6 June 2021 - Squirrels conquer hot and hilly half

​The North Herts Road Runners made light work of the hot new June iteration of the Hertfordshire Half Marathon.
A scurry of squirrels from the North Herts Road Runners ventured to Knebworth on Sunday 6th June to take part in the Hertfordshire half marathon. The popular race, which was being held in the summer instead of the autumn for the first time, started in the parkland in front of the iconic Knebworth House before heading out onto on closed roads in the surrounding local countryside.
The combination of hot weather and a challenging hilly course did not deter the super squirrels, with several smashing their goals to achieve some fantastic personal best times. Ian Datlen, who was proud of his team mates for “running their legs off”, was the first squirrel over the line, in a fantastic new personal best of 1:30:04, with James Datlen following closely behind in 1:33:51, Shaun Allin in 1:42:03, and Rhia Botha in 1:43:14. Dave Braybrook was delighted to achieve a huge personal best of 1:43:54, admitting that it  was “very warm day to be doing an undulating course”, but was proud to complete the race “with a sprint finish that the coach would be proud of!”
The impressive times and personal bests did not stop there, with Matt Roberts (1:45:06), Anna Greetham (1:45:27), and Charlie Jones (1:45:32) all smashing their previous records. Other squirrels completing the race were Alexandra Gates (1:47:45), Kyle Stout (1:58:11), Liam Jones (1:58:15), Rachel Canning (2:07:46), and Siobhan Walsh (2:45:03). There was also a 10 km event at the same venue, which Elwyn Howell finished in a new personal best of 47:40, coming second in his age category. 

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