Ryston Runners race final GP and then mingle with dinosaurs

Two evenings of racing preceded an in-house competition masquerading as a social event for members of Ryston Runners AC last week.

Wednesday saw the last of the races in the Peterborough 5K Grand Prix Series, this one hosted by Bushfield Joggers at Nene Park.

Madison Hicks completed her series by placing 22nd overall and 2nd U11G in the 3k event, with 12:03. George Pettit, Nigel Kenny, and Gina Hurrell competed over 5k once more, with Geroge (M50) placing 137th in 21:34, Nigel (M55) 163rd in 23:00, and Gina (F60) 194th in 24:05.

The venue for Friday evening’s competition was the ROARR! Dinosaur Park outside Norwich where there was a 2.5K and 5K “Dino Dash” on offer.

Despite the slightly jokey event name, the course was quite tough, but almost 20 Ryston Runners completed the races nonetheless, it being quite the family occasion for the Prices and Smiths.

Cody Pearman was 3rd U17M in 9:31, while Aidan Howard´s 9:57 was good enough for 2nd place in the U13B category. Riley and Courtney-Rose Price were 19th U13B and 5th U13G with 13:10 and 13:28 respectively, while Troy Smith ran 13:24 for 20th place in the U13B.

Troy’s sister, Ruby, won the Junior Women’s category in the 5k with 25:22, while another 1st place trophy went the way of Justin Walker in the M50 age group with 20:34. Justin’s partner, Julie Williamson, was 2nd F40 with 23:22, and Nathan Stockdale placed 3rd overall / 3rd SM with 17:38.

Lynne Howlett took 2nd place in the W65 category with 27:42, and Ian Wiggins 3rd M45 with 22:32. Ruby and Troy’s dad, Danny Smith, finished 5th overall in 18:27, while the Price parents ran together to finish 151st and 152nd in 28:14, this representing 19th SF place for Charlotte and 51st SM for Darren.

Other Ryston results were Tristan Langley 20th SM 21:49, Jon Pentelow 31st SM 23:17, Matty Parker 13h M45 25:22, Alicia Pentelow 16th SF 27:47, and Jade Cooper 46th SF 33:24.

Sunday saw the club hold its annual competition-cum-social Duathlon event based at Beachamwell.

The format for the run (5K)/bike (14 miles)/run (5K) combo was somewhat flexible in that it could be competed as individuals or teams of 2 or 3.

Mainly club members, with a few guests, competed for hand made victors’ laurel wreaths.

Unsurprisingly, the first 3 places went to teams, with Ryan Oakes and Lucy McInerney finishing first, Abbie Dickens and Chris Searle second and Malcolm Tuff and Gareth Hunt third.

Dan Barnes was first individual home, followed by Chris Chaplin and Jason Blackwell. Beth Moden was first individual female with Aimee Shaw runner up. Fourth place in the team event went to welcome returnee to the club Justin Kinsey (running) and relatively new member Lynne Howlett (cycling), an example of the wide-ranging composition of teams, some assembled at the last minute, and the focus of the event, which was fun and cameraderie as much as athletic endeavour.

Ben Collison was 4th individual male, with Mark Moden 5th, Chris Levy 6th and Paul Freear 7th.

The 5th placed team comprised Elaine Lumley and Owen Jary, 6th were Kevin Took, Judith Berry and Judd Gray, 7th Nigel Kenny and Gina Hurrell, 8th Kerri Page, Pauline Sparrow and Ben Foxwell, 9th Justin Walker, Julie Williamson and Ali Wood, 10th Dan and Katherine Pratt.

And bringing up the rear, but with some of the biggest smiles and giggles of the day, were Becks and Sue Tuff and Lindsey Clare. Sue herself had been heavily involved with the organisation of what was declared a very successful and enjoyable event, along with Jane Ashby, and Martin and Marlene Simmonds on recording and course management.

Ryston’s final Southern League match of the year is on August 19th at Woodford Green, the venue for the club’s first ever foray into this league some 30 years ago. Anyone interested in this, or any other of the club’s activities, can find information on the website www.rystonrunners.org.uk, where dates of the 2023/4 Cross Country Grand Prix Series are now available