The RUNdown - 24th August 2026
A quiet week on the race front but a plethora of parkruns.
In the absence of any LRRL races or summer championship events, it was a relatively quiet week for the club. However, Barrow Runners more than made up for it on the parkrun front in what was surely one of our busiest Saturdays ever with a whopping 61 of you lining up at 9am at various locations across the breadth of the UK.
Laura Shepherd and Millie Crane even turned their run at Rushcliffe into an unofficial triathlon. Sadly, we do not have split time for the swim or bike legs so I'm unable to share their full results.
Not content with leading the summer champs, Poppy Ballantine continued her amazing year with a sub 20 minute PB at Long Eaton and rang the bell accordingly. Rising star, Nick Castle finished first overall at Dishley where Kathy Robinson finished second female overall, continuing her fantastic season. Skipper, Mark Sadler continued his travels to the Nobles parkrun on Isle of Man and parkrun queen Dawn Storer picked up another age category win at beautiful Fountains Abbey.
It's great to have 2024 Club Champion, Jake Blythe, back with us and picking up where he left off with a third place finish at Watermead. It was also nice to see Neil Jones' name on the Watermead results as he continues his return from various injuries.
Watermead was also the site of the next event in the Barrow Juniors championship, which swelled the numbers to 23 affiliated Barrow Runners and very much made it a family affair with pairs of Dunleys, Faulkners and Harveys in attendance. Never to be outdone, Chris, Tilly and Rufus Bowles made it a Watermead double-header over the weekend, attending both the parkrun and the junior parkrun (with Chris 'RD' ing).
Continuing the family theme, all four Spencers turned out at Gedling (hopefully without any arm-twisting!), Justine 'dragged her sister and family along' (Rob's words) to the Alice Holt parkrun and Ian Robinson joined his brothers at Gloucester City parkrun, persuading 'little brother' to make his parkrun debut at the age of 60!
Finally, and nothing to do with the runs (although there is a joke in there somewhere), I've been asked to post a reminder for the forthcoming Curry Night on Saturday October 10th as we need to confirm numbers by the end of this month. Barrow Runners - Curry Night . Speak to Hannah Bibb for more information or see her recent post on the 'chit chat' Whatsapp group.
Parkruns
Alice Holt
Justine Albert 00:48:02
Beacon Hill Country Park parkrun
Alex Toll 00:21:31Rebecca Chandler 00:26:04
Claire Dennison 00:26:23
Nigel Hillier 00:27:43
Ann Hillier 00:28:21
Keith Dennison 00:28:28
Chelsie Veasey 00:30:26
Malcolm Cook 00:33:09
Blackpool parkrun
Ronald Muhumuza 00:25:57
Brackenhurst Campus parkrun
Katy Young 00:29:29
Dishley parkrun, Loughborough
Nick Castle 00:18:11 1st overall! 1st in gender!🥇Kathryn Robinson 00:24:20 2nd in gender!🥈
Amanda Rashleigh 00:31:57
Fire Service College parkrun
Tom Piggin 00:20:28
Fountains Abbey parkrun
Dawn Storer 00:23:54
Gedling parkrun
Ben Spencer 00:23:49Laura Spencer 00:31:51
Jake Spencer 00:31:53
Eloise Spencer 00:34:10
Gloucester City parkrun
Ian Robinson 00:36:26
Leicester Victoria parkrun
Gill Elliott 00:30:37
Long Eaton parkrun
Poppy Ballantine 00:19:52 PB!
Marple parkrun
Rebecca Brooks 00:32:47Newborough Forest parkrun
Vicky Elston 00:27:02Nobles parkrun
Mark Sadler 00:26:52
Ruchill parkrun
Tess Kay 00:29:36Rugby parkrun
Andrew Price 00:41:17
Rushcliffe parkrun
James Woodford 00:23:27Matthew Wolloch 00:23:33
Phil Clarke 00:23:43
Paul Leaney 00:24:15
Laura Shepherd 00:29:17
Millie Crane 00:29:18
Natasha Riall 00:32:09
Julie Felstead 00:40:11
Stevenage parkrun
Becky Hewitt 00:24:10Victoria Embankment parkrun, Nottingham
Jack Peasgood 00:27:26Watermead Country Park parkrun
Jake Blythe 00:17:56 3rd overall! 3rd in gender!🥉Tom Sibley-White 00:19:01
Aidan Kelly 00:21:39
Ian Paramore 00:22:15
Neil Jones 00:22:30
Reuben Sneller 00:22:31
Hollie Elliott 00:23:24
Henry Faulkner 00:23:42
Grace Dunkley 00:25:12
Tony Armitage 00:25:13
Heather Dunkley 00:26:13
James Faulkner 00:27:09
Aaron Faulkner 00:27:10
Zac Harvey 00:27:54
Liam Harvey 00:27:55
James Armitage 00:28:31
Joseph Coleman 00:29:06
Rufus Bowles 00:29:11
Chris Bowles 00:29:12
Tilly Bowles 00:31:22
Hannah Dunkley 00:33:37
Niamh Kelly 00:33:38
Caroline Abraham 00:41:35
Watermead Country Park Junior Parkrun
Chris Bowles - Run director