Coombe 8 is Taylor-made for Ben as Kenilworth's men claim team prize

Kenilworth Runners' Ben Taylor produced an excellent run to win the Coombe 8 multi-terrain race in Coventry on Sunday in a time of 46min 47sec.
Spa Striders and Kenilworth Runners female contingent at the Broadway Half Marathon, including ladies' race winner Claire Murphy, far left.Spa Striders and Kenilworth Runners female contingent at the Broadway Half Marathon, including ladies' race winner Claire Murphy, far left.
Spa Striders and Kenilworth Runners female contingent at the Broadway Half Marathon, including ladies' race winner Claire Murphy, far left.

Clubmate Andy Siggers, a previous winner of the race, was third in 48:25, with Andy Crabtree fourth in 49:12.

Despite having four finishers in the top 11, Spa Striders’ men’s team comprising Chris McKeown (5th in 49:32), Adam Notley (6th in 51:05), Dave Mills (8th in 52:09) and Steve Taylor (11th in 52:45) just missed out on the team prize, with Alex Atkinson’s 18th place in 54:14 ensuring Kenilworth took top spot.

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Marc Curtis led home Leamington C&AC’s men in 54:09 for 17th, with Craig Bower 22nd in 54:44.

Helen PughHelen Pugh
Helen Pugh

Leamington C&AC’s Natalie Bhangal broke the Kenilworth stranglehold with victory in the ladies’ race, knocking four minutes off her 2017 time to finish first in 54:19.

Kenilworth Runners’ Sarah Rose continued her recovery from injury to finish third lady in 55:25, with Leamington C&AC’s Jenny Jeeves fourth in 56:36.

Clare Hinton led Spa Striders’ women home in 59:28.

Hinton was joined by Carolyn Wilkinson (63:24), Susie Stannard (63:57) and Ruth Tennant (67:33) in the first-placed ladies’ team.

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Kenilworth Runners’ Kev Hope had a good run in the Broadway Marathon on Sunday, finishing fourth in a time of 3:31:05.

In the first half of the race Hope was just behind eventual winner, Neil Wicks of Stratford upon Avon AC (3:20:40). However, muscle cramps at 20 miles caused him to slow down and lose two places in the final six miles.

Another nine Kenilworth Runners took part in the marathon but were enjoying the beautiful scenery as much as racing the clock.

With a start time of 8.15am, visibility on the first hill climb was poor and the sight of the Broadway Tower appearing out of the mist was eerie.

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Soon after, however, the mist cleared and the rest of the run was undertaken in clear skies and sunshine, albeit with very windy conditions on top of the hills.

Spa Striders’ Ben Parkinson finished in 5:12:40 despite only a few weeks of training.

Fellow Strider Claire Murphy was the first lady home and ninth overall in the half-marathon in 1:54:52.

She was closely followed by clubmates Anne Hurrell (5th in 2:03:49), Rosie Banks (8th in 2:04:40) and Charlotte Everard (9th in 2:04:41).

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Leamington’s Charlie Mitchell was fifth lady for much of the race only to be overhauled by Hurrell close to the line, finishing six seconds back in sixth.

Kenilworth Runners’ Laura Pettifer and Rachel Miller ran together to finish third and fourth ladies in 1:59:47 and 1:59:55, respectively.

In the men’s race, Striders’ Rich Sykes (1:47:28) was fifth, with Neil Sheward the first of six Kenilworth Runners in 1:55:08 for 11th.

The race was won by Marc Heptinstall of Malvern Buzzards in 1:43:15 and there were 132 finishers.

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Leamington C&AC athlete Paul Andrew made it two wins from two in the Tempo Winter Series at Ilmington at the weekend.

Andrew ran the 10k course in 36min 33sec.

Fellow C&AC runner Simon West was 16th in a time of 43:25, with Sarah Warrington, also of Leamington, finishing in 70:15.

Spa Striders’ Aitor Tudero was fourth in 38:26 and was joined by clubmates Simon (44:01) and Lorraine Parsons (55:30) who both recorded course bests on their wedding anniversary.

Iain Roebuck (48:09) and Natalie Dellar (69:07) also represented Striders.

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Wayne Briggs was the first of six Kenilworth Runners home, finishing eighth in 40:10.

Jane Kidd (50:23) was first in the FV55 category and Pauline Dable (68:44) was the leading FV65 runner.

Selected others (Kenilworth Runners unless stated): 29, Christopher Lyons (45:52); 100, Martin Belcher (53:52); 154, Tom Dable (59:43).s

Spa Striders’ Helen Pugh completed the Windsor & Eton Half Marathon in 1hr 58min 49sec, finally managing to dip under the two-hour mark after 12 years of trying.

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Kenilworth’s Joe Chick (plus pushchair) finished 122nd in 51:19 and Aden Keher was 240th in 58:05.

Meanwhile, Striders’ Mel Venables finished fourth lady in the Rugged Radnage 10k in a time of 47:36.

Kenilworth Runners’ Becky Beasley ran a personal best of 41min 45sec to finish third lady and 22d overall at the Coventry 10k Fun Run on Sunday.

Spa Striders’ Chris Wilson clocked 41:10 in a race won by Daniel Robinson in 33:19.

Fellow Strider Andy Roach completed the Gosport Half in 1:34:37, while Chris Jones clocked 2:39:32 for the Conwy Half.