Days of Thunder

There were fierce negotiations taking place yesterday afternoon at LRRL Towers with Zeus, God of Thunder, about what time would be appropriate to unleash fury on Leicestershire. We managed to negotiate him down to allowing clear skies for the inaugural Hermitage 5 to take place at Mallory Park, but as a consequence he would be extra angry when he was unable to unleash his rage post-race. Hopefully all of our runners, officials and volunteers made it home safely yesterday evening in what ended up at times being quite a scary journey home, and this author was certainly glad to pull up to the house in one piece after feeling like being in a sailboat for large portions of the journey. A venue many of us are familiar with at Mallory with previous road and cross country events, but never in this layout or for the League and the route Hermitage Harriers have put together made for a challenging evening, but great for spotting your fellow runners around the race, although it has to be said doing the dogleg hairpin section for a third time just felt, from a runners perspective, cruel toward the ailing legs. Running like a lightning bolt (that's appalling, with the headline consider this your last warning - Ed) Harry Robinson of Hinckley RC on his first appearance of the year delivered a first defeat of the year for Matt Scarsbrook from Badgers, the Hinckley man finishing in a time of 25:51 ahead of the Badgers man in 26:10. With 622 runners thundering their way around the course (that's it, you're fired - Ed) there was a keen contest for third place with third to fifth covered by just seventeen seconds, but it was Ryan Elston of Charnwood AC who came out on top of that battle taking the final step of the podium in 26:36. No upsets in the womens race, Claire Frankland of West End Runners delivered another dominant win in 28:09, placing twelfth outright in the race. Gemma Steel of Charnwood AC took a comfortable second place in 29:42, whilst Frankland's West End clubmate Charlie Austin delivered a fine run to round off the podium in 30:38. Thank you to Hermitage Harriers for delivering us a new race, and congratulations to them for getting an event back on the League calendar to replace the sadly much missed Hermitage / Carl Rutt Memorial 10k race (we miss the spectating monks!) The draft results from last night are now available on the website here. If you have any queries on the results, please email them to us at lrrlresults@gmail.com where we will resolve it as quickly as possible, with the aim to have the results finalised and tables updated by the end of next week, as we approach the final few races of the season. Other parish news - the Rotherby 8 will open for entries on Sunday 6 September at 8pm on Event Entry:- https://www.evententry.co.uk/rotherby-8

We will also start taking ticket sales for our 2026 Night of Champions event at Hinckley Rugby Club from Monday 7 September at 8pm. Priced at £15 per head and including a buffet, the event is on Friday 20 November and will start from 7pm. Whilst we appreciate most sales will take place once the prize winners are known, if you are planning to attend regardless you will be able to secure your ticket here:- https://www.evententry.co.uk/lrrl-annual-presentation-evening-2026 Top 10 Men:-

1. Harry Robinson (Hinckley RC) - 25:51

2. Matt Scarsbrook (Badgers) - 26:10

3. Ryan Elston (Charnwood AC) - 26:36

4. Stirling Green (Huncote Harriers) - 26:46

5. Michael Cheverton (Barrow Runners) - 26:53

6. Peter Nicholson (Charnwood AC) - 27:28

7. Joe Matthews (Desford Striders) - 27:38

8. Tom Hansen (Stilton Striders) - 27:56

9. Sam Martin (Poplar RC) - 27:59

10. Luke Ingram (OWLS) - 28:04

Top 10 Women:-

1. Claire Frankland (West End Runners) - 28:09

2. Gemma Steel (Charnwood AC) - 29:42

3. Charlie Austin (West End Runners) - 30:38

4. Hannah Seager (Charnwood AC) - 30:49

5. Ysabel Drewett (OWLS) - 31:26

6. Amy Pizzorno (Birstall RC) - 31:39

7. Rachel Nealon (Huncote Harriers) - 31:57

8. Amelia Cook (Beaumont RC) - 32:08

9. Mia Champney-Davies (Charnwood AC) - 32:54

10. Grace Lewis (OWLS) - 33:08

Photo Credit - Neil Gillett