On the same day as Prestwold, a couple of hours later (and a few notches higher on the thermometer), 13 Gallopers headed to the Anker Valley Sports Ground for the BDSL fixture hosted by Peel Road Runners, in conjunction with raising funds for St Giles Hospice.

The aim of the game on the exposed course was to get round the off road 10K safe and sound, aided by many an amazing marshal over the route and multiple hydration stations.

First back for Ivanhoe was Mark Parker in 40:53 for 8th place, perhaps wishing he was still on his holidays suffering the heat from a sun lounger by the pool instead. Ian Bolton was next under the gantry in 46:13, his first race outing as a married man to the lovely Ellen who tied the knot at Dovecliffe Hall in May.

Shaun Coulton was next back in 48:35, followed by Mark Bradford in 49:05, and Tom Ball who put his first Ivanhoe 10K on the board in 52:11. Give the man a road course and even a slightly cooler day and that time will be blown apart. His daughters were also in action, Fifi & Lucy ran in the 4.4km fun run and finished in spectacular 3rd and 6th position respectively.

Fiona Betts must have felt a bit lost without her additional disciplines pre run - oh wait – she churned out 25km on two wheels early doors, and later decided 10K actually wasn’t quite enough so topped it up with another 5 miles. She was our first female over the line and a super 2nd in her age group in 54:42. Andrew Bottrill was next in 55:24, his girls also taking part in the fun run, Anora & Saoirse collecting great finish positions in 5th and 11th, joined by mum Grania also banking some run miles.

Emily Partridge was next over the line in 57:15 – we won’t talk about hitting the deck at 7km and the nasty sprained ankle as a result, hey? Andy Cole was through the finish line at 1:00:19, and Martin Yeomans in 1:03:33.

Keith Baron was our prize winner of the day, topping the charts in his age category in 1:08:49 and collected a trophy to celebrate his achievements. Jeff Cross in his now trademark bucket hat was our final fabulous finisher in 1:15:43.

Big thanks to the many Ivanhoe supporters that came out to give everyone a cheer.

Written by Emily Partridge - last updated on 01/08/2023