There can’t be many events across the country that can claim more than a third of the entire field posted PBs, but that’s exactly what happened at our latest Blizard On Running 5k time trial!

It was great to welcome back Chris Allcock, Blizard’s new sports and remedial massage therapist, to the 5k event, and he used the excitement of his new career to push himself to a brilliant PB of 17:51 to finish sixth fastest on the day - well done Chris!



It was also encouraging to see one of Sheffield’s top club marathoners, Sarah Lowery, back in action on Blizard’s home turf following her long injury layoff. Finishing in the top ten overall, Sarah also ran her fastest ever 5k time of 18:27!

There were PBs too for triathlete James Nottingham (17:37), Chris Pye (18:27), Jay Buxton (18:37), ‘Jimbo’ (18:52), Rich Morton (20:59), Katie Webster (21:16), Gemma Scrougal (22:18), Jess Barrington, Team Blizard ambassador, posted a lifetime best of 22:26, and Clare Davenport also ran her best ever time of 24:59, dipping under 25 minutes for the first time! Jess’s fellow ambassador, Emily Whall, also ran an unofficial PB of 21:13, so big up to Emily too!

We were also lucky enough to have GB age group triathlete Amy Grocock testing her mettle on the Blizard 5k course with a speedy 19:59, while it was great to see ex-Olympic swimmer Ross Davenport in action too (19:33), who tried his best to keep Jo Goodier (18:49) in his sights!



Our own Dave Tune and Jenny Blizard showed they make a great racing team when they blasted round the 5k in 17:54 and 17:55 respectively, and Team Blizard regulars Kelly Raven (20:10) and Steve McAleavy (20:54) were also in fine form.




Taking top honours by a massive margin was Team Blizard elite’s Dan Kestrel with a lightning fast 15:40, with Dave Sedgwick and Chris Ward making up the top three in an identical 17:24. Mark Benson also ran well (17:40), as did Jamie Jones (18:21), Dave Kid (20:32), Russell Walker (21:04), Paul Cook (22:02), Martin Allen (21:37), our yoga guru Angie Boyle (22:33) and Janet Hindley (23:10). Stuart Grocock enjoyed the biggest applause of all, though, when he crossed the line in 25:29, while Team Blizard elite’s Jono Frary was on pacing duties, finishing in a still fast 21:15 in many people’s eyes!



Moving further afield, Jono’s coached triathlete and rising superstar, Karen Lynch, was moving up the field in her own race at the Lincolnshire Edge Triathlon, finishing a strong second in her age group and sixth lady overall in the Olympic distance event.



Excited to be back racing after a recent bug, Karen said: “Although I still have lots of work to do on the swim, I had a great bike (despite a few scary corners!) and a good run, and took a total of seven minutes off my previous Olympic triathlon PB! It’s all good Ironman training, just 63 days to go..! Thanks as always to my coach, Jono Frary!”

Staying on the triathlon theme, we were overjoyed to inform James Nottingham that his sparkling performance at the recent European Triathlon sprint distance qualifiers at Chatsworth was enough to qualify him for the GB age group team for next year’s European Triathlon Champs!



Coach Jono said: “It’s testament to James’s hard work and dedication to his training that he has made the team, and it will be great for him to join me and Tom Morris in Dusseldorf!”

James posted a fantastic 72:26 over the sprint distance to finish seventh in his age group, and all signs point towards him improving that significantly through this season into next!

Back to the road racing scene, the host club’s Frank Thomas took top Team Blizard honours at the Caistor 10k when he led our contingent across the line in a brilliant 45:14, a superb time on a very tough course! The V55 athlete seems to be rounding into the form of his life, proving there are no limits to lactate threshold training!



Finally, at the summer edition of the Leeds 10k, Kingstone’s Mark Havenhand ran 38:19 to bring Team Blizard home in the blustery city centre race, beating fitness celebrity Nell McAndrew - who holds an impressive 2:54 marathon PB - by nearly three minutes!



Top work once again Team Blizard, carry on astounding us with your increasing success at every level!