Meet the Buzzards – Pete Mackrell

Meet the Buzzards

Part Two of Meet the Buzzards – The second half of the dynamic duo of our wonderful Co-Captains, Pete Mackrell!

Name?

Pete Mackrell

Age?

37

Where were you born?

Burnley, Lancashire, England (in that order)

Tell me something about you:

When I was 12 I was Lancashire Maths champion, but I was rubbish at all sports and not exactly popular at school. Now I’m an accountant so I haven’t got any more popular, but I do seem to have discovered some talent for running. I take great pride in having run several times for Bedfordshire (cross country) and for England Masters (marathon). When not running you might find me at Turf Moor.

What inspired you to start running?

My girlfriend at the time decided we (by which she probably meant me) were getting fat so we should take up running. I hated the idea but reluctantly agreed to tag along with her.

Who is your favourite athlete?

Of the current bunch Eliud Kipchoge is the King, he’s sublime and a joy to watch. But Emil Zatopek is my hero because he wasn’t sublime, however he had guts, determination, ingenuity, humility, and three gold medals in one Olympics.

What made you choose LBAC?

It’s the only “athletics” club in town and I genuinely assumed the Fun Runners always wore fancy dress and did egg-and-spoon races!

How long have you been running and when did you join LBAC? 

I started running in 2008 and joined LBAC after moving to Leighton in 2011.

What is your favourite race distance?

Marathon

What is your goal for the next 12 months?

To stay injury free and keep proving myself wrong.

What’s your favourite post-run refuel snack?

A pint and a packet of crisps!

Fartlek or Pyramid session?

Pyramid

Speed or distance?

Distance

And one for the post Cross Country pub trips…

What’s your favourite drink?

A pint of something, preferably real ale.

Pete doing what he does best… marathons!

Meet the Buzzards – Fiona Towell

A new, occasional feature to help people from the different training groups and disciplines get to know others from the club and what better place to start than the two Co-Captains?!

This week, introducing co-captain part 1: Fiona Towell!!

Name? Fiona Towell

Age? 49

Where were you born? Glasgow, City of Culture 😉

Tell me something about you:

Sailed a leg of The Millennium RTW Yacht race from Mauritius to Recife in Brazil round the Cape, next to childbirth possibly the toughest 48 hours of my life. read more

24 Hour Relay People

Treble Relay success in 24 hours for LBAC!

Leighton Buzzard Athletic Club had success over the weekend from two different relay competitions. Firstly, a group travelled down to Wiltshire to attend the inaugural RunFestRun festival at Bowood House. Organised by Chris Evans and Vassos Alexander, the event is a festival with all things running, including inspirational and motivational talks by the likes of Jo Pavey and Fearne Cotton and races throughout the weekend from 2.5km up to a half marathon including a family fun run on the Sunday to score points for your team. Team captains included Natasha Evans, Paula Radcliffe, Colin Jackson and Steve Cram and it was great fun mixing with some athletics heroes before the musical entertainment from Razorlight and Olly Murs hit the stage. The last running event on the Saturday was a 4 person running club relay with 1.3km loops around the festival site. LBAC’s team of Stuart Read,Tom Inchley, Jo Sharples and Sam Dear took on 59 other teams from around the country and were comfortably in second place through the first three legs. However, with Steve Cram commentating from the Main Stage to the entire festival, they managed to catch and overtake the leading team with 200m to go to take the unexpected win as the golden ticker tape exploded into the air.

LBAC – Winners of the inaugural RunFestRun Running Club Relay!

Closer to home on the Sunday, the local Dunstable Downs Relay, organised by Dunstable Road Runners, is for teams of 3 completing a lap of trail Kensworth Quarry each. Having won the mixed team last prize year, LBAC were back to try to reclaim their title and managed to win the overall and mixed team prize with Peter Mackrell coming home in first place with Sam Dear and Jo Sharples already having run the earlier legs. The other victory on the day for LBAC was for Ruth Mitchell, Coralie Anderson and Amy Farnfield who were the fastest ladies team.

“Girls on the Run” – The fastest all ladies team around!

Congratulations to all those involved over both days and a big thank you to the organisers for some great events!

The Tightest of Tight Finishes

Going into the final Stag Trophy race of the season, there were a few things up for grabs. Firstly, there was a two way battle for the overall win with Stuart Dimmock as strong favourite, but perennial bridesmaid Warren Rose hoping that this would be his year to take home the rose bowl.

Meanwhile there was another skirmish going on for the third podium place, between Ruth Mitchell, Ian Grimshaw and possibly Matthew Brooks, given a very strong wind!

April is always interesting, because after six months of running in the dark and struggling to see up the murky alleyways of Leighton, you have light and the clothing gets lighter and there’s less of it, making for some much faster and more confident running over the 4K course. Usually around half the runners beat their handicap and half don’t, but I don’t think it gives too much away to say that ten out of fourteen did on Wednesday and a further three were within ten seconds. read more

Mixing with the Big Boys and Girls

The SEAA 12 and 6 Stage Road relays.

24th March 2019

The SEAA Men’s 12-stage and the Women’s 6-stage Road Relays returned to Stantonbury in Milton Keynes  on Sunday 24 March and it was great to see two teams from LBAC mixing it up with the best in the south of England.

Both the men’s and women’s races are a mix of short and long legs, with the short being just a few metres more than 5k and the long being approximately 7.7k.

After a lot of chopping and changing with people unable to run due to injuries, it was an achievement in itself that we managed to have the full compliment of 18 runners. read more

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