Top efforts by Newmarket Joggers in Bury Friday 5 and Kesgrave Alan Brown 10K

Bury Friday 5, 20th June: For the fourth of six fixtures of the Friday 5-mile Series, Newmarket Joggers (NJ) sent a strong team to Nowton Park in Bury St Edmunds. The first three Joggers to finish were Joey Bendall (27:59 SB, 8th of 367 overall, 2nd of 23 in M40), Mark Hayward (28:00 SB, 9th, 3rd in M40) and Oliver Daykin (29:00 SB, 14th, 7th of 67 in MS). They came away with the men’s top team-of-3 open race trophy, with Bendall also awarded the M40 trophy, due to the first M40 runner being in a podium place. There was an exciting finishing straight dual between Bendall and Hayward, with Bendall just prevailing by one second.

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Next Jogger to finish was Marc Drury (32:51, 48th, 5th of 30 in M50) who is having  great season, followed by ace veteran Neville Clarke (38:39, 156th, 2nd of 11 in M70+). First female Jogger home was Angela Drury (44:19 SB, 60th F of 116, 9th of 18 in F40), followed by Brian Munns (44:32, 259th, 11th in M60), Ruth Eberhardt (50:23 SB, 90th F, 8th in F50), Jim Withers (50:25, 328th, 9th in M70+) and Caroline Mcintosh (57:54, 109th F, 3rd in F70+). It was Ruth’s first race since last summer, so great to see her back in action.

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Kesgrave Alan Brown 10K, Sunday 22nd June: As well as being the chosen Suffolk County Championship 10K race of the season and part of the Suffolk Grand Prix, this race was a new addition to the NJ Grand Prix, which encouraged eight Joggers to make the trip. First home for the Joggers was Jimmy Smith (37:19 SB, 14th of 435 overall, 4th of 34 in M45, 1st Suffolk M45), followed by first female Jogger Carol Cienna Carter (41:14 SB, 45th overall, 4th F of 180, 2nd of 18 in F50 and 2nd Suffolk F50) with a brilliant performance, earning a huge age grade of 87.27%. Then came Carol’s husband Richard Defries (44:14 SB, 80th, 10th of 42 in M50), Marc Drury (44:26 SB, 83rd, 11th in M50), Neville Clarke (47:15, 119th, 7th of 38 in M60+, 1st Suffolk M70+), Stephen Edwards (47:42, 129th, 10th in M60+), Angela Drury (58:05, 78th F, 14th in F45) and Chris Aylmer (1:07:54 SB, 385th, 34th in M60+, 3rd Suffolk M70+).

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Elsewhere over the weekend, Andrew Taylor (21:20, 74th of 186 overall, 7th of 10 in M50) put in a good effort in the Lotus Test Track 5K at Wymondham in Norfolk on June 20th, despite the warm conditions and the course coming up a bit long on his watch. On Saturday 21st June, Hanneli Stevenson (47:52 SB, 81st of 588 overall, 14th F of 300, 4th of 32 in F45) did well to achieve a season’s best time in the Rutland 10K, in a highly competitive field. On Sunday, in the Bass Belle 10K at Bassingbourn, Paul Roberts (47:26 SB, 46^th of 249 overall, 12^th of 28 in M40) was in good form.

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Above left: Hanneli Stevenson finishing the Rutland 10K; right: Her Rutland 10K medal. Thanks for photos.

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Above: Paul Roberts’ vest, bib and medal for the Bass Belle 10K. Thanks for photo.

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Jersey Spartan Sunset Trophy ~6km, St Brelade, Jersey, Thursday evening, 19th June: Paul Holley competed in this race while on a short break to the island where he was born and raised. Paul put in a big effort to finish 2nd out of an unusually small field of only 31 runners, in a time of 24:14. The distance was declared as approximate and on his watch was 6.3km, so his age grade works out at 83.15%; not bad. The winner was only 23 seconds ahead. 😁Enjoy the photos:

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Thanks to Paul for lovely photos.

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Martin Smith was in the Norwich Standard Triathlon at Whitlingham Country Park on Sunday, which included an open swim of 1500m in Whitlingham Broad, road bike ride of 38km and run of 10km. His overall time, including transitions, was 2:59:44 (Swim 39:40, Bike 1:14:43, Run 1:02:31). He came a very decent 107th of 249 overall and 12th of 19 in M45, despite suffering with a knee injury, which particularly affected his running.

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TRACK & FIELD NEWS

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On Wednesday evening 18^th June, it was the St Ives Open Track & Field event, where four Newmarket Joggers were in action. Rory King U17M did well in the 100m, clocking 14.30s PB, age grade 71.89%, shaving 0.05s off his PB. In the 400m (62.22), he was just short of his 62.1 PB. Sophie Blundell U15G entered the 300m distance for the first time, clocking a very decent 50.3s and earning 74.91% age grade. Shane Mcandrew M35 and Harvey Thomas U15M both entered the 800m and must have been neck and neck a lot of the way, with Shane taking 2 seconds off his PB to finish in 2m:13.5, 78.15%, and Harvey slightly outside his PB in 2m:15.55, 82.07%. Harvey’s PB remains 2m 13.69, achieved earlier this year at Lee Valley; his progress this year has been impressive. The overall standard of competition was very high and it was an exciting evening of racing.

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NJ SUMMER 5K LEAGUE NEWS

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The results were recently released for the 3rd fixture of the Arkwright & Co/Turners Summer 5K League, which took place on Newmarket Heath on June 5th. Great news that the NJ women’s team have maintained their 3rd position of 8 clubs in the table, while the men have moved up from 5^th to 4^th position. As a combined women’s and men’s team, we are in 3rd position, which is encouraging. Leaders are Cambridge & Coleridge AC for both women’s and men’s teams, with Ely Runners and Cambridge Tri Club also in strong positions.

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There were 19 female Joggers and 33 male Joggers in a total field of 383 runners. Top 5 female finishers for the NJ women’s team were: Kirsty McDermott 19:02, 1^st F of 136 overall; Cerys Bithell 20:02, 5^th F; Sarah Osborne 20:30, 8^th F; Lilian Corbett 22:09, 20^th F; Olivia Carter 22:20, 22nd F. Top 5 male Joggers were: Neil Pollard 17:23, 13^th M of 247; Mark Hayward 17:27, 15^th M; James Smith 17:38, 18^th M; Jonathan Pye 18:05, 29^th M; Jason Bevan 19:13, 52nd M.

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Thanks to all Joggers who took part, marshalled and helped organise the event. Next 5k League fixture: Haverhill on July 3rd.