The rain held off and the wind dropped just in time for the ever popular Pavilion Gardens 5K last Saturday, enticing 60 runners out to take part.

Jason Brunnock, enjoying a right royal purple patch in his running, took an early lead and held it to the line, finishing in a fine 17 minutes and 40 seconds, well clear of Junior Harry Bond who claimed second position in a cracking 18:35, while fellow Junior Jake O’Donnell was third finisher in a very creditable 19:17.

Annette Fowler stormed round the three laps, destroying her previous personal best time by over a minute, which is a massive reduction over the distance, coming home in 21.06, first female finisher overall and first Female Vet 50. Kate Ledin was second female home, and first Female Vet 55, in a strong time of 23.58. David Fryer-Winder, fresh from his recent Russian triathlon experience, knocked almost 30 seconds from his personal best for the distance, finishing in 5^th place in 19.41.

Brunnock’s other shining results include a superb second place at the nearby Teggs Nose 7.3 mile fell race, with 1,700 feet of ascent, from a field of almost 100, and a glowing 6^th place in 47 minutes and 42 seconds at the tough 7 mile Cracken Edge fell race which has almost 1,500 feet of climbing, and from a field of 206. A truly sparkling season for Brunnock.

Reaching an age category milestone spurred Buxton AC athlete Rob White into action recently. As a 45^th birthday celebration, White slashed 28 seconds from the Club Male Vet 45 5K record at the Battersea Park Hasty Hare 5K event last Monday with a magnificent finishing time of 16.31, and was rewarded with 15^th place from a field of well over 200 runners. A grand way to start the next age category. Kate Ledin, at the same event, ran a speedy 23.13, and was 4^th Female Vet 50, in 161^st time.

Ricky’s Race, a 4.4 mile hill race around the Darley Dale hills, attracted over 200 competitors, and Buxton sent five runners to the South of the county. Jake Fearn was first home for the Club, in 5^th position overall, and in 31.45, a great result. Angela Bent was next home in 52.37, followed by Julie Bettley in 56.28, while Charlie Narejko ran in 56.31 and Jennie Light in 60.27.

Ten mile races are a pretty rare occurrence in the road racing world, but two of them came along this past weekend and Buxton AC was represented in both, with commendable results. At the prestigious City of Preston 10 mile race, both Samantha Willis and Sheila Bradley won their age categories – FV35 and FV60 respectively – in speedy times of 75.51 and 78.59, and Bradley beat her own Club Record by over 5 minutes for the distance. Also over the same course but completing one five mile lap was Elizabeth Nocton, who returned a sound time of 43.36 and was 6^th FV40.

At the Askern 10, Charlie Narejko and Jennie Light proudly ran in Club Colours, and finished in 99.48 and 105.37 respectively, and hard-earned personal bests for the pair of them.