22 August 2021

This weekend saw a flurry of squirrels take part in many different races, varying in distance and undulation, with PB’s flying everywhere!  
The Great Hertfordshire Area of Natural Beauty Run which is a charity event organised by the 2021 club charity, The Garden House Hospice, saw North Herts Road Runners compete in both the 10k and Marathon. Jillian Tooley-Boys and Elwyn Howell took part in the 10k where Jillian finished 1st lady in a superb time of (58:22), and Elwyn in (52:50). Jillian was hoping for sub 60 and was ‘chuffed to bits with result’. In the marathon, Sue Foot and Andrew Porter may have had to do a bit more navigation than expected, with a couple of misleading arrows along the way causing slight confusion with the route, but they enjoyed the fantastic Herts and Beds countryside and finished in a time of 06:08:00.
Elsewhere, the Thorney 5 miler which is described as a ‘Pancake flat out and back road race’, saw three North Herts Road Runners finish the presumably PB course. Richard Weber, Lucy O’Connor and Brian Judkins all headed to Bedford and did NHRR very proud. Richard Weber finished in a time of 36:56 which was a fantastic PB. Similarly, Lucy O’Connor also smashed her PB and finished 1st in her age category.
Meanwhile in the city, four North Herts Road Runners headed to compete in the London Big Half Marathon, which although saw less crowds and less atmosphere, was still a fantastic race to compete in. Ironically, in his last major race before covid and first major race post lockdown, David Weston felt empowered by his fellow North Herts Road Runners and flew round the course in a phenomenal time of 98 minutes. Also taking part was Matt Sayers, Shaun Allin and Dave Edwards, who finished in 1:18:50, 1:36:00 and 1:34:43 respectively. Matt explained, ‘although I was disappointed with my time, I’m grateful to be running races again and it was a good dress rehearsal for my return trip to London on 3rd October’.
Helen Cromack took part in the Oundle 20 miler as part of her training for the Brighton marathon. Helen described the course as undulating and finished in a time of 03:45:48. A great time considering it is the furthest Helen has ever run!
Vince Wright headed to Kings Lynn and competed in the GEAR 10k. Considering Vince is returning from injury he ran a smashing time of 38:41, matching his personal best. 
The virtual midweek league continued this week with 17 squirrels submitting a time for the final race. The final result saw both our women’s and men’s team come 4th, which put us in 4th place overall, and 2nd in the masters, ladies’ and men’s. Next year when we get back to racing properly we will be defending out division 1 title, so we’re looking forward to seeing record turn outs and great racing.
Parkrun was again a very popular option for many North Herts Road Runners with members venturing near and far. Martyn and Rachel Annetts competed at Bedford in (21:27) and (28:01) respectively. Steve Williamson was the only NHRR representative at Kettering in a great time of (25:11). More locally, seven North Herts Road Runners headed to Stevenage where Ellie Scott lead the group home in 23:54. Followed by Paul Bowal (25:12), Anna Greetham (25:52), Andrew Coates (25:52), Sue Vaughan (27:55), Philip Flack (28:03) and Jane Clarke (42:05). Across the border in Cambridgeshire, Brian Judkins ran at the popular Wimpole Estate event, finishing in (37:33). Meanwhile, Helen Cairns competed at Folkstone in a time of (23:47). Further afield in beautiful Norfolk, Andrew Underhill dipped well below the 30 minute mark, completing the run in (28:44). At home in sunny (sometimes!) Letchworth, ten runners stormed the undulating course. Adrian Sherwood finished first NHRR in a time of (20:24), closely followed by James Dalton (20:39), Philip Hawkes (21:37), James Poulton (23:53), Ian Datlen (23:55), Charlotte Hannah Coles (26:48), Georgina Quayle (27:08), Carl Goodrum (27:11), Bob Davis (28:22) and Carina Quayle (34:36).