 Stellar Performance by Both Men’s and Women’s Teams A whopping 47 squirrels participated in the Three Counties XC League at Delapre Abbey, Northampton, hosted by Wootton Road Runners. The course was refreshed with a new route in the reverse direction to the usual one, adding an extra layer of challenge as all the ups became downs and vice versa. The weather may have been cold, but the sun shone bright, creating a fabulous morning for cross country. Women's Team Triumph Our women's team emerged victorious, beating both Rugby and Northampton A.C. and Wootton Road Runners on their own turf. Katie Harbon led the charge, securing the first position, followed by Hannah Ridley (8th), Rhia Botha (12th), and Tash Pitman (15th), who all played crucial roles in the triumph. Men's Team Excellence The men's team showcased their strength, securing a commendable 2nd place behind a superb Rugby and Northampton A.C. The combined team results placed NHRR 2nd overall, narrowly trailing behind Rugby and Northampton A.C. Scoring for the men were: Sam Coxon (7th), Mike Roberts (8th), Darren Sunter (9th), Ben Sewell (21st), Stewart Overton (23rd) Vince Wright (25th), Rob Jowett (27th) and Shahab Ahmed (30th). Current Standings After two races, our women's team unsurprisingly stands strong at the top, leading by 2 points. The men's team is holding 2nd place, trailing by 2 points to RNAC but leading AFF by 2 points. In the combined team competition, NHRR is in 2nd place, level on points with RNAC. The next event is our home race, so as team captain John Auld puts it, let's embrace the mud and kick off the festive period with some fantastic running!
The Joker (a.k.a Paula Holm) fled from Batman and Robin to achieve 1st ‘Masked’ Lady while Mike and Natalie Phillips achieved their Parkrun PBs in 19:36 and 23:01 respectively..Here are the results:
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Full list of results; Richard Springall 1:29:12, Rachel Arnott 1:32:47, Paula Holm 1:37:05 Dave Braybrook 1:44:22 Phil Hunt 1:50:33, Laurie Scott 1:55:57, Anna Gibson 2:01:19, Gregor Bowie 2:03:26, Jenna Manggos 2:07:52, Richard Barker 2:07:53, Nick Walker 2:11:14, Ruth Summers 2:11:15, Alan Hazlehurst 2:17:39. MK Wolverton 5 Miles Steve and Astrid McKeown, Karen Dodsworth and Linda Aird ran the Wolverton 5 on Saturday. This is known as a fast, one and a half lap race around Willen Lakes in Milton Keynes. The trees were looking beautiful in their autumn colours, and they were looking forward to running around the lakes, despite the drizzle and a strong breeze blowing. Aird comments “we could see during our warm ups that this was a competitive field, with many speedy looking runners getting ready to race (results show the first man home finished in 23:29, impressive for a 5 mile race.)” Those at the slower end soon found themselves running mainly on their own. Aird would have liked more lakeside running and less roadside, but comments that it was a pleasant, traffic-free course around the redways and underpasses of MK. Steve McKeown was first Squirrel home in 32:23, followed soon after by Astrid in 34:05 (1st V50 and a new club FV50 record) Linda Aird finished in 45:18, closely followed by Karen Dodsworth in 45:35.  Brighton 10km Two squirrels headed to Brighton to compete in the Brighton 10k on Sunday. An out and back course along the sea front should have made for a fast, flat race but the 40mph winds meant a great tailwind on the way out for the first 5k, but a brutal headwind on the way back towards the finish. Pete Sibbett finished in 41:30 and Katie Harbon who was racing for Hertfordshire, finished 4th female in a time of 36:42. Katie commented “the crowds and marshals were great and it was, as always, an honour to wear the county vest!”
Cross Country Championships John Auld was the only Squirrel to run at the Eastern Athletics Association (EAA) and Eastern Masters (EMAC) Cross Country Championships on Saturday held at Horseheath Racecourse. Designed for horses, Auld says that the course is fantastic - a proper cross country course! Up and down hills for no reason other than to make it difficult. The ground was very soft from all the rain. The route takes runners over some of the obstacles for the horses and includes some very short sharp hills and bits through the woods. Another part went up a hill to turn round a cone at the top to come straight back down to another cone - and head straight back up again! Auld’s best part was a huge water feature that you had to run through 3 times! The course climbed a hill into the wind, just to bring competitors back down to go through the water, only to head straight back up the hill again - this time with wet, cold legs! Auld set off dead last but ran his way up and past 3 people to finish 33rd/36. He ran 2 laps tempo then pushed on in the last lap and had a battle with someone which was satisfying to win. Conwy Half Marathon Jo Sopala travel to Conwy to take part in the Conwy Half Marathon in what can only be described as atrocious conditions! Sopala said they were drenched before they even started and the wind gained in strength as the miles ticked (dragged?) by. Describing the course, Jo said, the advantage of the two mile uphill climb on the Orme is usually the two mile downhill run where you can make up a lot of time. But that was not the case this year. Having fought their way to the summit, they rounded the bend to be hit by brutal winds and even more driving rain. The runners could barely stand, let alone run. Sopala commented that for once she was grateful of her very short stature as she could see a lot of tall guys struggling even more! Sopala finished in 2:36, a long way off her planned time, but a course PB. She gave kudos to the marshals on the course, the real heroes of the day, who withstood the storms to keep the runners all safe.
 On Saturday, six North Herts Road Runners headed to the heart of running, Battersea Park in London to take part in the Sri Chimnoy 10k. Ben Sewell explained that the conditions were perfect, and the flat course made for perfect PB potential. And they certainly achieved that! Sophie Thrussell was NHRR’s first lady over the line in a superb time of 40:59, followed by Emma Sandham who got a huge 1 minute 40 second PB of 46:21 following an extremely successful new training plan. In the men’s race, Stewart Overton led the pack out for the first 4km, ultimately assisting three runners to huge PB’s. Ben Sewell crossed the line first, dipping just under 34 and a half minutes, in a time of 34:28, closely followed by Tom Barclay with a 35 second PB of 34:37. Shahab Ahmad followed with another PB coming home in 34:43 and Stewart Overton powered to the finish in 35:03. A shout out to Stewart for controlling the pace and leading the guys out for the first half! Age Group Success By Nightlight Elsewhere, six squirrels headed to Rutland Water to take part in the Rutland Water Nighttime 10k. Lucy O’Connor, Linda Aird, Miranda Morgan and Georgia Barker all achieved age group placing, with Lucy in 2nd place, Linda 1st, Miranda in 3rd and Georgia in 4th. Jo Kenlin and Richard Barker also took part in the event. Lucy said it was a fab event and very popular with around 450 runners taking part. Plenty of runners choose to wear fairy lights and due to the out and back design of the course, many runners see a stream of lovely colourful lights as runners make their way back to the finish. Parkrun round up
  North Herts Road Runners turned out in huge numbers at the Run Around Garden event, held on their doorstep in the centre of Letchworth Garden City on Sunday. An amazing 62 Squirrels tackled the 5k race and a further 21 took on the one mile challenge, with some doubling up and doing both races before joining their families in the follow-up Fun Run. The festival of running was organised by Love Letchworth and supported by local businesses, with NHRR providing many of the marshals and helpers. Andreea Weisl-Shaw spoke for many when she said she said ‘ It was a lovely experience on a crisp sunny morning - fantastic to spend time with our club mates and to see so many of them get personal bests and generally do a brilliant job. I felt very proud to wear the club vest for sure!’ Tom Webb stormed to victory in the 5k, his 16:10 finish putting him more than two minutes clear of the 231-strong field. Ian Datlen was third in an excellent 19:08. Hannah Ridley made it a North Herts double by taking the ladies’ title in 19:36. Rhia Botha and Sophie Thrussell ensured an all-NHRR female podium with 19:39 and 19:43 respectively. Shahab Ahmad clocked a superb 5:17 to take gold in the mile race, with Michael Over and Ian Datlen close behind in 5:39 and 5:41. Rhia Botha went one better in her second race of the day; finishing as first lady this time in 6:00, with Tracy Pitcairn second in 6:19.  Other NHRR finishers: 5k: Michael Over, 19:23; Nathaniel Rosa, 19:33; Mike Phillips, 19:36; Ian Harvey, 19:52; Pete Sibbett, 20:02; Oliver White, 20:05, David Edwards, 20:12; James Dalton, 20:10; Will Harrison, 20:14; Alex Robinson, 20:24; Andrew Wallis, 21:11; Tracy Pitcairn, 21:35; Aaron Gillich, 21:49; Simon Clapham, 21:55; David Weston, 22:24; Laura Fairbanks, 22:28; Dan Mallett, 22:42; Stuart Cocks, 23:05; Natalie Phillips, 23:21; Andrew Coates, 23:36: Matt Ankers, 23:44; Nicola Withington, 24:11; Phil Hunt, 24:06; Barbara Sayers, 24:10; Eve Surridge, 24:10; Georgina Quayle, 24:41; Laurie Scott, 24:51; Ellie Frid, 25:13; Lucy O’Connor, 25:24; Anna Gibson, 25:32; Tim Banting, 26:17; Stuart Braid, 26:15; Jane Molloy, 26:40; Andreea Weisl-Shaw, 27:02; Grace Cleary, 26:53; Linda Aird, 27:31; Jillian Tooley-Boys, 27:47; Natalie Fiddy, 27:56; Andrew Robson, 28:18; Alan Hazelhurst, 28:54; Lucia Perez-Alonso, 29:13; Victoria Markham, 29:26; Geoff Davis, 29:56; Aimee Flack, 29:56; Philip Flack, 30:20; Neill Withington, 30:37; Anna Priestley, 30:49; Julie Taylor, 30:52; Amanda Greig, 31:08; Helen Giffin, 31:14; Carina Quayle, 33:01; Brian Judkins, 33:59; Caroline Nobbs, 34:05; Farzana Bhatti, 34:31; Eleanor Hill, 34:35; Hayley Cocks, 39:18 1 mile: David Edwards, 5:53; Nathaniel Rosa, 5:57; Simon Clapham, 6:12; Stuart Cocks, 6:30; Phil Hunt, 7.03; Laurie Scott, 7.12; Andrew Coates, 7,17; Natalie Phillips, 7,24; Georgina Quayle, 7:29; Andrew Robson, 8:32; Alan Hazelhurst, 8:45; Andreea Weisl-Shaw, 9:56; Farzana Bhatti, 10:43; Sheila Leavy, 12:21 First Saturday of the Month 5k There were 43 finishers on a very wet and muddy Norton Common in the November First Saturday of the Month 5k. Matt Sayers was first across the line in 20:09 and Astrid McKeown was first lady in 23:48. Other NHRR finishers: John Auld, 21:05, Steve McKeown, 21:17; Mike Phillips, 23:04; Dave Braybrook, 23:13, Richard Harbon, 23:54; Ian Datlen, 23:56; Andrew Coates, 26:24; Matt Roberts, 26:27; Jillian Tooley-Boys, 26:30; James Dalton, 26:53; Anna Greetham, 27:04; James Walsh, 27:06; Ian Harvey, 27:47; Rhia Botha, 28:39; Natalie Phillips, 28:40; Michael Over, 28:41, Alan Hazelhurst, 30:45; Amanda Greig, 33:40; Helen Harbon, 35:10; Farzana Bhatti, 41:57  Hertfordshire Half-marathon Yet more Squirrels headed to Knebworth for the Hertfordshire Half Marathon. Georgia Head made her 13.1-mile debut in fine style, clocking 1:53:55, despite having to stop for a herd of deer crossing the course at mile nine! Caroline Thrussell was first in her age category with 1:47:36 and Dervla Downing recorded her best time on this course with 1:47:26 in what Georgia described as ‘perfect weather for the race, if a bit of a headwind in places’. Adam Wilson finished in 1:58:37.
Parkrun round-up Saturday 4 November
 The first event of this season's Three Counties Cross Country league was a new venue and course in Wellingborough. The course was undulating and had a mixture of surfaces to contend with including some very wet mud, grass and some hard paths. The weather was fabulous sunshine and little wind with mild temperature. The event saw a huge total of 491 overall finishers which included 43 squirrels. The squirrels start this season as champions of all competitions and are very determined to defend these titles. In beautiful sunshine, NHRR got off to a great start by winning the women’s competition and finishing runners up in the men's, resulting in first overall in the combined team competition. Katie Harbon won the women's race, while Tom Webb was third male. Women's team captain, Tash Pitman commented she was “Delighted with the team performance to get the squirrels off to a storming start to the new XC season and great to see so many squirrels out supporting each other!” This was echoed by the mens team captain John Auld. Scoring for the women were Katie Harbon, Rhia Botha, Tash Pitman and Hannah Ridley. Whilst scoring for the men was Tom Webb, Darren Sunter, Stewart Overton, Ben Sewell, Matt Sayers, Shahab Ahmad, Ian Datlen and Steve McKeown. Dublin Marathon Grace Cleary ran the Dublin Marathon in 3 hours 50 minutes 26 seconds which was a personal best on a very wet day! Grace described it as “An amazing race, beautiful first half through the city and into Phoenix Park”. And gave massive thanks to Cara, her coach, for guidance over the last few months!  Marathon Eryri Jennie Fraser ran Marathon Eryri for the second consecutive year finishing in 4:40 which was 16 minutes quicker than last year. Jennie was “loving the perfect conditions with liquid sunshine and rainbows to frolic around” in Snowdonia National Park in North Wales. Alice Noakes finished in 5:06 having stormed the final incline of 838ft over 2 miles with an iron will and desire for it all just to be over.
Exeter Halloween Elwyn Howell completed the Exeter Halloween 5 miler in a new PB time of 36:18 finishing 3rd male and 6th place overall with a nice trophy to match. He got dressed up in Halloween fancy dress which added to the fun morning. Parkrun Roundup
 On Sunday, five North Herts Road Runners completed the Stevenage Half Marathon, which also hosted the Herts Senior County Championship. After a few days of stormy wet and windy weather, the runners were rewarded with a lovely crisp and sunny autumn morning for the race. Rhia Botha was first home for the club, second female overall, and first female in the Herts Half Marathon County Champion in a superb 1:31:33. James Dalton ran alongside her for the first of the two lap course and finished just behind her in 1:34:54. Rhia said “It was an unexpectedly hilly two-lap course, and we really felt those hills on the second lap”, adding “It was so well organised by the most lovely people.” Other squirrels who completed the race were Ian Harvey in 1:37:38, Alice Carty in 1:52:34 and Farzana Bhatti in 3:13:01, Resolution 5k results A few days prior to this, on Wednesday 11 squirrels were also in action in Stevenage, this time at Ridlins track for the October Resolution 5k. The conditions were rather less favourable, described by John Auld as “very wet! And there was a bit of wind”, although he added that he really enjoyed the race. In the first race, Sam Coxon took the win in an amazing 16:57. He was followed by a pack of four squirrels (John Auld 18:55, Kris Whitmore 19:04, Ian Datlen 19:11 and Andrew Wallis 21:01. Completing the squirrels contigent were Lee Varley (21:40), Lucy O’Connor (24:40 and first in her age category FV55), Mel Flynn (25:11), Linda Aird (27:42), Karen Dodsworth (28:04), and Sheila Leavy (39:49 and first FV65). The squirrels notched up a superb team performance overall, with Sam, John, Kris and Lucy winning the team competition with a combined time of 1:19:46, and Ian, Andrew, Lee and Mel coming third behind the Fairlands Valley Spartans. Dashing at Duxford A little further afield, Hannah Ridley ran the Duxford Dash 5k on Sunday, which is a fast and flat out and back race that takes runners up and down the runway at the Imperial War Museum Duxford. She was delighted to cross the line in a fantastic 20:40. Parkrun roundup Lots of squirrels took part in parkruns near and far on Saturday. Notably, Elwyn Howell broke the club record for the V60 category, completing Teignmouth parkrun in 20:51. Other NHRR parkrun results are below:
The crisp autumnal conditions proved ideal for the fourteen North Herts Road Runners who headed to the popular Cambridge Town and Gown 10k through the heart of Cambridge passing many landmarks, historic university college buildings and along the River Cam. The Squirrels returned home with plenty of personal best times and not just one club record but two! Pete Sibbett was delighted to run 39:40 setting a new club record for the V60 category and finishing 2nd V60 in the race. Pete commented ‘I was surprised to run so fast but the great crowd support and fast, flat course were amazing’. Pete broke the previous club record (40:46) held by Deryk Myall that has stood since 2006! Astrid Mckeown also set a new V50 club record after finishing in 41:03 taking 2 minutes 23 seconds off the previous time held by Chris King since Standalone 2012. Ian Datlen, Nat Rosa, Rhia Botha, Ian Harvey, Mike Phillips, Steve Brenton, Andreea Weisl-Shaw and Georgia Barker all set new PB’s. Rhia commented ‘I took 2 minutes off my PB, which I had only just got at Standalone two weeks ago to get 38:56. Team captain said 'why run a sub 40 when you can go run a sub 39'. One week after his first marathon last Sunday at Chester Elwyn Howell finished in 46:08 and 12th in his age category. Georgia Barker excelled with her first sub 1 hr 10k time in a couple of years coming across the line in 57:19 ably paced by Richard Barker who also completed the Chester marathon last weekend.
Chelmsford Parks Marathon Sue Foot completed the Chelmsford Parks Marathon, an undulating road route along some very pretty countryside. Having done 27 miles at the Sussex Stride three weeks ago over the South Downs, she was pleased to finish this one in 04:38:53.  Yorkshire Marathon Festival The Yorkshire Marathon Festival was celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and hosted a fantastic event offering distances from 5k right up to the marathon. Katrina Slisane opted for the marathon distance and says she had a great time setting a personal best time of 3 hours and 50 minutes, thanking green group coach Richard Harbon’s advice of an ‘uphill arm swing’ as it drove her up a few nasty hills, especially as the morale started to slip. Vanessa Rolfe and Allison Blunt also joined the festival, opting for the 10-mile option. They said "The weather was perfect and we were given a very warm Yorkshire welcome along by the spectators, their dogs and even a couple of guinea pigs! It was made extra special by all the music played along the way from local bands. We had a great run and were very pleased to finish in 02:00:19 and 01:59:47 respectively." Great South Run Jo Kenlin completed the Great South Run on Sunday in Portsmouth finishing in 02:44:46. Jo said ‘It was a tough run as I’m just back from injury and illness, and hit a brick wall at the 5-mile mark. But I continued and managed to get through. Last 2 miles are along the coast and you take in many of Portsmouth’s landmarks." Parkrun roundup Elwyn shared he ran his 50th parkrun at Stevenage
Squirrels race round the Royal Parks James Dalton and Jenny Wilkinson headed to London to take part in the stunning Royal Parks Half Marathon that winds its way through four Royal Parks. James ran to raise money for Caffod in an impressive time of 1:34:05, especially as he went into the race with a slight knee injury but is hopeful he hasn't made it worse. Jenny Wilkinson also raced round in 1:47:58 and said "Such a lovely run in the sunshine!"  Cani-Trail Ultra 50k Jill Tooley-Boys and Anna Gibson took on the mighty Cani-Trail Ultra 50k up in the Welsh mountains near Llanharan with their incredible furry sidekicks Lulu and Flora. Jill reported "We set off in the dark at 7am and soon found ourselves running literally in the clouds with 10m visibility at some points. It was a pretty brutal course with steep and stony ascents and descents, plus the odd bog and a few stiles thrown in for good measure (always tricky with a dog attached to you!). We finished a respectable 7h 40m and both in one piece – not bad considering I forgot to pack my trail shoes and had to run the whole thing wearing someone else’s shoes!"  Parkrun Roundup Lindsey and Viv's Australian trip near it's end, so this is "The final one". Loved reading these! "As it was our last Saturday in Australia, we wanted to do a parkrun. As usual we had to work out the logistics of finding a parkrun nearby we can get to and checking timings with our itinerary. Fortunately we have a car at the moment so a parkrun 20km away was doable. With a 7am start we were on the road by 6.15 and easily found the location in Urunga. A beautiful setting with a river, beach and boardwalk over the mangroves. After the large gathering of 400plus runners in Centennial Park last week, this week it was back to a field of 40 runners. As always we were made very welcome and asked the standard question “have you done Bushy?” Another lovely Parkrun completed. It’s been a lovely way of doing some running on our trip and meeting lots of very friendly people."
This weekend saw the legendary NHRR Standalone 10k take place, a regular fixture of the club calendar across the last 36 years. Bringing together runners from far and wide, members of the club ran, marshalled, and delivered a standout race, yet again! It is a special race that shares the magic of North Herts Road Runners with the community.
The race was also the Hertfordshire County Championship for 10k:
 It is hard to capture in words the magic of the Standalone, but what better way to get a feel for it than the words of some of those squirrels who flew round the course. Katie Harbon was full of praise “ The race that tests my ability to have a manic weekend helping set up and a (really) early morning and then try and run a 10k with as little prep as possible. I tend to say it’s a case of survival and a lot hope! The women’s and men’s team run Standalone to represent the club but really it’s the Marshalls, race committee and event support who make the race what it is and the success it continues to be. I’ll forever be appreciative of the opportunity to represent North Herts Road Runners but must thank everyone else behind the scenes for a FAB weekend! Wear the vest with pride!” Whilst Shahab ran as part of the winning men’s team loved the support “Privileged to be asked to run Standalone today. Amazing support on the course from the fantastic marshalls and locals. Not exactly a 'fast flat' course but managed a nearly 30 second PB, drawing off a combination of adrenaline and club support.” Lindsay Cook got her first taste of racing Standalone after years of support the organisation of the event ‘After around 20 years of helping out at Standalone 10k, I was lucky enough to have the chance to run this year. I have had a horrible cold recently so it was never going to be a great time for me today, but it wasn't about that! It was amazing to see the race from a different angle, to be cheered on by all the marshals (although that meant there was nowhere to hide lol) and to experience the lovely atmosphere on the course. I felt very proud and lucky to be able to take part in this special event and even though I found the undulations and the warm temperatures pretty challenging, I enjoyed it too. Thanks to everyone who makes Standalone 10k such an amazing day |
