4, 5th). Elke and Suzanne both did well in the W50+ 4 x 400m relay, helping the team to finish 1st of 3, while Rachael Maltpress and Krystal Szerszon helped the team finish 2nd of 3 in W35-49 4 x 400m relay. In this event, Rachael recorded an individual 400m leg of 1:24.3, which earned her 64.93% age grade; her highest this year.
Above: Rachael Maltpress in her 400m leg in the women’s 4 x 400m relay. Thanks for great action photo.
Shane Mcandrew took part in the M35-49 800m race, finishing a very good 3rd in 2:17.8 (75.71%), though slightly down on his recent time in the East Anglian League at Bury St Edmunds, while Richard Defries did well in his first attempt at the 3,000m (11:49.0, 72.71%). Shane Mcandrew, Adam Maltpress and Phil Blundell helped the team record 4:33.8 in the 4 x 400m relay, finishing in 4th place.
In the field events, Krystal Szerszon (11.65m), Cheryl Thomas (10.63m) and Adam Maltpress (14.10m) all tried out the javelin event, while Adam Maltpress (12.04m) and Rachael Maltpress (10.11m) took on the discus throw. They are all very new to these sports.
Many thanks for all the photos posted on Strava, which help to bring the report alive.