Top achievements by Newmarket Joggers at half marathons in Peterborough and London

On Sunday, October 12, seven NJ club members made the trip to Peterborough for the annual Great Eastern Half Marathon. Neil Pollard (1:11:37 SB, 38^th of 4,706 overall, 1^st of 321 in M45-49) was in tremendous form, winning his age group and achieving his highest age grade ever of 88.67%. He was just 6 seconds short of his all-time PB, gained in 2024. Close behind and in top form was Mark Hayward (1:13:14, 49th, 11^th of 369 in M40-44). First female NJ to finish was Hannah Pollard (1:30:54 PB, 59^th F of 1,730, 9^th of 217 in F40-44), with a PB by almost 3 minutes and her highest age grade of the year at 76.48%. She is in great form and as motivated as ever. Next came new members Sergio Pelado (1:34:14 PB, 796th, 79^th in M45-49) and Toby Anderson (1:36:35 SB, 942nd, 498^th in MO), with good efforts. Second female NJ to finish was Eleanor Bithell (1:41:27 PB, 171^st F, 18^th of 206 in F45-49), doing well in her age group and beating her previous PB (2023) by 11 seconds. Then came Phil Blundell (1:56:14, 2,531st, 220th in M45-49), whose PB remains at 1:36:57 (2023). He has been targeting mainly track events such as 100m and 200m this year.

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Also on Sunday, down in London, five female NJ members were among a huge total of 16,150 participants taking part in the annual Royal Parks Half Marathon, visiting St James Park, Green Park, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens along the winding route.

Leading the Joggers home was Bridget Wallwin (2:03:05 SB, 2,479th F of 8,575, 62nd of 353 in F55-59), followed by Francine Dasseville (2:05:25 PB, 2,803rd F, 155th of 622 in F50-54), both doing very well in their age groups. Francine took over 8 minutes off her previous best time and was over the moon. Then came Jan Holmes (2:07:13 SB, 3,081st F of 8,575, 31^st of 164 in F60-64), who has been rediscovering her old form and achieved her best time since 2020. She was followed by Joanne Bouttell (2:11:44 PB, 3,762nd F, 43^rd of 164 in F60-64), who has made extraordinary progress this year and has been setting new PBs over all the distances. She took around 10 minutes off her previous best half marathon time. Finally, came Caroline Mcintosh (2:45:38, 7,429th F, 11^th of 17 in F70-74), with a top effort and good result in her age group.

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Meanwhile, over in Somerset, two Joggers took part in the Bath & Bristol Railway Races. These races went partly along disused railway lines and through railway tunnels, which have been lovingly restored and turned into cycle paths and walkways for public use. In the Half Marathon, Adam Maltpress (1:36:44, 52nd of 521 overall, 4^th of 42 in M40-49) enjoyed his run and did well in his age group. His wife Rachael Maltpress (6:04:01, 85^th of 110 overall, 4^th of 11 in F40-49) took on the longest race available of 50km, in her first ever Ultra Marathon. The route went all the way from Bath to Bristol and back again, keeping on or close to the former disused railway lines. Rachael found it very tough but managed to keep a good steady pace. Her last 5km was the fastest of all her splits, showing that she had all the stamina required. All those long training runs through the woods near Mildenhall paid off.

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In the Chelmsford Marathon on Sunday, Michael McGarvey (4:25:50, 342nd, 37^th of 49 in M50-54) put in a good effort in what appears to be his first marathon, at least while representing NJ.

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TRACK NEWS

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The European Masters Athletics Championships are currently taking part on the island of Madeira, Portugal, from 8th to 19th October. Elke Hausler W60-64 is there with her husband Michael Hausler (M65-69), who competes in the Shot Put. Elke raced in the W60 1500m over the weekend and came 4^th of 10 competitors in a time of 5:35.46, which was close to her PB in Pescara two years ago. This earned her 97.30% age grade on Power of 10 and puts her second only to Clare Elms in the UK on this season’s performances. We wish her good luck in the 800m over the coming weekend.

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Above: Elke Hausler in Madeira for the European Masters Championships.

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Catching up with some results, four Newmarket Joggers were honoured to represent Cambridgeshire in the English Schools Athletics Association (ESAA) Race Walk Championships at Bedford on Saturday, 20th September. Rio Mcandrew U13 clocked a 9:34.23 PB in the 1500m mixed U13 event, while Sophie Blundell (12:09.32 PB, 4^th of 7) and Lily-Ann Cooper (13:44.20 PB, 7th) both did well in the Junior Girls’ 2km event. In the Senior Girls’ 3km event, Cerys Bithell finished 1st, possibly the only competitor, in a time of 17:52.84 SB. Her PB remains 17:11.84 in 2024.

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The results recently came through for the Biggleswade Open Track & Field  meeting, held at Sandy on 27th September. Highlights were a 61.54s PB for NJ Rory King MU17 in the 400m event, as well as a 39:50 time (SB: 38.90) clocked by his mother Lorraine King W55 in the 200m event; a PB for Shane Mcandrew M35 (4:56.75) and a SB for Cerys Bithell (5:15.50) in the 1500m event.  Harvey Thomas MU15 clocked 11:02.59 in the 3000m (SB: 10:54.3), while his mother Cheryl Thomas W45 did well to achieve a PB of 13.02m in the Javelin 600 throw.

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At Bourne Park in Ipswich on Sunday, the Jaffa Junior XC Relay event took place. The results were not out at the time of writing, but Newmarket Joggers had two junior teams of 3 competing: Sophie Blundell, Lily-Ann Cooper and Seb Barrett in one team and Rio Mcandrew, Noah Poujardieu and Lewis Stinger in the other. See photos below:

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