The RUNdown - 27 April 2026

This Rundown marks the highest number of PBs I have had the pleasure to write about, most of which in the marathon distance. After months of training, we had 12 athletes taking on marathons this weekend, with 9 at London and 3 at Shakespeare (Stratford).

Mats led our London runners home in an impressive 3:06 (despite taking this one 'easy'!), with the next five all finishing within 10 minutes of the 3:30 mark. After a struggle in the heat last year, Gill fought back to finish in under 6 hours, vanquishing those marathon demons.

Over in Shakespeare's town of Stratford upon Avon, we had two Barrow men in the top 10 in the half marathon, as Michael took the second place trophy and Jake hit another PB to take 8th place. In a field of 1,650 men, it's incredible to have such impressive finish positions.

Following her own marathon performance in Manchester last week, Dawn Storer quietly snuck off to Norfolk this week to complete her 600th parkrun. It only feels like five minutes since her 500th and she's fast approaching the next milestone of 1,000!

The juniors kick started their own summer championship down at Quorn track this week, with 26 of them completing the London 'mini marathon'. An early lead has been taken by Hugo Vendyback for the boys and Grace Dunkley for the girls, but there is plenty of time for this to change.

London Marathon

Mats Vermeeren 3:06:28
Vicky Elston 3:28:10
Richard Perkins 3:30:37 – PB!
Andrea Winkless 3:32:29
Justine Albert 3:33:14 – PB!
Louise Male 3:39:58 – PB!
Hollie Elliott 4:29:34
Lorna Goodacre 4:30:56 – PB!
Gill Elliott 5:53:53

Shakespeare Marathon

Jamie Moseley-Sarsfield 3:19:49 – PB!
Catherine Hedger 3:56:03 – PB!
Claire Dennison 4:01:51

Shakespeare Half Marathon

Michael Cheverton 1:11:52 – 2nd place!
Jake Blythe 1:16:12 – PB!
Terri Cooper 1:38:18 – PB!

Parkruns

Abbey Park
Becky Hewitt 00:21:53 - 3rd Female!

Beacon Hill Country Park
Alex Toll 00:21:40
Mark Platt 00:23:09
David Buxton 00:26:20
Jonathan Reynolds 00:27:27
Roger Griffiths 00:28:19

Brierley Forest
Ian Hawley 00:24:13

Brockwell, Herne Hill
Rachel Bentley 00:26:29
Mats Vermeeren 00:26:30

Clapham Common
Hollie Elliott 00:26:18

Dishley, Loughborough
Jonathan Rashleigh 00:23:20
Mark Sadler 00:24:25
Kathryn Robinson 00:24:34
Amanda Rashleigh 00:32:16
Bill Phillips 00:34:05
Rebecca Chandler 00:35:55

Doddington Hall
Rebecca Brooks 00:31:38

Holkham
Dawn Storer 00:24:31 - 3rd Female!

Long Eaton
Poppy Ballantine 00:20:19 - 3rd Female!

Lyme Park
Katy Young 00:34:32

Rushcliffe
Mat Richardson 00:21:53
James Woodford 00:22:46
Matthew Wolloch 00:23:57
Paul Bentley 00:27:29
Paul Leaney 00:28:46
Julie Felstead 00:40:24
Karen Griffin 00:40:32

Sixfields Upton
Justine Albert 00:27:13
Rob Phillips 00:27:14

University of Northampton
Rachael Vatter 00:20:52 - 1st Female!

Victoria Embankment, Nottingham
Laura Shepherd 00:24:34
Jack Peasgood 00:25:41

Watermead Country Park
Heather Dunkley 00:25:06
Joseph Coleman 00:28:18
Phillip Rooney 00:28:29

York
Fiona Mee 00:25:23

Junior Championship – Race 1 – Mini Marathon

Hugo Vendyback 10.45

George Coleman 11.12

Henry Faulkner 11.14

Daniel Goodacre 11.18

Michael Gibbs 11.34

Fletcher Glyn 11.42

Dylon Thornton-Jones 12.03

Zeph Sneller 12.09

Zac Harvey 12.22

James Armitage 12.35

Charlie Coleman 12.41

Viktor Vendyback 12.43

Grace Dunkley 12.45

Toby Sneller 12.54

James Faulkner 13.12

Joseph Coleman 13.31

Hannah Dunkley 13.31

Tilly Bowles 13.37

Sidney Gaff 13.54

Joel Jones 13.55

Niamh Kelly 14.02

Rufus Bowles 14.45

Iris Bowles 15.14

Tabatha Nash 15.23

William Hackett 17.11

Arthur Nash 19.46

Junior Parkrun

Watermead Country Park
Zac Harvey 00:10:02
Niamh Kelly 00:10:46
Rufus Bowles 00:10:49
Tilly Bowles 00:27:45