Sunday was a very busy day with the Leicestershire Road Racing League taking centre stage for its second event at Kibworth. Despite being 'only' 6 miles, Gumley and Saddington Hill make this possibly the most difficult of the LRRL races. This didn't deter 15 Barrow Runners from navigating their way out of the village (by canoe/ferry/submersible) and donning the club vest. Hats off to Steve Bramhall for doing this the day after Belvoir (even if it was a diary error, we salute you!). Martin Lewis, another very experienced runner we've pinched... I mean recruited from Charnwood AC, was first home for Barrow in his debut race for the club and was also the first VM40 and 27th place overall! Hopefully, Kibworth's hills didn't put him off and we'll see more of him as the LRRL season continues. Great to have you with us, Martin. The awesome Anna Munday was first female home for the club and racked up another top 10 finish.
Earlier in the morning, and a little further south, a group of Barrow Runners took part in the Oundle 20 mile race, beginning in the historic market town and taking in the surrounding country lanes of Northamptonshire. Spring marathon preparation and sunshine were the order of the day!
As the Oundle four were enjoying their rural idyll, 8 Barrow Runners were pounding the mean streets of Leicester city centre in the Run For All 10k. Reuben Sneller was the first Barrow Runner across the line and smashed his goal of a sub 40 minute time in a blistering run of 39:02 (gun time). No doubt his long sought after sub 19 minute 5k is just around the corner (perhaps when it finally stops raining long enough for a Watermead parkrun). Kathy Robinson continued her comeback (if I am allowed to call it that after a relatively quiet 2025 by her high standards) with an excellent 2nd in age category time of 48:36. Hannah Bowles managed a sub 1 hour finish (chip time) on her first 10k race, further extending the Bowles running dynasty and former Barrow Runner, Will Clarke also managed a very impressive 3rd place overall.
Further afield, Vicky Elston returned 'home' to one of the most beautiful parts of these islands, to compete in the Anglesey Half Marathon. She took husband Mark and 'Rothley Rocket' Rich Keep along too in what was a competitive, if 'blumin windy', race. Rich ran a very creditable time of 1:34:04 and Vicky just managed to hold Mark off (in the race that is!)
Even further afield, the incredible Alex Toll ran the Bologna marathon in a sub 3 hour time, finishing 2nd in his age category. I imagine finding somewhere for pasta carb loading the night before was not an issue in Bologna!
Of course, Saturday also saw a number of impressive parkrun performances despite the weekend's busy schedule and the cancellation of many of our runners' favourite courses due to flooding.
Well done, everybody!
Leicestershire Road Racing League
Race 2: Kibworth 6
00:36:50 Martin Lewis 1st VM40 🥇
00:40:25 Anna Munday
00:41:31 Liam Harvey
00:42:17 Adam Vignali-Clarke
00:42:33 Danny Hall
00:43:24 Lee Godrich
00:45:35 Adam Law
00:45:36 Andrea Winkless 2nd VF55 🥈
00:46:34 Daniel Bowles
00:47:52 Malcolm Cook
00:50:44 Monique Raaijmakers 3rd VF60 🥉
00:50:56 Paul Leaney 2nd VM70 🥈
00:51:54 Liam King
00:59:03 James Williams
01:01:06 Steve Bramhall
Belvoir Challenge (15 miles)
James Watkins 02:24:58
Justine Albert 02:55:10
Fiona Mee 02:55:10
Tony Armitage 02:55:12
Louise Dunn 02:55:12
Richard Perkins 02:55:12
Malcolm 'Bomber' Harris 03:00:29
Anne Hillier 03:29:53
Nigel Hillier 03:30:18
Steve Bramhall 3:46:36
Heather Dunkley 5:16:24
Oundle (20 miles)
Greg Biddle 2:30:12
Catherine Hedger 3:00:17
Emily Seagrove 3:16:14
Felix Plasser 3:26:54
Anglesey Half Marathon
Rich Keep 1:34:04
Vicky Elston 1:40:32
Mark Elston 1:40:42
Leicester Run For All 10k
(listed by gun time and position)
Reuben Sneller 0:39:02
James Shephard 0:41:45
Kathy Robinson 0:48:36 20 2nd VF50 🥈
Chris Bowles 0:51:28
Mark Sadler 0:51:38
Hannah Bowles 1:00:25
Wendy Pinson 1:07:51
Bologna Marathon
Alex Toll 2:58:22 2nd SM55-64 🥈
Parkruns
Abbey Park parkrun
Jonathan Rashleigh 00:23:38
David Robson 00:25:30
Zac Harvey 00:29:44 3rd JM10 🥉
Liam Harvey 00:29:45
Amanda Rashleigh 00:32:20
Beacon Hill Country Park parkrun
Sam Minion 00:19:27 2nd place overall 🥈1st SM30-34 🥇
Mats Vermeeren 00:23:49
Rachel Bentley 00:23:51 2nd female overall 🥈 1st SW30-34 🥇
Joel Payne 00:24:10 3rd VM50-54 🥉
Danny Hall 00:25:30
David Buxton 00:27:32
Roger Griffiths 00:28:04
Paul Bentley 00:28:28
Lorna Goodacre 00:28:35 3rd VW40-44 🥉
Helen Taylor 00:29:18
Rhiannon Elisabeth Payne 00:33:51
Holme Pierrepont parkrun
Jack Peasgood 00:19:20 2nd VM35-39 🥈
Jubilee parkrun, Bedford
Simone Clarke 00:49:56
Andrew Price 00:50:03
Prudhoe Riverside parkrun
Katy Young 00:30:12
Queens Domain parkrun
Carl Hughes 00:40:05
Rothay Park parkrun
Rob Phillips 00:21:52 1st VM50-54 🥇
Shipley Country parkrun
Mark Sadler 00:26:39 1st VM65-70 🥇