Chase the Moon 10k 
Alice Carty ran the Chase the Moon 10k in Londons Battersea Park on Wednesday evening, She ran a huge personal best beating her previous time by 2 mins 26 seconds and finished in a time of 44:21. Alice was the 14th woman over the line on the fast and flat course, which had both the 5km and 10km runners all mixed in together. 
 
Happy with the result, Alice commented that she was very happy to be running so fast so early in the season and grateful to the fantastic coaches we have at North Herts Road Runners. 

Bedford 5/10 miles
A few squirrels ran at the Bedford 5 & 10. The 5 mile lap course had the option to do either one lap or two on a fast flat course. It was a cold morning with a busy course early but the squirrels managed to beat the rain. 
 
Rachel Arnott ran the 10 miles in 1:16:15. Whilst running the 5 miles was Saskia Thompson 36:14 (3rd female), Lucy O'Connor 41:51 and Brian Judkins 59:31. 

Parkrun Roundup
On the 7th year anniversary of the event, 28 squirrels headed to Letchworth park run to help celebrate a birthday. The course was quite tough - with plenty of mud, it was perfect cross country practice and with cake and coffee provided afterwards, it was a great start to the weekend. 

North Herts Road Runners delivered a series of new club records and personal bests at the Fred Hughes 10-mile race in St Albans, despite a last-minute course change due to flooding.
 
Matt Sayers recorded a superb 57:30 for a new club record in the 50-plus age-group, while Rhia Botha was ‘pleased that I was able to get a personal best of 1:06:53 after missing out on the Buntingford 10-mile race a couple of weeks ago.’
 
Botha was joined in the ‘PB club’ by Shahab Ahmad (57:18), David Edwards (1:08:06), Mike Over (1:08:16) and Natalie Phillips (1:18:19).
 
Lucy O’Connor said ‘It was nice to run on my birthday and get a course PB of 1:24:38. The conditions were perfect.’
 
The first squirrel across the line was Sam Coxon (54:01), with Mike Roberts just eight second behind in (54:09).
 
Other NHRR results at Fred Hughes 10:
Rob Jowett (57:06); Pete Sibbett (1:08:57); Mike Phillips (1:13:30); Ian Datlen (1:13:39); David Weston (1:18:13); James Godfrey (1:22:05); Frances Stanton (1:27:02); Mel Flynn (1:29:06); Dawn Power (1:36:11); Richard Barker (1:40:17); Georgia Barker (1:51:49)

Thirty eight hardy North Herts Road Runners were unfazed by the freezing, icy conditions on Sunday morning making the short drive over to Stopsley to take on the notoriously hilly third race of the Three Counties Cross Country league which finishes with a steep uphill affectionately called Cardiac Climb which was even harder to climb this year due to icy patches!
 
The combined North Herts team took top spot ahead of rivals Bedford Harriers. Men's team captain and XC manager John Auld reported he was 'thrilled with the result and that the treble league win is most definitely on! Let’s keep the momentum going in to the next race at Wing - where we have a brand new course.'
 
The men's team were led home by Ben Hadman, Rob Jowett, Travis Kruger, Andrew Leach, Matt Sayers, Vince Wright, Mike Banister and Steve Mckeown and the team just edged out Bedford Harriers into second. The women’s team were led home by Rhia Botha, followed by Hannah Ridley, Tracey Pitcairn and Helen Nutall, and finished in second behind Rugby and Northampton AC. 

This is the second successive victory for both the men and the combined team, whilst the women continue to place on the podium, now having placed 1st, 3rd and 2nd in races 1, 2, 3 respectively.

John thanks everyone who was able to contribute on Sunday: runners; scorers; supporters; photographers and score takers.

Overall (provisional) league standings after 3 events...

Snowy Winter Spine Sprint
Meanwhile up in the Lake District Anna Gibson successfully completed the absolutely brutal Montane Winter Spine Sprint which involved running 46 miles along the most iconic and demanding trail in Britain: the Pennine Way. Anna took to the start line in relentless ice and snow, finishing in 17 hours, 4 minutes and 58 seconds crossing the line at 5.19AM the next day. Anna commented 'It was epic and also the hardest race I've done!. When I signed up I wasn't expecting 46 miles of snow!' Anna was supported by a special squirrel support crew, who no doubt helped keep spirits up in the challenging conditions.

Big PB at Hatfield 10k
Tom Kingham kept to the road at the Hatfield 10k today and was happy to bag a new personal best time of 00:47:24.

​Following last weekend’s bumper turn out at the Buntingford 10, this weekend saw many Squirrels taking a well-earned rest from racing.  Despite the warnings of ice and snow there was a good turn-out at the freezing First Saturday of the Month 5K on Norton Common (awaiting results). 
​Other races were:

Herts and Middx Cross Country Championships
On Saturday 4 January at Trent Park, Matt Sayers (Senior Men category) completed the course in a time of 42:23

Ely New Year’s Eve 10K
Karen Dodsworth first ran the Ely New Year’s Eve 10K over 20 years ago and keeps going back because she loves the piper in full Highland dress who plays before the start of the race at the top of the hill at 9km.  Karen described the race as having a very fast downhill start followed by 6km of flat running.  This year there was a very strong headwind for much of that 6km.  The last kilometer is a gradual downhill.  Karen ran in a time of 58:43 and is looking forward to her next 10k.

Battersea Park Half Marathon
Tom Barclay returned to Battersea Park to compete in the half marathon and ran a personal best time of 71:03 and stormed home in third place.

South West Road Runners Exeter First Chance 10k 
Elwyn Howell ran his first event of 2025 and came third in his age category (V65) in a time of 45:53