It’s been almost 9 months since the creation of the club TeamBR. We have had quite an increase in members since the start and we’re now just over 40 members. We currently have 3 leaders and one coach, we’re looking to increase that soon so that we can hold runs for different abilities.
Unfortunately, we haven’t managed to attend a race as a club yet since our inaugural race together was cancelled. We tried to arrange another social in the local pub near us but not long after we booked, the pub was closed down! It really did feel like we’re forever doomed to get a meetup in. However, the social was soon sorted out by going to the local Weatherspoons and the “race” meet up was sorted out by us heading to the Ancholme Valley Parkrun, which is the most local parkrun to us.
There was a great turnout for the AVW parkrun meet up and it was really good to get some of us together for an event. Yes, I know parkrun isn’t a race etc etc, but being able to do something together running related that wasn’t a club run made for a nice change of pace. Not only that, there were some club members that hadn’t met each other due to them attending opposing club runs, so they got the opporunity to meet too. Some club members were also volunteering for the day, Chris Brown was 25 minute pacer, Wayne Gammon was the 29 minute pacer and Karen Wickens was race director so it was a pretty TeamBR heavy parkrun!
Before the start we all gathered for our club picture (above) whilst Karen gave the brief and then we headed to the start line ready for the off. Sean Willis, who is without a doubt our fastest member, said to me whilst we were waiting “one, two Steve?” I shrugged it off as a joke and said that I wasn’t up to it, I already had 4 miles in my legs from the run down to the start and I’d put on a base layer even though it wasn’t very cold (the old schoolboy error of dressing for the first mile) so I wasn’t expecting my best. I knew I’d never catch Sean, but I thought I’d see what I could do. At about half a mile in I passed Adam Demeester, a fellow club member who has been doing great since joining the club with improvements in all areas, he was in second! It made me think that we could have an all TeamBR podium finish if we kept the positions. As we went on, I could see Sean getting smaller and smaller as he got further in front of me, there were no hopes in catching him up!
For those of you who don’t know, AVW parkrun is a straight out & back along the side of the Ancholme on a cinder gravel track all the way. The gravel makes it sometimes hard to get purchase so, unless you’re wearing spikes, I wouldn’t say it’s a PB course but it’s still pretty fast. The surrounding area is quite open, so you get smacked with the prevailing wind if it’s strong on the day. The course heads out in a northerly direction but comes back heading south, of course the prevailing wind is usually a south westerly wind so, natrually, you get the head wind on the return journey.
As I got to the turning point, I think I must have been at least 30 seconds behind Sean, but turning round I got smacked with that lovely head wind. It made the going a little more tough, but it lifted my spirits running past the other club members who were on the way to the turning point. First I passed Adam and noticed had dropped a couple places so the TeamBR podium might be off the cards, but nontheless he was on it and doing well. I passed a few other members who were shouting words of encouragement and I tried to do the same but a couple times I just didn’t have the breath. Arron and Liam were running with Liam’s wife and as I passed Arron shouted “You can still catch him Steve!” Being that Sean was now 30-45 seconds in front of me had had some choice words as my response!
As I got to the 2.5 miles point, I saw my Mark and Donna, who I hadn’t seen at the start. Both of them had kept to their normal standards of being late 😂 I don’t think either of them will be getting any PB’s for this one!
The last half mile was just a straight burn to the end, I couldn’t hear anyone behind me so I felt quite confident that I’d be able to maintain my position without having to put in a sprint finish so I tweaked up my pace a tad just to make sure. I finished in second position 18:18, 1 minute and 18 seconds behind Sean! No PB but I was pretty happy with that result, the best part of it all was doing the event as a club and seeing all those TeamBR shirts out running!
TeamBR Times and Positions
| Position | Name | Gender | Age Group | Time |
| 1 | Sean Willis | M | SM30-34 | 17:00 |
| 2 | Steve Portess | M | VM40-44 | 18:18 |
| 5 | Adam Demeester | M | VM45-49 | 20:01 |
| 8 | Clive Ward | M | VM35-39 | 20:41 |
| 27 | John Torn | M | VM70-74 | 24:45 |
| 28 | Chris Brown | M | VM35-39 | 24:48 |
| 30 | Mark Morris | M | VM45-49 | 25:26 |
| 43 | Susie Glentworth | F | SW25-29 | 26:51 |
| 46 | Liam Buttrick | M | SM25-29 | 27:08 |
| 47 | Arron Crookes | M | VM50-54 | 27:09 |
| 47 | Amy Richardson | F | VW35-39 | 27:19 |
| 54 | Simon Pullan | M | VM35-39 | 28:25 |
| 58 | Wayne Gammon | M | VM60-64 | 29:03 |
| 65 | Janyaruck Yates | F | VM40-44 | 30:22 |
| 66 | Anna Marshall | F | SW30-34 | 30:23 |
| 75 | Donna Senior | F | VW45-49 | 31:15 |
| 82 | Andrew Foster | M | VM55-59 | 32:10 |
| 92 | Donna Fryer | F | VW45-49 | 37:06 |
