“Finally” I hear you cry, the Shepshed 7 report has arrived on your digital doorstep, and with 23 of you taking part in the two lapper. We’re in for a monster update for the race that whilst advertised as a road event, some were left wishing that there was a transition area to change into their best gripping XC shoes.

We had four 7 mile debutants at this one, new member Andy Allsop has thrown himself right into the racing scene and clocked 52:23, James Ogilvie whilst around for a while never ran the distance and completed his inaugural in 54:38, likewise it seems surprising Sandra Lawless hadn’t got a 7 miler to her name before this, and ran 1:04:21, and then there was Tom Baron joining the club this year, who ran 1:08:48.

We had one incredible PB to report that came from the lovely Ellen Bolton. A huge 4 minutes and 18 seconds taken off her time of the same race in 2021. What an amazing improvement our champ has made, running 1:13:12.

Stacking out a packed field of blue vests we had Shaun Coulton back first for the club in 22nd place and a time of 46:58. Ian Bolton was second back in 49:56, Rupert May super close behind in 49:58. Suzy Parish was our first female having had a stellar 2023, and snuck into the overall top 100 rankings in 55:35.

The Andrew bond was strong at this one, with Jeyes, Cole and Bottrill in convoy, registering times of 57:09, 57:35 and 58:05 (Allsop clearly missing the memo). Jeyes put on the greatest show with his run achieving fastest in his category taking home a lovely memento.

Our females were out in force and a flurry came in next, Vic Smith leading the charge in 57:08, Fiona Betts dressed as an Ivanhoe runner in 1:01:22, Lindsay Tilbury and Emily Wideman running together in 1:02:57/59, and woman of the moment Sue Tait had an epic performance earning her an age group win in 1:04:21.

Next were Clare Wood and Nancy Bennion in 1:04:32/35, with Simon Hall bridging the gap to youngest Baron in 1:08:06, Keith Baron next home in 1:09:05. Sally Jeyes was out next runner across the line in 1:09:55 and Sarah Malone made the event her 7th outing for the year in 1:11:38.

Written by Emily Partridge - last updated on 07/12/2023