Running News
Winter Half Tour of Bradwell 9 February 2019
I ran this race last year so I thought I knew what I was letting myself into BUT I failed to spot the organisers had added a few more bonus miles for luck. Note to self – read the small print! After a thorough kit check, c.120 people set off at 10 am and ran round the...
Parkrun report 9th February
A windy weekend and a next-day BDL commitment kept many Wirksworth runners away from parkrun this week but there were a few who made it along to one. We start with the Whitworth Thread, where Chris Gillot (pictured as a man who means business) ran a strong 22:10 -...
Parkrun report 2nd February
The parkrun report is a bit thin on the ground this week, something that couldn't be said for the snow and ice that caused all of our local parkruns to be cancelled. Desperate for his parkrun fix, John Potter (pictured with his family, Laura and Jennifer) made it out...
Parkrun report 26th January
First to Markeaton, where Elaine Stone set herself a very respectable marker of 24:36, smashing her intended first target of 25 minutes - there's much more too to come from Elaine this year. John Potter's 18:52 was close enough to his Markeaton PB, he'll blame the...
Parkrun report 19th January
Five Wirksworth runners made a late call to run at Markeaton instead of Bakewell because of the snow, and what a good decision it was for James Watson, who ran a course PB of 21:52, catapulting him into the lead in the parkrun section of the club league. John Potter...
Parkrun report 12th January
Wirksworth runners scattered themselves about locally again this week, when windy conditions made it very hard to race our absolute best times. First to the Whitworth Thread, where Bob King (20:03), Mark Crawshaw (20:18) and Chris Gillot (22:11) all put in solid...
Parkrun report 5th January
The Wirksworth parkrun faithful chose Bakewell to do battle this week. Star runner this week, Bob King, course PB 19:36 and edging bit by bit towards that 19:30 mark (something he's already achieved at York it should be said). Not far behind Bob, we're talking...
2018, where have we been
As Ancestry.com keep trying to get me to have my DNA analysed, I thought I’d save them the trouble. I’m middle aged with 3 young children and a “project” house. Occasionally, very occasionally, I have some energy left and I like to go running. This makes Wirksworth...
Dave Denton’s New Year’s Day Hangover
Happy New Year! The 1st day of 2019 saw a new venue and a new course for Dave Denton's annual New Year's Day Hangover road race. Relocated to the Bull's Head at Belper Lane End, the new 4.8 mile route takes in an undulating downhill 1st mile before a testing 2 miles...
New Year’s Day 2019 Parkrun report
Happy New year! And what better way to start than with a race (or two!)? Six Wirksworth members made their way to Markeaton. John Potter got off his bike to sneak a 1-second PB (18:46), whilst James Watson ran a blinding race to slash a whopping 47 seconds off his...
Parkrun report December 29th
The final parkrun of 2018 and Wirksworth runners finished with a flourish. Our star runner this week was Tanya Rountree, with a massive lifetime PB at the Swansea Bay parkrun, 26:28, a whopping 1 minute 50 seconds faster than her previous best - in this form, we're...
Christmas Day Parkrun report
A few Wirksworth members made it out on Christmas morning. Steph Solomon got a course PB at York with 23:56, Mark Crawshaw ran an impressive 20:27 through the mud at Corby, and John Potter whacked on a 25-minute volunteer vest over his Santa onesie at Northampton to...
Parkrun report 22nd December
Wirksworth members were a bit scattered on the Saturday leading to Christmas with Dave Spencer (21:17 at Markeaton) and Chris GIllot (22:45 at Bakewell) staying at home. Chris is returning from an injury, so watch out for him next year in the club league! On the...
Parkrun report December 15th
After the sheer carnage of the Wirksworth running club Christmas party, most would be forgiven for staying in bed on a Saturday morning where the temperature outside was 0 degrees! However, a handful of hard runners were out in force at Markeaton, braving the cold,...
Bolsover 10km December 9th
Dave Spencer and John Potter both ran well in the Bolsover 10km, a popular event with 832 runners completing the course this year. The course is gently undulating yet still seems to produce fast times. John's 38:38 was a PB and earned him 43rd place. Dave's 41:50...
BDL Bakewell – 2 12 2018
Last week's soggy Bakewell BDL looks like the last on that course as the showground have apparently sold the hillside. Wirksworth lads celebrated with 8th place in the team rankings beating the much bigger Long Eaton team. Eva and Emma Roberts put in a great effort...
Litton Christmas Cracker 9 12 2018
Fairly tough conditions today for the annual Litton fell race. The river was flooded up to knee deep for long sections between Litton and Cressbrook and there was plenty of slippery mud on sections of the course. Mulled wine, mince pies and a cosy post-race warm up in...
Parkrun report December 8th
The horrible winter weather couldn't stop Kate Watson smashing her PB by over 1 minute at Markeaton. Kate ran 24:40 with dad, James Watson (24:41). Tanya Rountree ran under 29 minutes again, 28:44. At Bakewell, John Hobson was fighting the bad weather and a stitch...
Parkrun report December 1st
Another great week at the Markeaton parkrun for Wirksworth, in spite of the drizzle. Jo Butt was our star runner this week, slicing 50 seconds(!) off her PB and ducking under 30 minutes for the first time with 29:29. Kate Watson ran a solid 27:06 and Rachel Hathaway...
Parkrun report November 24th
More PBs at Markeaton! Simon Edwards will be starting to eye up that elusive sub-20 after smashing his previous best by 18 seconds to clock 20:26. John Potter risked messing up his duathlon on the following day by emptying the tank for an 18:47 finish, 11 seconds...