After a quiet couple of weeks, it was a very busy weekend as the Barrow Runners' Summer Championship resumed with the Wollaton Hall parkrun. 25 Barrow runners descended on Wollaton Park, along with over 400 other athletes, traversing a beautiful course that contained hazards aplenty: hills, hornets' nests and wild deer roaming! It didn't prevent 4 Barrow runners finishing in the overall top 10, and an amazing 7 Barrow runners finishing in the top 10 ranked by age grade. Jake Blythe came home first for the club, finishing 3rd overall. Adam Law continued his excellent form, coming home second for the club and fifth overall - his highest ever parkrun placing. Jack Peasgood was third home for the club and 7th overall, effortlessly zooming around the course with Peasgood junior (Logan) in the buggy, much to the amazement of other runners. Louise Male ran a terrific race and was the first female overall. There were also parkrun landmarks for Luke Martin (50th parkrun) and Ian Paramore who finished 9th for the club in a great time on his 100th parkrun, also winning his age group category. There were also a huge number of other age category wins and placings on what was a wonderful day for the club - check out those emoji medals!
On a national scale, the major event this week was The Great North Run, billed as 'the world's biggest half marathon'. 9 Barrow runners were lucky enough to get ballot places and some were perhaps regretting their decision as they battled '12 miles of head wind' in Rachel Bentley's words - that didn't stop Rachel acquiring a HM PB and there were some other incredible times in very difficult conditions.
On the other side of the UK, Bomber Harris and Nigel Hillier took part in Snowdonia:Sea2Sky, a 25km trail run starting from Barmouth footbridge before ascending Snowdonian peaks. While Nigel was enjoying the Welsh hillsides, Anne Hillier was firmly on sea level, getting in a speedy parkrun at Abermaw (the Welsh name for Barmouth if you didn't know!), coming home first in her age category. There were many stellar parkrun performances this week, but special mention again to Kate Ramsey for being the first female across the line in the Southwark parkrun and 13 year old Tom Sibley-White for a lung-busting sub-20 minute run at Watermead, to finish second in his age group.
Elsewhere, rising star Liv Bent finished 4th female in the Hellvelyn Triathlon - a challenging event that included an ascent of England's third highest peak (950m) and a bracing swim in Lake Ullswater. Race regulars, Fiona Mee and Helen Taylor took part in the Wilne 10k in Draycott on Sunday. Rumour has it that they misread the event title as 'Wine' 10k and were somewhat disappointed to find that it was not a mini Marathon du Medoc around Derbyshire.
Finally, we must also mention the amazing Barrow Runners' 40th birthday party (which is reported on in full in this month's newsletter). It was a fantastic day, involving young and old, brilliantly organised by the committee. The 'race' element, a 40 minute relay race in a figure of 40 was won, appropriately enough, by Team 1, composed of father and son David and Daniel Goodacre, Louise Dunn and Russell (no surname) who managed an impressive 26 laps in the 40 minutes.
Well done, all!
Barrow Runners' Summer Championship
Race#9 Wollaton Hall parkrun
Jake Blythe 00:18:50 1st SM18-19 π₯
Adam Law 00:19:09 1st SM30-34 π₯
Jack Peasgood 00:19:11 2nd SM30-34 π₯
George Burdett 00:19:17 1st VM50-54 π₯
Jamie Moseley-Sarsfield 00:20:19 2nd VM40-44 π₯
Matthew Wolloch 00:21:20
Louise Male 00:21:29 First female overall! π₯
Ian Paramore 00:22:06 1st VM60-64 π₯
Danny Hall 00:22:27
Luke Martin 00:22:35
Ian Robinson 00:22:37 2nd VM60-64 π₯
Malcolm Cook 00:22:52 3rd VM55-59 π₯
Rebecca Chandler 00:23:01 1st SW30-34 π₯
Andrea Winkless 00:23:28 1st VW50-54 π₯
Dawn Storer 00:24:08 1st VW60-64 π₯
Paul Leaney 00:24:10 1st VM70-74 π₯
Monique M Raaijmakers 00:24:42 2nd VW60-64 π₯
Naomi Steel 00:24:49 1st VW 40-44 π₯
Mark Sadler 00:25:18 3rd VM65-69 π₯
David Robson 00:25:20
Paul Bentley 00:25:24
Lorna Goodacre 00:25:48 2nd VW 40-44 π₯
Liz Robinson 00:27:17 3rd VW60-64 π₯
Laura Spencer 00:28:06
Susan Wilson 00:34:23 1st SW79-74 π₯
The Great North Run
Mats Vermeeren 01:28:49
Rachel Bentley 01:33:10 PB
Jamie Greaves 01:34:38 PB
James Shepherd 01:36:11
Jon Dent 01:40:32
Adam Simon 1:51:13 PB
Chris Bowles 02:02:06
Keith Yendall 02:03:44
Caroline Wathan 2:57:29
Hellvelyn Triathlon
Liv Bent 4th female (times TBC)
Snowdonia Sea2Sky (25km)
Bomber Harris 3:04:07 1st MV70
Nigel Hillier 3:35:17 1st MV65
Wilne 10k
Fiona Mee 46:15
Helen Taylor 53:09
Parkruns
(Wollaton Hall listed above)
Beacon Hill Country Park parkrun
Bill Phillips 00:32:27 1st VM75-79 π₯
Rhiannon Elisabeth Payne 00:36:50
Sophie Noctor 00:37:29
Colby parkrun
Laura Browne 00:30:33 3rd SW30-34 π₯
Dishley parkrun, Loughborough
Jonathan Rashleigh 00:23:30 2nd VM50-54 π₯
Amanda Rashleigh 00:33:19
Horsham parkrun
Ronald Muhumuza 00:24:52
Leicester Victoria parkrun
Ben Dunkley 00:25:10
Grace Dunkley 00:26:15 3rd JW11-14 π₯
Heather Dunkley 00:26:17 2nd VW45-49 π₯
Richmond Olympic parkrun
Rebecca Brooks 00:32:46 1st VW65-69 π₯
Rushcliffe parkrun
Julie Felstead 00:40:40
Southwark parkrun
Kate Ramsey 00:19:15 First female overall! π₯
Watermead Country Park parkrun
Sam Minion 00:18:09 2nd SM30-34 π₯
Tom Sibley-white 00:19:49 2nd JM11-14 π₯
Vicky Elston 00:26:47 3rd VW50-54 π₯
Rebecca Edmonds 00:29:13
Angie Sibley-white 00:30:57
Barrie Edmonds 00:34:23
Andrew Leates 00:36:39
Y PromenΓ’d parkrun, Abermaw
Ann Hillier 00:29:28 1st VW65-69 π₯
Prepared by George Burdett