The 'Run'down - 27th January 2026

After a quiet few weeks with parkruns and cross country taking centre stage, Sunday marked the triumphant return of the Leicestershire Road Running League, with the Desford 6, or as it was known this year, the Desford 5... Last minute changes to the route and the rather early start to the LRRL season did not deter an impressive 27 Barrow Runners from donning the club vest, discussing base layers and dragging themselves up Peckleton Hill.

Jake Blythe was first home for the club, making it look very easy in a rapid 30 minutes and 4 seconds. Next home was Anna Munday, continuing her excellent form, running a 5 mile PB, and finishing 2nd female overall. It was also fantastic to see Amber Lester back in Barrow colours and enjoying her running. Amber was also 6th female overall - pretty amazing after a two year lay-off! Barrow bonhomie and team spirit was evident throughout (even amongst those runners who thought it was a good idea to sandwich the race into a 14 mile run...)

Elsewhere, Michael Gunson and Jessica Bailey took on the wonderfully named 'Arc of Attrition', a series of epic/gruelling races along Cornwall's South West Coast Path and part of the Ultra Trail Mont Blanc World Series. Jess competed in the 25 mile variant and Mike the 50 mile ultra marathon. Mike described the second half of the race as 'mostly underwater, technical with 2 feet deep mud and 40/50mph winds', summing it up as 'pretty much un-runnable' which makes their achievements all the more remarkable. Although not technically a member, but obviously affiliated to the club, we must mention Gemma Hillier Moses' incredible performance in the 50 mile race, finishing as 1st female and 8th overall in a time of 8:12:56 - superhuman! After hearing Mike's description and watching Lewis Moses' videos of the race, this runner promises never to moan about the Seagrave Challenge again.

On the subject of mud, Rachel Bentley seems to love it and what better place to get filthy than the Midland Counties Cross Country Championships? She finished in an impressive 45th place 00:35:38 and found time to take some photos of 'the scran vans and Charnwood's mahoosive tent' (sadly we do not have a photo of Rachel in action and I've opted not to include the scran vans).

In what is becoming a semi-regular Canicross feature (which I'm tempted to call 'One woman and her dog'), Poppy Ballantine and the aptly named Swift powered to a 5K PB at Round 2 the British Sleddog Sports Federation at Thetford Forest. Well done, both!

There was a bit of action across the country at parkrun too. Justine Albert notched up her 100th location at Tamworth. She is keen to point out that serious parkrunners do not consider locations an official milestone, but this is definitely worth celebrating. She also finished second female overall and then combined the LRRL race the following day with a long run. All that time running with Winxy is clearly rubbing off on her... At the same event, it was great to see Rob Phillips come 2nd in his age category and continue back towards race fitness. Reuben Sneller achieved a podium finish at Abbey Park, just missing out on the sub 19 minute 5k he's been pushing for (it's just around the corner, Reuben!). There were also strong performances from regular parkrun superstars Rachel Vatter, Dawn Storer, Sam Minion and Jack Peasgood and additional age category wins for Mark Sadler, Paul Leaney, Kathy Robinson, Malcolm Cook, Liam Harvey and Alex Toll.

Well done to everyone!

Desford 5

Leicestershire Road Running League Race 1
(Overall position and chip time)

36 00:30:04 Jake Blythe 2nd U23M 🥈
58 00:31:04 Anna Munday 2nd female overall/2nd SENF 🥈🥈
100 00:32:31 George Burdett
103 00:32:47 Amber Lester
111 00:33:02 Phillip Rooney
134 00:33:57 Liam Harvey
140 00:33:56 Adam Vignali-Clarke
147 00:34:10 Matthew Wolloch
157 00:34:47 Danny Hall
159 00:34:57 Danny Nye
187 00:35:41 Millie Crane
199 00:35:53 Daniel Bowles
206 00:36:03 Chris Bowles
207 00:36:19 Andrea Winkless 2nd VF55🥈
225 00:36:44 James Woodford
230 00:36:52 Louise Male
234 00:36:44 Justine Albert
250 00:37:28 Victoria Elston
254 00:37:34 Felix Plasser
267 00:37:36 Adam Law
282 00:38:18 Malcolm Cook
283 00:38:18 Neil Humpage
344 00:40:22 Liam King
357 00:40:41 Paul Leaney 3rd VM70 🥉
364 00:41:22 Mark Sadler
490 00:46:26 James Williams
540 00:49:45 Katy Young

Arc of Attrition (UTMB)

Jessica Bailey (25 miles) 5:14:22
Michael Gunson (50 miles) 12:24:08

British Sleddog Sports Federation,
National Championships, Round 2 (5km)

Poppy Ballantine (and Swift) 00:16:12 10th place overall

Midland Counties Cross Country Championship, Mallory Park

Rachel Bentley 00:35:38 45th place overall

Parkruns

Abbey Park parkrun

Reuben Sneller 00:19:14 3rd overall 2nd VM35-39 🥉🥈
Heather Dunkley 00:27:45 2nd VW45-49 🥈
Grace Dunkley 00:27:50 2nd JW11-14 🥈
Hannah Dunkley 00:32:34
Ben Dunkley 00:32:35

Beacon Hill Country Park parkrun

Sam Minion 00:20:07 1st SM30-34 🥇
Jonathan Reynolds 00:27:46
Lorna Goodacre 00:29:02 2nd VW40-44 🥈

Clapham Common parkrun

Hollie Elliott 00:27:28

Colwick parkrun

Jack Peasgood 00:19:21 2nd VM35-39 🥈

Dishley parkrun, Loughborough

Jonathan Rashleigh 00:25:21 2nd VM50-54 🥈
Mark Sadler 00:27:30 1st VM65-69 🥇
Amanda Rashleigh 00:34:18 2nd VW55-59 🥈

Gedling parkrun

Paul Bentley 00:27:11

Llanerchaeron parkrun

Malcolm Cook 00:23:44 1st VM55-59 🥇

Rushcliffe parkrun

Chris Walker 00:21:29 3rd SM30-34 🥉
Greg Biddle 00:23:42
Kathryn Robinson 00:24:40 1st VW55-59 🥇
Paul Leaney 00:28:36 1st VM70-74 🥇
Bill Phillips 00:32:23

Sence Valley Forest Park parkrun

Dawn Storer 00:23:59 2nd female overall 1st VW60-64 🥈🥇
Gill Elliott 00:31:45

Tamworth Castle Grounds parkrun

Rob Phillips 00:21:42 2nd VM50-54 🥈
Justine Albert 00:22:25 2nd overall 1st VW50-54 🥈🥇

Watermead Country Park parkrun

Alex Toll 00:20:08 1st VM55-59 🥇
Liam Harvey 00:20:24 1st VM35-39 🥇
Rachael Vatter 00:20:31 1st SW25-29 🥇
Danny Nye 00:20:49
Ian Boyd 00:28:04
Zac Harvey 00:28:49 2nd JM10-14 🥈

Wollaton Hall parkrun

Rebecca Brooks 00:33:09 2nd VW65-69 🥈