ALMOST 320 runners completed JCB’s Lakeside 5 race and fun run on one of the hottest nights of the year.
More than 420 people had registered to join the event and while the 30° heat reduced the field on the night, JCB revealed that it failed to lower the spirits of the runners or crowds who turned up to support them. JCB employees joined a host of club runners to complete the five-mile course around JCB’s World HQ at Rocester, including the steep hill on Stubwood Hollow, where JCB’s worldwide marketing director Adrian Hall drenched sweltering athletes with a hosepipe.
Deputy chairman George Bamford and his family were among those who took part. George said, “It is just amazing to see so many people here, and so many families. I’m proud to be running with my family. We talk so much about JCB being a family business and this event is proof of that.”
Three generations of one family took part in the two-mile fun run – crossing the finishing line hand in hand. JCB employee Billy Sowter completed the course with his son Liam, 37, daughter-in-law Amy, 34 and their daughter Rosie, aged five.
Former JCB employees Charles Bevan and Mick Grindey kept up their record of running in every single JCB Lakeside 5 race. Charles, who turns 80 in September, dressed as Toy Story character Woody to run with his son Jason who dressed as Buzz Lightyear.
Retained Staffordshire firefighter Jason Blount joined 18 fellow members of Silverdale Running Club – less than a day after he helped battle a major building blaze in Stoke-on-Trent and before he’d managed to grab any sleep.
Tom Bill from the TP Triathlon team won the men’s race in 28 minutes 43 seconds, while Hollie Wall, running her second Lakeside 5, was first woman home in 34 minutes 33 seconds.
JCB Golf & Country Club Greenkeeper Ruarc Grant was the first employee to finish, in 29 minutes, 32 seconds. Meanwhile, JCB’s first female finisher Emma Langford, an electrical engineer in product innovation, who plays for Uttoxeter Rugby Club, completed the race in 44 minutes and nine seconds.
Emma received the Steph Cordall Memorial Trophy which celebrates the life of an employee who worked for JCB for almost 40 years and was among the 95 competitors on the starting line at the first ever race in 1983. Steph died in May 2023 aged 60, and JCB established the trophy in her memory. It was presented to Emma by Steph’s husband Martin and son Adam.
Charities were also winners on the evening. The event raised £4,000 towards the Queen’s Reading Room literacy charity, supported by JCB in this National Year of Reading.
And retired Staffordshire firefighter Kelvin Chell launched his bespoke JCB-themed poppy badge, raising around £500 through badge sales for the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal.
