Carney sisters are rewarded for their Brough Park efforts
IDEAL conditions greeted the entrants for the latest Brough Park Couch to 5K which was preceded by a presentation by Brian Vigrass to the Carney sisters, Keira (12) and Izabella (5) for attending their 50th and 25th event.
Seven regular participants were delayed as they travelled from Cheddleton by a herd of cows that blocked the main road.
It didn’t seem to deter them in any way as they just followed on around 2½ minutes behind the juniors and their times adjusted accordingly.
Those late arrivals faired as follows: Charlotte Statham picked off the mass in front as she progressed through the field to complete the 5K a couple of minutes from her best in 26.34, daughter Connie (8) was slower than her last by a dozen seconds and a minute below her quickest over the 2.2K in 13.29.
Jonathan Campbell pushed on to lower his PB by two dozen to 16.06 with son Arthur (10) almost 30 seconds ahead, while daughters Lilia (12) and Esmae (6) ambled to the same line in just short of 21 minutes, with Joel Dono (10) being ushered to the 1.5K finish in 11.04.
Fourteen-year-old Harry Bond led the 5K contingent from start to finish with previous event leaders Isaac Elkington and Jason Burgess following in his wake - the latter pair were both below par, one due to holidays and other events and the GB representative returning after a season-defining injury.
Harry completed the full distance less than three-dozen from his best in 19.32, having increased his lead lap after lap, with Isaac in arrears by a minute and Jason stretching his legs in mid-stream to pull away from the bunch to reach the line in 21.14.
James Lockett finished almost four minutes behind the leader, a minute from his best and slightly more than that amount ahead of Rob Bond who was unable to match his last event record.
Nick Beeby once again chose to run without hockey club-mates and reduced his previous best by almost threedozen to 23.38 and a dozen more in front of park-tourist Dave Elphick, while Karl Birch pushed hard to reduce his last time by 15 seconds in 24.30 to get within that same amount from his best, as Tony Williamson reduced the gap on the run-in to cross the line less than a handful behind.
V60 Steve Bourne reduced his previous record by over two score in 25.01, and over a ton ahead of John Lagan who once again teamed up with Suzie Noble throughout the distance.
Alex Spragg created a new best time by nine seconds in 27.54 as she reduced her previous time by two dozen, while Jan Percival was a couple of strides behind as she continues to chip away the seconds to note that her longstanding record is just a score away.
However, Sandra Jeffery reduced her best by four dozen 29.28 as Dannielle Birch slowed by that same amount to cross the line a good dozen ahead, while Deb Beachell’s 30.20 time was only a dozen from her last event best with Jo Phillips improving to finish a stride behind.
Stephen Billing, Richard Dodd, Dawn Brown and Sarah Garde all returned after absences or holidays to reach the finish obviously below par, the former and latter were well pleased with just dropping back by a minute from their previous best.
Hazel Mycock dropped down from her usual distance with a 3.6K finish of 19.23, which was 90 seconds ahead of a much slower time for Lee Murfin with Max Tideswell (5) upping his distance to match his month-old last time in 23.39, as v50 Sheila Allcock followed on four minutes in arrears. George Neale (12) once again fronted the 1.5K distance and reduced his last event best by almost a minute to 7.48, while Ruth Cook dropped back down to this distance with a 15.30 finish, while the Carney family of mother, Heidi father, Jamie along with Keira (12) and Izabella walked the majority of the distance in 22 minutes.
Two nine-year-olds, Lucas Rowley and James Burgess went head-to-head over the 2.2K distance to reach the tape a score apart from the latter’s 11.22 finish, with Harvey Murfin (11) matching that time to improve his PB by almost three-dozen, as Rebecca Neale alongside Charlotte Murfin (8) chopped a minute from their best to finish around 11.32.
The Phillips siblings Imogen (12) and Noah (8) slowed from their record by a minute and three respectively in 12.55 and 14.36, while Maria Arapi was a score from her last event best time in 13.23, and two dozen ahead of Aaron Walker (9) who was slower by over fourscore.
There was another improvements for Kirsty Mudd as she reduced her best by almost half a minute to 14.07; Lisa Walker who was just 10 seconds behind to chop almost to score from hers, as Alastair Tapley found himself unfettered to reduce his previous record by well over two minutes to 14.36.
Eight-year-old Joshua Eames improved remarkably to 14.39 which was a score ahead of Alex Poulton who covered most of the distance alongside brother, Toby (11) who was a further dozen behind at the line.
Linda Austin made her debut at the park having previously taken part in her local event in Tipperary over a hilly and treelined route recording a benchmark 15.05.
Ned (6) and father Dan Cook covered the distance in a joint 16.40 which was two minutes ahead of a slightly slower, unaided finish for Rosie Carter (5) with Fran and Richard Ward matching each other with a 19.02 finish, while Lydia Murfin (14) slowed to record a 17.02 time and V60, Jane Wharmby’s time was to score below her last event best in 19.58.