“There are only 2 things that are infinite: The Universe and human stupidity – and I’m not sure about the Universe” – Albert Einstein
Good morning lovely Dashers. Well, you have been busy little bees again this week! It’s hard to keep up with all your amazing achievements so if I miss any, please forgive me. So, where to start? The British Fell relays took place relatively locally this year (in Todmorden) and we had a strong Dashers turnout who all performed brilliantly. Judging by the smiling faces on the pictures, you all had a good time – which is an anathema to me on muddy fells but whatever lights your candle I guess! In all seriousness, a great effort guys, you did the Club proud.
We also had an excellent turnout, and an equally fine performance, at the Lancashire Cross-Country at Heaton Park on Saturday. We are an integral part of these events and it’s great to see such a positive Dashers presence. And then of course, on Sunday you turned out in both quality and quantity for the Green Drive 5 Miler in Lytham which is always a really fun event and well attended. There were some fantastic times recorded by Dashers – and I know that it was a delight for you to reconcile with the artists formerly known as Dashers, Andy and Julie Smith. Great stuff… And last, but definitely not least, Ben Eckersley absolutely crushed the Yorkshire Marathon in a great time. Good work, Ben!
I’m still on the recovery train so sadly not up to racing but I did manage to run-walk (mainly walk..) round Burnley parkrun on Saturday. It was quite a humbling experience, though, as I turned a corner in what I thought was a brisk power walk only to be pointed at by a small child who was spectating and shouted “That’s not running!” Out of the mouth of babes…… (I did find it funny though)
Because many of you were running around fells and cross country courses, we had a small but beautifully formed group of 15 Dashers running at 7 different parkruns, 2 for the first time (to complete the Merseyside set I believe) You still were high achievers though, with 3 Top-10 finishes by David Seddon (1st once again at Hyndburn – remarkable) and 10th place finishes by Viki Walsh (also at Hyndburn) and Diane Dudgeon at Brimstage. There were also tremendous new PB’s for David Seddon (of course), Jordi Schofield and Viki Walsh at Hyndburn, Kerry Elliott (at Morecambe Prom) and Emma Brodrick at Haigh Woodland. Fantastic stuff by you all!
It was an unusual week in the Men’s Championship with only Jordi Schofield managing to improve his overall score. Overall, as a result, there were no changes to the league table this week so Martin Oldfield, Bruce Elliott and Jez Turner lead the way with less than 1 point separating the 3 of them.
In the Ladies Championship, both Kerry Elliott (for the second week running) and Emma Brodrick achieved their best performance scores of the season and, although there was no change at the top of the leaderboard both Kerry (in third place) and Diane Dudgeon (in second) closed the gap on Linda Coffey after brilliant runs. Perhaps I spoke too soon last week when I suggested Linda’s lead was looking strong? Emma Brodrick completed her excellent week with a 3-position rise from 24th to 21st.
Another stunning week one and all. There are no local parkrun cancellations as yet – although we are in for a soggy week I believe so keep an eye out. Have a wonderful week everyone, keep up the great work, avoid abusive small children pointing out inadequacies (or perhaps that’s just me!) and of course, happy parkrunning!