Leamington C&AC prove they are in a league of their own at the Rugby 10

The Rugby 10 mile race was awash with red, white and blue as Leamington C&AC athletes claimed a double victory in the Warwickshire Road Race League (WRRL).
Leamington C&AC line up before the start in Barby.Leamington C&AC line up before the start in Barby.
Leamington C&AC line up before the start in Barby.

The final race in the 2018 series saw Leamington go into the race safe in the knowledge they had already claimed the ladies’ title.

The men had to fight for top spot, though, with only a few points separating them from Kenilworth Runners who were also out in force.

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Callum Hanlon put Leamington C&AC in a strong position by crossing the line first in 53min 49sec, five seconds clear of Rugby & Northampton’s Alistair McDonell.

Team counters from Spa Striders, Leamington C&AC and Kenilworth at the Rugby 10.Team counters from Spa Striders, Leamington C&AC and Kenilworth at the Rugby 10.
Team counters from Spa Striders, Leamington C&AC and Kenilworth at the Rugby 10.

With Paul Andrew (57:35) sixth, Jamie Langley (57:57) ninth and Tom Foulerton (58:47) 11th, Leamington took the team prize on the day, with Phil Gould (13th in 59:36), who only decided to race on the day after injury and Richard Merrell (17th in 60:25) making up the six WRRL counters.

A further six Leamington runners placed inside the top 40 to illustrate their strength in depth.

Ben Taylor led the 26 Kenilworth Runners home, finishing fourth in 56:12.

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Andrew Crabtree was seventh in 57:49 and Kev Hope eighth in 57:53.

Callum Hanlon leads the runners off at the Rugby 10.Callum Hanlon leads the runners off at the Rugby 10.
Callum Hanlon leads the runners off at the Rugby 10.

These three, along with Matt Dyer (23rd in 61:14), were the counters for the men’s team who finished runners-up behind Leamington.

With Nick Williams (61:15) and Dewi Williams (61:33) also coming home outside the top 20, Leamington comfortably secured enough points to complete the WRRL double.

Spa Striders’ Adam Notley was happy to dip below the hour-mark, clocking 59:39 for 14th.

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Kenilworth’s ladies also finished second on the day (behind Rugby & Northampton), with Laura Pettifer producing a personal best of 67:12 to finish third lady.

Steve Hundal at the Chicago Marathon.Steve Hundal at the Chicago Marathon.
Steve Hundal at the Chicago Marathon.

Clubmate Kelly Burnett Nicholl also ran a new PB of 70:54, with Tina Crow (1:15:44) completing their team counters.

Striders’ women were third on the day with Clare Hinton (70:05) leading home Carolyn Wilkinson (72:33) and Sue Cox (1:15:19).

Leamington C&AC’s Jenny Jeeves was the first W45 in 67:42, a PB of more than three minutes, to come in fourth overall.

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The ladies’ race was won by Eleanor Fowler of Nuneaton Harriers in 64:58 and there were 235 finishers.

Leamington C&AC’s Steve Hundal completed his fourth ‘Big Six’ marathon on Sunday when he crossed the line in 3hr 6min 2sec at the Chicago Marathon.

Hundal covered the first 10k in 41:35 and reached half-way in 88:18, well on target for another sub-3hr time.

Later describing the conditions as “not the best”, his pace started to slow from around the 30k mark, with Hundal working hard to keep his rhythm to finish 77th in the M50-54 age group.

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Kenilworth Runners’ Linda Fullaway and Gail Audhali finished in 3:55:21 and 4:12:09, respectively.

The race was won by Sir Mo Farah in 2:05:11 and there were 44,571 finishers.

Kenilworth Runners’ Richard Broadbent and Simon Corley travelled to the south coast to take part in the Bournemouth Half Marathon.

Broadbent finished 185th in 1:30:31 and Corley was 247th in 1:32:59.

The race was won by Alex Van Tuyl in 70:14.

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Spa Striders’ Chris Liddle ran a PB of 35:19 to finish seventh overall and second in his age category at the Raceways Alcester 10k.

Jo Fleming was seventh female in 42:48, with Alex Laing (46:03) pipped by Striders newcomer Luke Bennett (46:00).

Kenilworth Runners’ Alex Atkinson finished 16th (3rd V45) in 38:08.

Clubmate Neil Butler was 150th in 48:23, while Lucy Williams was 177th in a new PB of 49:27.

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Danielle Apagyi was 252nd in 52:57 and Catherine Atkinson 408th in 58:33.

The race was won by James Marshall in 33:31 and there were 691 finishers.

Striders’ Chris Wilson celebrated his birthday week with a PB of 38:29 at the Tamworth 10k, going under 40 minutes for the first time.

Ian Allen (1.19:24) and Mairi Walker (1.47:24) and both produced PBs at the Cardiff Half Marathon, where they were joined by Connel Williams (1:52:05).

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Striders’ Dawn Clark completed the Bournemouth Marathon in 3:35:55, while Mel Venables ran the Downslink 38 miles ultra, finishing second lady and 13th overall in a time of 5:37:29.

And if running wasn’t enough Sandra Stokes got a PB of 1:18:56 at the Warwickshire Sprint Triathlon in Stratford. She was joined by debutante Laura Peake.

Dave Knight’s Do3 squad stamped its authority as Warwickshire’s leading triathlon team by claiming a series of podium places at the Warwickshire Triathlon.

Held on Sunday October 7th, the sprint triathlon is a highlight in the local triathlon calendar and was raced over a 400m pool swim, 18km cycle and 5km off road run. Despite the initial freezing weather conditions, the squad took 4 podium places across the age groups. Corinne Moss placed as 1st female overall while Jamie Chatfield, Sonya Tate and John Wrottesley were all 1st in their age groups. Andrew White was 2nd and Jonathan Ward and Vicki Hill were 3rd in their respective age groups. More than a dozen of the Do3 squad raced at the event with Lisa Parry posting a personal best on the course.

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