Sunday, May 11th: A team of 17 Newmarket Joggers headed to Thurston, near Bury St Edmunds, to take part in the popular, annual, Stephen Williams 10K, organised by Saint Edmund Pacers and named after one of their highly valued members, who sadly died of cancer a few years ago. They came away with a nice collection of trophies.
Above, front row: Sarah Kinston, Jo Bouttell, Jan Holmes, Andy Fryatt; back row: Neville Clarke, Olivia Carter, Steve Cousins, Brian Munns, Rob Pollard, Paul Holley, Richard Defries and Jon Brooker. A few Joggers missing, probably warming up. Thanks for team photo.
First Jogger home and overall winner of the race was Robert Dobson (34:01, 1st of 226 overall, 1st of 9 in M45-49, age grade 84.76%), who is back from injury and in great form. Then came Joey Bendall (35:05, 3rd, 1st of 14 in M40-44, 79.00%), just 12 seconds outside a PB, and Paul Holley (38:48, 11th, 1st of 14 in M55-59, 83.76%), who is showing a welcome, recent return to top form. As well as individual podium or age group medals, the latter three Joggers also won the men’s team of 3 trophy, with the quickest aggregate time. For the Joggers’ women, Olivia Carter (45:57PB, 4th F of 94, 4th of 35 in FS, 66.01%) was in top form with a PB time on Power of 10, while another age group winner for Joggers was Neville Clarke (47:24, 59th, 1st of 6 in M70+, 77.14%).
Above left: Team of 3 men’s 1st prize: Robert Dobson, Paul Holley & Joey Bendall; right: Olivia Carter & Jon Brooker finishing the 10K together. Thanks for the photos.
There were excellent efforts by the rest of the Joggers, in order of finishing for women: Nicole Smith (57:31, 7th of 18 in F50-54), Jan Holmes (59:31, 6th in F60-64), Sarah Kinston (1:07:00, 17th in F50-54) and Jo Bouttell (1:07:24, 7th in F60-64); for the men: Christopher Underwood (41:40, 10th of 43 in MS), Richard Defries (44:17, 3rd of 14 in M50-54), Stephen Edwards (45:50, 2nd of 14 in M60-64), Jon Brooker (45:59, 3rd of 14 in M60-64), Rob Pollard (54:12, 32nd in MS), Stephen Cousins (58:41, 9th in M65-69) and Jim Withers (1:05:14, 5th in M70+).
Also on Sunday was the Halstead & Essex Marathon: Tom Elton (4:18:09, 110th of 245 overall, 11th of 14 in M55-59) did very well to complete his first ever marathon in a decent time, under warm conditions, with the sun beaming down all the way. There seemed to be a high standard in his age group. He will have learnt a lot from his first taste of a marathon.
Above: Tom Elton after Halstead Marathon in race vest and Joggers vest. Thanks for photos.
Saturday, May 10th 6:00 AM: THE LAP ULTRA 47M/75K Windermere: Marc Drury (10:40:07, 76th of 959 overall, 4th of 133 in M50-59) put in a tremendous effort in this ultra trail race, which circles Lake Windermere in the Lake District. A veteran of quite a few ultras, including a very good showing in the notorious ultra Marathon des Sables in 2018, Marc stuck to his task with confidence and achieved a great performance in his age group. Many of the 959 starters (and 843 finishers) had to continue all through the night, with a time limit of 23 hours, allowing walkers up to 30 min/mile. His wife, Angela Drury, was at the parkrun in Rothay Park on the Saturday morning, which was on THE LAP route. As Marc passed through, she was able to photograph him minutes before the parkrun started. She said he was looking strong, when he would have been 3 hours into his ultra race.
Above left: Start of the ultra by Sianie Painter; right: Marc Drury passing through Rothay Park, during his Ultra. Thanks for photos by Sianie and Angela.
Sianie Painter (11:19:46, retired at Cote Hill after ~36 miles) was also in THE LAP ULTRA and had camped near the start on the evening before. Unfortunately, she felt nauseous from the time she woke up but managed to block it out of her mind for much of the way; then she became more and more aware of a feeling of impending sickness. By 39 miles she was being repeatedly sick and knew she would have to retire. The sickness continued for some hours after she finished. Nevertheless, she was glad she had taken on the challenge and had met so many friendly and encouraging participants along the way. She took some beautiful landscape pictures and had experienced the beauty of the landscape, close up and at first hand.
Above top left: Sianie on the campsite, plus photos by Sianie of the scenery during the race. Thanks for great photos.
Also on Saturday, was the Phoenix Rose Run: Barley Woodcock (1:49:01, 4th of 90 overall, 4th M) opted for 4 laps of the course for a half marathon distance, which was around the Denbies English vineyard estate in Surrey. He did well to come 4th overall over a hilly route, with 1,332ft of climb. He was part of a team of runners generously raising funds for Help For Children (HFC UK).
Above: Barley Woodcock on Denbies Wine Estate after his half marathon, plus some bubbly English wine to celebrate. Thanks for photos to Barley.
Burghley Half Marathon, near Stamford, Lincolnshire, Saturday: Caroline McIntosh unfortunately had a nasty fall about halfway round the route and needed stitches in her elbow for a deep graze. She was very grateful for the excellent paramedics on duty. Up to then she looked to be going fine in the sunshine. We wish her a speedy recovery. Hopefully, she might be in the Bury to Clare 18M on Sunday 18th May.
Above: Caroline Mcintosh (front) making a good start in the Burghley Half, before the fall. Thanks to Carol.
TRACK NEWS
On Sunday, 11th May, it was the Suffolk Track & Field Championships at Bury St Edmunds West Suffolk Arena. Quite a few Joggers took part in this event, which covered school age juniors, up to senior competitors over the age of 20. The complete results are not yet out but we know that Junior Jogger Harvey Thomas won a bronze medal in the U15 800m event, in which he clocked 2m 17.3s, earning an excellent age grade of 81.02%. This was just outside his current PB, which stands at 2m 13.69 earlier this year. Well done Harvey,