Those of you as old as me may remember the best selling Meat Loaf album from the late 1970s, Bat Out of Hell. The lyrics featured the behaviour of bats on 'hot August nights.' I suspect midges - and maybe even Wombles - feature far more prominently on hot August nights on Wimbledon Common than bats ever do, but Tuesday night was warm, rather than hot, and with a strong breeze, the remnant or sideshow of Storm Floris, keeping the midges away, over 360 runners and joggers assembled by the windmill for the annual Wimbledon MABAC. Wimbledon has always been a popular MABAC but the turnout surpassed even Windmiler expectations, and the 330 who were at Denbies in June, making it possibly the biggest ever MABAC turnout, certainly the biggest in my time in the Puffers. Don't believe the doom-mongers who say MABAC as a concept is finished!
There was an equally impressive turnout of Puffers, 19 in total, without doubt the most for a MABAC since pre-pandemic days and probably the most in my time as a Puffer, certainly if we exclude the events we organise. But the sheer numbers seem to have overwhelmed the MABAC software (as they did after Denbies), in our case crediting us with roughly twice as many points as we actually scored, so the official results may be delayed a little while longer. Wimbledon has always been something of an exception as a MABAC in that it is also a club event, so the numbers have traditionally been boosted by runners who don't otherwise come to MABAC events. This tends to skew the results, making the finishing positions a poor guide to overall performance. By contrast, the recorded times showed some fine individual performances, several Puffers improving on their times over the same course last year. First Puffer home, in just over 35 minutes, was Ian Turner in his second consecutive MABAC. At Denbies he was the 42nd male home. On Tuesday, despite the larger, more competitive field, he was the 44th. A sign perhaps of emerging talent and definitely one to watch. Unfortunately other commitments prevent Will Westlake from turning out for us as often as we (and, hopefully, he) would like but he puts in consistent performances when he does turn out. Tuesday night was no exception, as he came in just over one minute after Ian, in almost exactly the same time as last year.
Some years back there seemed to be something of a habit among the Puffers in turning up at the very last minute or even, on one occasion, after the race had already started, only to go on and achieve a great result. Aimee Billington showed that the habit has not completely died away, messaging from the car park just minutes before the start to say she had arrived, then proceeding to put in a strong performance to be the next Puffer home, and 11th lady overall, in 38 minutes 25 seconds. She was one of three runners to finish in the same time, so it must have been an interesting last few yards. Just over one minute later, in another impressive sub-40 minute time, and in a similarly tight finish judging by the timings, was Paula Holmes (the only person I know who in all the photographs actually looks as if she enjoys running!). Not far behind Paula was the new 'honorary member' of Team Holmes, Alfie Day. Alfie joined us for the first time at Denbies, having been persuaded to do so by Esme. Not only did he return for more, but Alfie was one of the few people who finished higher up the order at Wimbledon than at Denbies, suggesting plenty of untapped potential. Hopefully we will now be seeing both him and Esme regularly. Not far behind Alfie was Katie France, running for us for the first time since Wimbledon last year, so making a very welcome re-appearance. Katie didn't quite achieve a sub-40 minute finish but still recorded a faster time than in 2024. So maybe a target to aim for for next year?
There then seems to have been an interesting tussle amongst the Puffers' 'middle order.' Esme Holmes was the next one home. Without the distraction (or is it the extra weight?) of earphones, she was over two minutes faster than in 2024. But that's only a small part of the story. For all the first lap, I had Esme in my sights only a few yards ahead, and harboured hopes of catching her. But after Dad Ian passed me on the second lap, a father -daughter tussle for bragging rights seems to have developed. Esme upped her pace, I was left far behind, and Esme successfully held off Ian to the finish by ten seconds or so. Meanwhile, just behind Ian, Ken Swan was getting into his stride too, and another three way tussle seems to have developed between Ian, Ken and David Rider, Ian just pipping Ken to the line by three seconds, with David a few seconds further behind. What David probably didn't know was that Vicki Francis was also upping her pace (or was it me getting slower?) although in the end he was comfortably ahead of her by a minute or so. But the five of them finished sufficiently close to one another to suggest the potential for some interesting internecine rivalry in future events.
That covers the 'additional point scorers' but such was our turnout on the night that we had another five runners, including a very welcome guest in Yegane Guley, who Vicki had invited, and whom we hope enjoyed it sufficiently to want to come again, plus Barbara Roussouw, Martin Rose, Laurence Flavell and George James. Nor should I forget our 'walkers' - it was wonderful to see Roger turning out, together with Katherine Sela, making her first return after her injury. Last but not least, special thanks to Elizabeth Swan for her moral support and some fine photographs. Well done all. If I have inadvertently overlooked anyone, apologies, and do please let me know.
That concludes our summer midweek MABAC events
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