GRAEME Knott produced a strong display of front-running to win the Glasswells Bury Friday Five, staged from Nowton Park last Friday evening.

Carl Marston

GRAEME Knott produced a strong display of front-running to win the Glasswells Bury Friday Five, staged from Nowton Park last Friday evening.

Knott, of Harwich Runners, lifted his first Friday Five title by setting a hot pace from the start, on what was a very warm evening for running.

Tom Kingsnorth, of the host club Saint Edmund Pacers, was the only one from a 451-strong field to stay with Knott during the opening couple of miles. Kingsnorth eventually dropped off the pace, and was overtaken by the chasing group until he recovered with a swift last mile.

However, there was no stopping Knott. An experienced duathlete, Knott covered the five miles in 27mins 14secs. The route was as testing as always, with a particularly long uphill section just before half-way up to the hamlet of High Green.

The consistent Kingsnorth, who was second at the previous Friday Five at Haughley Park, Stowmarket, repeated the feat on his home course. His powerful finish saw him snatch second in 27.36, a sizeable 22 seconds behind Knott.

Benvenuto Baldelli, of Cambridge & Coleridge, was a mere two seconds adrift in third, and just five seconds ahead of fellow over-40 veteran Peter Barker. The experienced Barker, who is a previous winner of this event, helped the Pacers to the team award in harness with Kingsnorth and Andy Taylor.

The Pacers also won the ladies' team prize, with three runners in the top 10, although they did not figure in the top half-dozen.

Tamara Jordan, from Stowmarket Striders, was pushed hard by Jennie Roberts, who recently moved from Ipswich JAFFA to Colchester Harriers and had won the first two events in the series at Ipswich and Kirton. Jordan pulled away during the last couple of miles to win in an excellent 29.14.

Roberts was just 17 seconds behind in second position, while Hadleigh Hares' Valerie Gladwell took third in 31.48. Newmarket Joggers' Jo Gapp enjoyed a fine run in fourth, followed by Colchester & Tendring AC 22-year-old Danielle Tatum, who was fifth. Tatum had won the previous race at Haughley Park.

Jo Tweed, a former leading light of the Pacers, was sixth in the colours of her current club, Rugby & Northampton AC. The Pacers' victorious team were made up of top over-40 veteran Julie Heath (seventh), Jemma Clarry (eighth) and winning over-45 veteran Maureen McCarthy (10th).

There were some familiar winners amongst the male veteran ranks, spread around the clubs. West Suffolk AC's Colin Ridley (over-45), Stowmarket's Glen Sharman (over-50), JAFFA's Ray Hill (over-55) and Colchester Harriers' John Driscoll (over-60) each topped their age groups.

The other winners in the female veteran sections were JAFFA's Kate Wooldridge (over-35), Bungay Black Dog's Bobbie Sauerzapf (over-55) and Colchester & Tendring's Diane Wooler.

West Suffolk AC's Simon Dawson and Sophie Tupman won the junior titles.

The fifth and last race in the Friday Five Series is the Great Bentley Five, to be held on Friday, July 10.

Chris Sellens, who won the previous two races but was absent at Bury, can secure the Series with a high finish at Great Bentley.

A BUMPER field of 120 tackled the annual Bury junior fun run, which preceded the main five-mile event at Nowton Park on Friday night.

West Suffolk AC's Macauley Delo was an impressive winner of the under-15 boys' age group, with Newmarket Joggers' Charlotte Jones continuing her good form in the girls' equivalent.

Adam Seymour, of Saint Edmund Pacers, has been in cracking form at under-13 level. He was again well clear of his closest rivals, while Williams Page, of East Bergholt, marked his first appearance at the Friday Series with a victory in the under-11 age group.

Emma Watts, of the Pacers, won the under-13 girls' category, as did West Suffolk's Sophie Tooley at under-11 level. There were under-nine wins for Simon Smith, of Discovery Tri, and Jessica Gill.

Bury Friday Five results

Top 40 men: 1 G Knott (Harwich Runners) 27.14; 2 T Kingsnorth (Saint Edmund Pacers) 27.36; 3 B Baldelli (Cambridge & Coleridge) 27.38; 4 P Barker (Pacers) 27.43; 5 D Moss (Unattached) 27.53; 6 R Chenery (Ipswich JAFFA) 28.04; 7 V Coogan (Newmarket Joggers) 28.14; 8 A Taylor (Pacers) 28.15; 9 J Meachen (Harwich) 28.41; 10 C Ridley (West Suffolk AC) 28.50.

11 N Palmer (Stowmarket Striders) 29.02; 12 B Caisey (Un) 29.20; 13 G Sharman (Stowmarket) 29.22; 14 M Axton (Un) 29.27; 15 R Gibby (Colchester Harriers) 29.28; 16 P West (Col/Harr) 29.39; 17 S Dawson (West Suffolk) 29.55; 18 C Starmer (Stowmarket) 29.57; 19 R Reason (Un) 29.59; 20 J Oakes (Haverhill RC) 30.01.

21 L Jones (Un) 30.16; 22 S Dale (Gt Bentley RC) 30.27; 23 S Faust (Thetford AC) 30.34; 24 G Thompson (JAFFA) 30.36; 25 G Davis (Newmarket) 30.48; 26 G Tomlinson (Gt Bentley) 30.54; 27 R Stone (Felixstowe RR) 30.55; 28 S Tovey (Ely Runners) 30.56; 29 R Manton (Un) 31.03; 30 R Hill (JAFFA) 31.05.

31 T Hanman (Un) 31.12; 32 I Forman (Un) 31.14; 33 T Fox (Pacers) 31.16; 34 S Harrison (JAFFA) 31.19; 35 S Matthews (Harwich) 31.40; 36 J Heath (Pacers) 31.49; 37 M White (Un) 31.51; 38 C Perry (Stowmarket) 32.01; 39 B Stanley (Un) 32.01; 40 K Short (Framlingham Flyers) 32.11.

Top 30 ladies: 1 T Jordan (Stowmarket) 29.14; 2 J Roberts (ColHarr) 29.31; 3 V Gladwell (Hadleigh Hares) 31.48; 4 J Gapp (Newmarket) 31.56; 5 D Tatum (Colchester & Tendring) 32.02; 6 J Tweed (Rugby & Northampton) 32.32; 7 J Heath (Pacers) 33.05; 8 J Clarry (Pacers) 33.16; 9 R Adams (Col/Tend) 33.27; 10 M McCarthy (Pacers) 34.18.

11 S Tupman (Un) 34.26; 12 W Jones (Pacers) 34.29; 13 M Narey (Stowmarket) 34.37; 14 S Colson (West Suffolk) 35.10; 15 V Jennings (JAFFA) 35.20; 16 K Wooldridge (JAFFA) 35.21; 17 J Smith (Grange Farm & Dunmow) 35.36; 18 C Geraghty (Stowmarket) 35.39; 19 L Hillyard (Col/Tend) 35.40; 20 L Staunton (JAFFA) 35.41.

21 R Ward (JAFFA) 35.48; 22 K Smith (Woodbridge Shufflers) 35.52; 23 C Dann (Un_) 36.11; 24 A Stach-Kevitz (Newham & Essex Beagles) 36.18; 25 L Sheehan (Felixstowe RR) 36.28; 26 N Knott (Stowmarket) 36.40; 27 H Suttle (Stowmarket) 36.55; 28 S Wooler (Col/Tend) 37.11; 29 J Brown (JAFFA) 37.18; 30 V Pressland (Gt Bentley) 37.21.

Male veterans, over-40: 1 Baldelli, 2 Barker, 3 Stone. Over-45: 1 Ridley, 2 West, 3 Starmer. Over-50: 1 Sharman, 2 Oakes, 3 S Neaves (Stowmarket) 33.14. Over-55: 1 Hill, 2 N Clarke (Newmarket) 32.57; 3 D Vaughan (Pacers) 33.33. Over-60: 1 J Driscoll (Col/Harr) 35.06; 2 R Trinder (Un) 36.36; 3 R Ames (Stowmarket) 37.00.

Female veterans, over-35: 1 Wooldridge, 2 Geraghty, 3 Stach-Kevitz. Over-40: 1 Heath, 2 Jones, 3 Narey. Over-45: 1 McCarthy, 2 Jennings, 3 Brown. Over-50: 1 B Sauerzapf (Bungay Black Dog) 40.29; 2 K Hatton (Pacers) 40.41; 3 H Spalding (JAFFA) 42.04. Over-55: 1 Wooler, 2 D Braverman (Cam/Col) 37.44; 3 A Fish (Stowmarket) 40.57.

Juniors, male: 1 Dawson, 2 Stanley, 3 J Cross (Un) 34.20. Female: 1 Tupman, 2 Hillyard, 3 E Mortimer (JAFFA) 38.30.

Winning teams, men: Pacers. Ladies: Pacers.

Results

Under-nines, boys: 1 S Smith (Discovery Tri) 5.37; 2 A Owen-Jones 5.50; 3 A Smythe 5.53; 4 A Meecham-Aviles 6.02; 5 H Williams (Pacers) 6.06. Girls: 1 J Gill 6.14; 2 unknown 6.38; 3 K Presland 7.01; 4 C Davis 7.16; 5 F Nichols (Pacers) 7.30.

Under-11s, boys: 1 W Page 9.20; 2 C Williams (Pacers) 9.23; 3 B Hammond (Stowmarket) 10.44; 4 H Martin (Pacers) 10.50; 5 J Nichols (Pacers) 11.17. Girls: 1 S Tooley (West Suffolk) 9.17; 2 E Wright (Pacers) 10.18; 3 R Mortimer 10.59; 4 M Sealby (Pacers) 11.20; 5 L Cooledge 11.22.

Under-13s, boys: 1 A Seymour (Pacers) 8.13; 2 B Parker (Felixstowe RR) 8.40; 3 C Morton (Stowmarket) 8.45; 4 M Le Poidevin (Pacers) 8.50; 5 L Doe (Pacers) 8.59. Girls: 1 E Watts (Pacers) 9.23; 2 E Strickland (Pacers) 9.37; 3 K Peake (JAFFA) 9.54; 4 H Bawn 10.03; 5 K Knott (Pacers) 10.04.

Under-15s, boys: 1 M Delo (West Suffolk) 7.43; 2 B Wattleworth (Ipswich Harriers) 7.58; 3 B Snaith 8.00; 4 J Gibbon (Col/Tend) 8.03; 5 T Eames (West Suffolk) 8.13. Girls: 1 C Jones (Newmarket) 9.13; 2 A Maguire (Pacers) 9.25; 3 E Gooderham (Pacers) 9.26; 4 K Ruffell (West Suffolk) 9.40; 5 S O'Rourke (Newmarket) 9.42.