Peace’s best is good enough for Malvern repeat

The event drew runners from the Midlands and London - and even 38 crew members from aircraft carrier USS George HW Bush who found about the run on the internet and came to support the hospice.

Miss Worcester, Verity Gwilliam, was among those welcoming competitors to the three-pronged event which featured a half marathon, 5k Spring Fun Run and the 1k Chicken Run, a wheelchair-friendly course designed for people with disabilities or special needs.

In the half marathon, Kenilworth Runners’ Imogen Peace successfully defended her ladies’ title, hitting the front at nine miles and coming home in a best of 1hr 30min 7sec.

She said: “It was one of those days when everything was just right; not too hilly, though there was a lot of windy weather.”

Peace was rewarded with a cup, champagne and £20 worth of gift vouchers.

Spa Striders’ Trevor Wilkinson finished narrowly ahead of Peace in 1:29:10 to take 19th overall.

Fellow Strider Esther Wollaston was 99th in 1.42.23 (sixth LV35), with teammates Lucy Burnett (1:46:22) (139th, 11th LV35) and Kate Evans (1:56:08) 139th and 234th respectively.

Chris Price, chairman of the Triple Run committee, said: “It’s one of the best atmospheres we’ve had; everyone stayed around and had picnics after their run, which was tough going for them because of the wind.”

Kenilworth Runners’ Tom and Pauline Dable took part in the Heroes Run 10k at Stoneleigh Abbey, an annual run to raise funds for the Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance.

Over the two-lap grassland course, within the picturesque grounds of the abbey, Tom ran 47:14 and Pauline came home in 55:14.

In event six of the Leamington ParkRun, Spa Striders’ Ivor Westmore ran 21:02. He was followed home by fellow Strider Sue Cox, in a new personal best of 22:53, and Paul Hinton (26:06).

Event seven saw Striders’ Tom Foulerton take second place in 18:08 despite a wrong turn, with Westmore improving on his previous week’s time by a second.

Cox, competing in fancy dress, finished in 24:42, while debutant Becky Webb came home in 33:40 in yet another record turnout for the event.

Striders’ Caroline Ditum took on the Crystal Palace Sprint triathlon without any proper practice and survived in 1:36:00, while Jonathan Wallis took on the Beaver Middle Distance, comprising an 1,800m swim, 46.5-mile cycle and half-marathon run to come home in 5:24:10.

Rich Merrell opened May with an open water swim, 20k cycle and 5k run at the Mallory Park Sprint in a time of 1:17:32 and ended it at the Little Beaver Olympic open water swim, 40k cycle and 10k run in 2:28:54.

Leamington’s Ryan Kenny returned after a two-month break to come second at the East Midlands Grand Prix event in Banbury behind England international Steven Naylor. Kenny clocked 25:45 for the undulating five-mile course.