Newmarket’s Smith clocks up impressive time in 50m race
THOUGH admitting to feeling rather tired in the legs from the outset, Newmarket Joggers’ Jimmy Smith didn’t look back during the Centurion 50-mile race.
Running eastwards along the North Downs Way, from Farnham in Surrey to Knockholt Pound on the outskirts of Greater London, he clocked an impressive time of 8:36:15 over the hilly route, which included a total of 5,600ft of climb, finishing 29th of 330 overall and 11th of 88 in M40-49.
His last two miles were actually slightly quicker than his first two miles, showing how well he controls his level of effort over these extreme endurance challenges.
He has two more 50-mile races planned this year to complete the Centurion Grand Slam, all in support of Alzheimer’s Society and dedicated to his father, who currently suffers with Alzheimer’s disease.
Chris Underwood (2:48:18, 61st of 584 overall, including hikers) took on the Keswick Mountain Festival 25km scenic route, which circled around Derwent Water and looped around the rolling hills of Borrowdale, with 2,200ft of climb. He gained a lot of places in the final 5km.
Nine Joggers took part in the second edition of this year’s Breckland 10K, two weeks after the first. This double-header was in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Thetford AC, who organised the race. The medals from each race combined to form a whole, reading “50”.
Mark Hayward (35:38, 3rd of 300 overall, 1st of 22 in M40-44) was first Jogger home from Marc Drury (40:57PB, 25th, 3rd of 30 in M50-54) and Ellie Bithell (46:28PB, 13th F of 121, 3rd of 21 in F45-49), with Helen Hilario (46:45, 14th F, 4th in F45-49) close up in 4th.
Then came Meera Mahadevan (52:48, 38th F, 11th in F45-49), Angela Drury (55:43, 53rd F, 6th of 17 in F40-44), Jan Holmes (1:01:40, 81st F, 6th in F60-64), Caroline Mcintosh (1:09:10, 105th F, 6th in F65+) and Joanne Bouttell (1:09:32, 110th F, 8th in F6064).
The Arkwright/Turners 5K Summer League sees eight local running clubs of Ely Runners (ER), Histon & Impington Runners (HI), Cambridge Triathlon Club (CTC), Cambridge & Coleridge (C&C) AC, Royston Runners (RR), Haverhill RC (HRC), Saffron (Walden) Striders (SS) and Newmarket Joggers (NJ) take part.
After the first fixture in April, NJ (combined men’s + women’s teams) stood =2nd with ER, with C&C in the lead.
Due to injuries and various other commitments, our team was without some of its fastest runners for this fixture.
In this League, the first five women and five men to finish get team points according to their positions within gender, with other finishers earning one point each, so the fastest runners hold the key to success.
However, Joggers had a superb turnout of 59 members and it was a good opportunity for others to step up to the challenge.
In this fixture Joggers lost a little ground and now stand =3rd with HI, behind C&C and ER in 1st and 2nd. The next fixture is on home ground on Newmarket Heath in June, so we look forward to that.
The 5K League top 5 NJ female runners: Lilian Corbett (20:45, 8th F of 135), Olivia Carter (23:32, 29th F), Rebecca Oettle (24:12, 33rd F), Ellie Bithell (24:31, 36th F), Helen Hilario (24:32, 37th F). Top 5 NJ male runners: Chris Balmer (18:17, 16th M of 254), Ross Birkett (18:55, 26th M), Jacob Freeborough (20:00, 51st M), Barley Woodcock (20:01, 52nd M), Daniel Tee (20:48, 68th M). Altogether we had 24 female and 35 male runners, the second highest turnout of all the clubs, so that is encouraging.