Musson's record-breaking display leaves Arden rivals trailing in his wake

The third Warwickshire Road Race League race in the space of eight days, the Arden 9, witnessed a record-breaking performance from Notts AC's Doug Musson.
Spa Striders line up ahead of the Arden 9.Spa Striders line up ahead of the Arden 9.
Spa Striders line up ahead of the Arden 9.

Aided by cooler temperatures than of late, Musson clocked a super-quick 45min 4sec for the nine-mile race out of Hampton-in-Arden to eclipse the previous mark by almost half a minute.

Leamington C&AC’s Paul Andrew continued his good form to finish third overall in 48:58, with clubmate Richard Merrell 13th and second M45 in 52:57.

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Bill Andreoulakis (53:57), Gavin Fowler (56:48), Marc Curtis (57:27) and Steve Hundal (57:39) also made the top 50.

Kelly EdwardsKelly Edwards
Kelly Edwards

Kelly Edwards was third in the ladies’ race and 30th overall in 55:51, with Jenny Jeeves (61:33) again winning the LV45 age group.

More than 50 Kenilworth Runners took part with the club claiming both the men’s and ladies’ team prizes.

Sarah Rose, making a return from injury, led the ladies home in 57:55 (3rd LV35), ahead of Laura Pettifer (59:11) and Esther Ilman (63:19), while the men filled fifth place through to seventh courtesy of Andrew Siggers (49:57), Ben Taylor (50:07) and Steve Marr (51:07).

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Stan Alexander (66:23) was the MV65 winner, with Pauline Dable (90:33) first LV65.

Steve Marr. Picture: Tim NunanSteve Marr. Picture: Tim Nunan
Steve Marr. Picture: Tim Nunan

Chris McKeown was the first Spa Strider home in 52:23, a personal best by 2min 30sec, closely followed by Ian Allen (52:51) and Adam Notley (53:07), also with a big PB.

Steven Taylor (56:17), Simon Parsons (56:59) and Tim Beresford (58:02) completed the Warwickshire Road Race League counters, while Matt Leydon (67:29) posted his third PB inside eight days.

Clare Hinton was again Striders’ first lady in 62:31 and was joined in the scoring team by Carolyn Wilkinson (66:15), Susan Cox (66:36) and Kat Lambeth (66:38).

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Four days previously, Kenilworth Runners were out in force at the Sphinx 5 at War Memorial Park in Coventry where they claimed the men’s and ladies’ team prizes.

Monica WilliamsonMonica Williamson
Monica Williamson

More tight packing saw the men finish fourth, fifth and sixth courtesy of Andrew Siggers (27:19), Connor Carson (27:21) and Ben Taylor (27:43).

Laura Pettifer (32:41) led home their successful ladies and was joined by Esther Ilman (34:15) and Rachel Kerr (34:18).

However, at the head of the race, Leamington C&AC’s Andy Savery and Tom Foulerton were joined by Daniel Robinson (BRAT Club) in a breakaway group of three.

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Savery edged Robinson to win the race in 26:40, with Foulerton an impressive third in 26:59.

Chris McKeown (28:15) was 12th overall and first Strider, clocking a 39-second PB in the process, while Ian Allen (22nd in 29:18), Adam Notley (23rd in 29:26) and Neil Smith (24th in 29:35) also recorded best times.

Clare Hinton finished in 33:47 for first LV35 and was joined in the scoring Striders team by Carolyn Wilkinson (35:19), Kate Gadsby (35:36) and Susan Cox (35:52).

Seven Spa Striders took on the infamous off-road Offa’s Dyke 15 where Claire Murphy finished first FV35 in 2hr 15min 11sec.

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She was followed by Bethan Gwynn (2:23:03) and Charlotte Everard (2:30:02) to earn the ladies’ team third overall.

Monika Coleman (2:40:59) and Matt Leydon, Fiona Edwards and David Lithgow (all 2:59:48) completed the Striders contingent.

Fellow Andy Roach completed the Humph’s Hilly Half in Bourton-on-the-Water in an impressive 1:42:01, while newcomer Ash Hogg completed the tough Trail Marathon Wales in 6:10:15.

Leamington C&AC’s Monica Williamson claimed the silver medal in the Horwich British Masters 5k Championships in Lancashire, part of the Horwich Festival of Racing.

Williamson clocked a gun time of 19min 17sec (chip: 19:11) to finish just behind Midland Masters’ Helen Burrell (gun: 19:10).

City of Norwich’s Jane Clarke was some way back in third in 19:59.