“Weaselling out of things is a good skill to learn. It is what separates us from the animals – except the weasel” – Homer Simpson
Good morning lovely Dashers. I must admit to having something of the post-Olympic blues this morning. It’s been an incredible 3 weeks of sport and I have loved being in the fortunate position to watch so much of it. There have been so many inspirational, weird and funny stories to choose from as well as just marvelling at the incredible skills of the competitors. I have loved some of the obscure achievements such as 42 year old Bat-Ochir of Mongolia who finished 71st out of 71 finishers in the marathon but in doing so became the first person ever to run 6 Olympic marathons which I think makes him an absolute superstar.
Personally I have got into the Olympic spirit by shaving off all my body hair to reduce the drag between the sofa and the jaffa cake drawer! I have also been looking at which events I could train for to be in with a chance of selection for LA28 and I’ve so far narrowed it down to the bloke who rides the little motorbike round at the start of the Kirin track cycle race. I reckon I could do that one! I’ve also been hearing that the weightlifters consume about 8000 calories a day so I’m willing to give that one a shot (without the weightlifting bit obviously!)
Of course, we also have some proper sports stars among you Dashers. Congratulations to everyone who ran yesterday on what was a boiling hot summers day (at last). I’ve seen pictures from the Lytham half marathon which must have been a warm one to say the least so huge congratulations to you all. We also had some fantastic parkrun performances on Saturday with 50% of the Dashers who ran achieving either a PB or being a first-timer there. Astonishing stuff guys!
Overall, 20 Dashers excelled at 12 different parkruns. We had an amazing 7 Top-10 finishes so take a massive bow Brian and Jacqueline Shaw (5th and 10th at Burnley), Joe Cotton, Derek Reilly and Diane Dudgeon who were 5th, 7th and a brilliant 1st place at Witton, Helen Woodcock (a wonderful 2nd at Dungloe) and Janet Greenhalgh who ventured as north as it gets to show them how its done with a great 7th place at Kirkwall. Magnificent stuff by you all.
The PB starts this week were Helen Woodcock at Dungloe, Jez Turner (at sunny Blackpool), Barry Shackleton and Brian Tull (who both whizzed round Worden) and even, astonishingly, yours truly who managed to shave a whole second off my PB at Worden. Wonderful stuff.
And so onto the Championship tables. In the Ladies event, Helen Woodcock smashed her week by not only a Top-10 finish and PB but also achieved her best percentage score anywhere for the season. Janet Greenhalgh also recorded her best score of the season – brilliant work ladies!
The top 4 in the ladies league table all improved their overall scores so the order remained unchanged although Linda Coffey did close the gap at the top on Jacqueline Shaw. Both Diane Dudgeon and Beccy Jepson are chasing hard in 3rd and 4th places. Janet Greenhalgh was the only mover in the table this week with a 1-place climb and is now in 18th position.
Brian Shaw continues to set the pace in the Men’s Championship followed by Simon Smith. After his great run at Blackpool, Jez Turner has leapfrogged Andy Smith into 3rd position by a huge 0.01% - it couldn’t be closer! Philip Seddon also climbed a place and now sits in 11th spot just outside the top 10.
So, it’s been an exceptional week with fantastic performances all round. Next week Lytham Hall and Ormskirk are both cancelled but I’m sure wherever you run, you will continue to smash out amazing results again. Until next week, stay safe, keep smiling and happy parkrunning!