Simkiss ups the pace to catch Green and secure victory at the Banbury 15

Southam runner Rich Simkiss abandoned his planned marathon-pace run in the closing miles to claim victory at the Banbury 15 on Sunday.
Rich Simkiss on his way to victory at the Banbury 15. Picture: Barry CorneliusRich Simkiss on his way to victory at the Banbury 15. Picture: Barry Cornelius
Rich Simkiss on his way to victory at the Banbury 15. Picture: Barry Cornelius

The former Kenilworth Runner, now running for McCarkiss Endurance, upped the pace from ten miles out to reel in long-time leaderDavid Green (Northampton Road Runners), going on to cross the line in 84min 34sec.

Green, who was also running to marathon pace, was second in 85:18.

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Spa Striders’ Will Johnson, also in the midst of marathon training, was 12th in 1:35:41.

Fellow Strider Paul Edwards was 29th in 1:39:33, with clubmate Steve Taylor four places back in 1:40:21.

Martin Dorrill was the first of eight Kenilworth Runners to complete the race, finishing 40th in 1:41:37.

Neil Sheward was 44th in 1:41:51, with Louise Andrews the highest placed Kenilworth female in 78th (4th LV35) in 1:50:01.

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There were 300 finishers, with Oxford University’s Kate Niehaus the first female in 94:38.

Selected others: 83, Dave Pettifer (1:50:39); 84, Kate Gadsby (Spa Striders, 1:50:47); 114, Caroline Whitehouse (Spa Striders, 1:55:48); 189, Andrew Pope (Spa Striders, 2:08:29); 199, Debbie Streets (2:10:26); 209, Lorraine Parsons (Spa Striders, 2:12:10); 227, Amanda Wiggins (Spa Striders, 2:14:49); 231, Catherine Shephard (Spa Striders, 2:15:15); 235, Mandy Crust (2:16:29); 262, Liz Hegan (2:24:52); 263, Stuart Batchelor (2:24:59).

There were 20-mile personal bests for Kenilworth Runners’ Marc Curtis and Colin Bailey at the Aldi Ashby 20 on Sunday.

Curtis clocked 2:14:52 to finish 59th, with Bailey 366th in 2:41:00.

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Pavan Ayyalasomayajula (764th in 3:04:16) also ran a new PB in his third 20-mile race in a month.

Spa Striders’ Chris McKeown clocked 2:18:03 to finish inside the top 100 (86th), with Pete Soley running a steady first half before increasing the pace in the final miles to finish in 2:21:45.

The race was won by Gareth Lowe of Clowne in 1:53:43 and there were 1,239 finishers.

Selected other (Spa Striders unless stated): 188, Hartwig Busch (2:26:57); 203, Carolyn Wilkinson (2:28:23); 278, Fiona Edwards (2:34:42); 299, Susan Cox (2:36:24); 704, Claire Goult (Kenilworth Runners, 2:59:30); 779, Anton Raath (Kenilworth Runners, 3:05:40).; 811, Elena Savelieva (3:08:50); 887, Luke Hillson (3:14:10); 891, David Lithgow (3:14:21); 1,035, Julie Heaton (3:31:09); 1,049, Gary Perkins (3:33:03); 1, 153, Nicola Wright (3:52:29).

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Rich Broadbent was the first of five Kenilworth Runners home at the Hilly Hogweed Half.

Starting out from the picturesque Cotswolds village of Horton, the course featured several steep hills and was certainly not one for PB-chasers.

Broadbent clocked 1:42:02 to finish 27th in a small field of 91.

Ros Brooks was 51st in 1:52:56, with Steve Chalkley (73rd in 2:01:18), Jaqueline Rose (74th in 2:01:19) and Stef Lunn (75th in 2:01:19) completing the Kenilworth quintet.

The race was won by Anthony Glover in 1:21:41.

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Nineteen years after they last ran the event, Kenilworth Runners’ Tom and Pauline Dable took on the Cleevewold 14, a tough and hilly 14.5-mile multi-terrain race with 2,080ft of ascent which starts out from the medieval Postlip Hall Tithe Barn, near Winchcombe.

Tom finished in 2:36:57 and Pauline clocked 3:11:08.