After the cancellation of the Arkwright & Co/Turners Summer 5K League fixture at Haverhill on Thursday evening, due to the high forecast temperatures, it looked like the Stowmarket Friday 5 fixture at Haughley Park on Friday evening would go the same way. However, it went ahead with extra water stations and precautions, despite forecast temperatures as high or higher than Thursday. According to historic weather app data, the temperature on Friday at 7:30pm in Stowmarket was 30-31°C at the start of the race. There was hazy cloud to shield the direct rays of the sun and a breeze to offer some relief. According to Strava, the humidity was fairly low at 45%, which also may have helped. The very warm conditions did put a lot of runners off though, with the turnout about 100 lower than the previous fixture.
Eight Newmarket Joggers took part in the Stowmarket Friday 5. First home was Andy Fryatt (38:26, 69th of 193 overall, 62nd M of 138, 8th of 19 in M55), in excellent form, followed closely by accomplished veteran Neville Clarke (38:51, 65th M, 1st of 6 in M70+), who put in a superb effort in his age group. Next came Jason Beeton (39:27, 76th M, 9th of 21 in M40), representing Thetford AC as 1st claim. First female finisher for the Joggers was Carol Cienna Carter (22nd F of 55, 2nd of 7 in F55), recording the same time as her husband Richard Defries (44:27, 105th M, 19th of 24 in M50). Carol Cienna kindly assisted Richard and ran with him after he had an asthma attack early in the race. Next came Francine Dasseville (51:18 SB, 41st F, 5th of 7 in F50), followed by Jim Withers (54:41, 130th M, 4th in M70+) and Chris Aylmer (59:22, 137th M, 5th in M70+).
Above, left: Joggers at Stowmarket Friday 5, from left: Chris Aylmer, Andy Fryatt, Francine Dasseville, Richard Defries. Carol Cienna Carter, Jim Withers, Neville Clarke; right: Neville Clarke with 1st M70+ trophy.
Looking at the current age group results for the Friday 5 Series (based on the best 4 races of each participant), Neville Clarke is now clear top of 25 in his M70+, having achieved 4 wins from 4 races and cannot be beaten after 5 of the 6 fixtures. Jim Withers is now in second place in M70+ and has done well. Carol Cienna Carter can still win her F55 age group, if she comes 1st F55 in the last race at Great Bentley on Friday evening. She deserves that win.
By Sunday morning, the weather was substantially cooler than its high on Friday. In the Alan Brown Kesgrave 10K on Sunday, near Ipswich, Richard Defries (42:36, 63rd of 440 overall, 61st M of 264, 4th of 28 in M50) was right back in top form, just ahead of his wife Carol Cienna Carter (43:14, 3rd F of 176, 1st of 20 in F55), who also ran well and won her age group.
Also on Sunday, in Wales, NJ Chris Underwood (45:23, 10th of 86 overall, 4th of 15 in MS) took part in the Hundred House 10K, with Hundred House being a village close to Builth Wells in Powys. Chris nicknamed the event “Hundred Hills 10K”, referring to its considerable total climb of 781 ft. Here the temperature was a comfortable 16°C.
Above: Chris Underwood on right in blue, during Hundred House 10K in Powys, Wales.
TRACK, FIELD & WALK NEWS
Some very encouraging results have been posted on Power of 10 recently, some 3 weeks after the fixtures took place; so, worth waiting for. These results refer to the East Anglian T&F League (EAL) fixture at Peterborough on Sunday, 31st May and the Eastern Masters Athletics Club (EMAC ) fixture at Cambridge on Wednesday, June 3rd. The EAL is open to all ages, including school age, down to U12, whereas the EMAC league is specifically for adults aged 35+. Newmarket Joggers (NJ) join forces with Ely Runners in the EAL and with Saint Edmund Pacers in the EMAC fixtures. There are usually 4 fixtures in each league from April to July.
In the EAL fixture at Peterborough, track events from 75m up to 3000m were available to enter. Lots of PBs for the NJs. Here are the results, with some impressive age grades shown for track events:
TRACK
75m: Nancy Irvine U12W 12.5s PB; Oliver Hilton U12M 12.6s PB. Age grades n/a for 75m.
100m: Cerys Bithell U20W 14.0s PB 76.57%; Lauren Bithell U18W 14.4s PB 75.63%; Isla Irvine U14W 14.6s PB 77.33%.
100m H: Cerys Bithell U20W 18.4s 69.78%; Lauren Bithell U18W 20.9s 64.16%.
200m: Sophie Blundell U16W 31.0s 75.65%; Rio Mcandrew U14M 31.7s 68.33%
600m: Nancy Irvine U12W 2:06.9 PB 77.01%; Oliver Hilton U12M 2:15.7 PB 63.54%.
800m: Shane Mcandrew M35 2:18.5 76.06%; Isla Irvine U14W 2:32.2 PB 82.12%; Sophie Blundell U16W 2:42.1 PB 77.10%; Rio Mcandrew U14M 2:48.6 67.66%.
1500m: Noah Poujardieu U14M 5:23.3 PB 71.57%
3000m: Gordon Irvine M45 11:07.6 PB 73.58%; Cerys Bithell U20W 11:17.4 PB 74.82%
FIELD
High Jump: Shane Mcandrew M35 1.35m PB; Cerys Bithell U20W 1.30m PB; Isla Irvine U14W 1.25m PB.
Long Jump: Gordon Irvine M45 4.02m PB; Sophie Blundell U16W 3.65m PB; Rio Mcandrew U14M 3.60m PB; Nancy Irvine U12W 2.10m PB.
Triple Jump: Gordon Irvine M45 8.18m PB.
Shot Put: Shane Mcandrew M35 6.22m.
Javelin JT800: Shane Mcandrew M35 18.62m PB; Gordon Irvine M45 7.47 PB.
BELOW are the results for the EMAC fixture at Cambridge University Athletics Track on Wednesday, June 3rd. Note, some more impressive age grades posted:
TRACK
200m: Elke Hausler W60 35.1s 83.02%; Malcolm Osbourn M75 41.7s PB 71.63%;
800m: Shane Mcandrew M35 2:19.8 75.35%; Richard Defries M50 2:32.6 PB 78.81% ; Carol Cienna Carter W55 3:03.4 PB 73.92%.
3000m: Richard Defries M50 11:56.1 SB 72.59%; Carol Cienna Carter W55 12:30.3 SB 83.70%; Elke Hausler W60 13:06.6 89.63%; Malcolm Osbourn M75 16:54.7 PB 68.99%.
RACE WALK
EMAC Special Junior 2000m Race Walk: Rio Mcandrew U14M 10:27.5 PB 75.49%; Sophie Blundell U16W 11:48.6 PB 71.44%.
FIELD
Triple Jump: Richard Defries M50 9.12m PB.
Discus: Shane Mcandrew M35 17.75m SB.
Javelin: JT 700 Andy Fryatt M55 23.7m PB; JT500 Carol Cienna Carter W55 6.51m PB; JT600 Cheryl Thomas W45 13.35m.
Below: some relaxing photos of the monthly, free 10K event at Ickworth Park, near Bury St Edmunds, on Sunday, in which a good number of Joggers took part. There was no official timing.
Many thanks for all the photos.
Wishing all a good week of running,
Chris Aylmer