​James Dalton celebrated his 200th Letchworth parkrun on Saturday morning.

​He attends the event at 9am each Saturday come rain or shine and is delighted to have clocked 1000km running round the fields on the Letchworth/Norton border and safely navigating the infamous ‘carnage corner’ 400 times.

He is also a regular volunteer at the event, often doing the pre-course check.

​It was a grey drizzly Spring Sunday, but that didn’t stop a slew of spectacular performances & PBs from North Herts Road Runners across the region in no less than 7 different races.

 Keith Hall Memorial 10K
Three squirrels headed north to the town of Thorney in Cambridgeshire to compete in the 40th anniversary Keith Hall Memorial 10k - a fast, flat, out and back race, with a qualifying opportunity for England Age Group Masters.

​First in was Rhia Botha, who finished in a spectacular time of 40:07, securing her England Masters position. Also competing Lucy O’Connor with highly impressive 50:20. Lucy noted that although there was an almighty headwind during the 2nd half of the race on the way back, she still managed to secure her masters qualifying position with just over a minute to spare. Also competing was Peter Sibbett, who finished in an amazing 43:15.

Oakley 20
Elsewhere, several squirrels headed to North Bedfordshire to take part in the hilly but picturesque Oakley 20. Completing the 20-mile race was Ian Datlen, finishing in a spectacular 2:21:08, coming 52nd overall and third in his age group.

​Also putting in amazing performances were Rachel Arnot with 2:36:52, Natasha Pitman 3:05:28, Tom Kingham 3:10:58, Alice Noakes 3:17:08, Grace Cleary 3:36:35, Jennie Fraser 3:36:35 and Michele Grudzinski
​with 03:19:09. 

Wymondham 20
Running in the Wymondham 20-mile race was Baljeet Sandher, competing in his first race over half marathon distance. Baljeet had been unsure what to expect, but was very happy with his time of 2:37, which was 3 minutes inside his target. It was noted that the event was extremely well organised and took in some beautifully picturesque (and relatively flat) Norfolk countryside.

Lee Valley Run Fest 10k
Competing in the Lee Valley 10k on Sunday was Tracy Pitcairn, who was delighted with an outstanding PB of 41:30, achieving a podium position as 3rd Female, 1st in her age category and 18th out of 363 runners overall.

​Hillingdon 20
As part of his Marathon Training, Matt Sayers took part in the Hillingdon 20, which also incorporated the Herts 20-mile county championship. Completing the four-lap course with hill, Matt was really happy to finish in 2.02, 2nd MV50 overall and 2nd MV50 in the county championship.

Muddy Mayhem
Competing in the annual 5km obstacle race on Sunday in the beautiful Woodhall Estate was Andrew Robson. Raising money for Garden House Hospice and Isobel Hospice, Andrew ran purely for the joy of it, running, clambering, crawling, and wading his way through the course along with his daughter Elizabeth and a fantastic group of friends known as Team Scaplegoats, in memory of his friend Andy Scaplehorn.

Hampton Court Half 
Finally, further afield in the historic Royal Home of Hampton Court Palace, Jeff Salter ran in the official Half Marathon, along with an old friend running his first half, finishing in an impressive 2.24. Jeff was very happy with his performance, which was his first race for 10 months after injury. He noted that it was a beautiful course, with just the right conditions.

MK festival of Running
11 squirrels ran at the clubs run of the month - the MK festival of running. The event starts at the Xscape city-centre venue and the festival consists of four great events so there really is something for everyone. There is a super-swift 5k event, a classic 10k distance race, a big Half Marathon and a 20 miler for those who like to go long or are preparing for a spring marathon. 
 
Hannah Ridley won the 5k event - she was very pleased to finish first female with a time of 19:44. 
 
Sheila Leavy and Clare Hooley both ran the 10k finishing in 1:19:50 and 1:27:04 respectively. 
 
Rachel Arnott was 2nd in her age category in the half marathon with a time of 1:37:44. Three others ran the half, James Keogh was first home for the club in 1:31:02. Mark Larwood and Andrew Liddle finished in 1:57:44 and 2:02:09 respectively. 
 
In preparation for Newport marathon - Sam Coxon finished 4th in the 20 mile race with a time of 1:54:32. Sam said that the course wasn’t as flat as he’d hoped - finishing on ‘the biggest hill’. Alice Carty, Ben Ryan and Matt Ankers finished the 20 miles in 2:35:09, 2:36:31 and 02:48:48

Rome Marathon
Caroline Thrussell achieved all her targets at the Rome Marathon with a time under 4 hours and ‘good for age’ time of 3:48:31 and new club record for over 60 female. 

High Lodge half marathon
Mel Flynn really enjoyed the nice, fairly flat trails through Thetford Forest at the High Lodge half marathon.  Mel finished in a time of 2:09:16.

Great Welsh Marathon
Elwyn Howell completed his 2nd marathon - finishing 2nd in his age category at the great Welsh in a new over 65 club record of 3:50:32. I took 7 minutes of my time for a PB.

North Herts Road Runners turned out in force at the sun-drenched Cambridge Half-marathon and delivered a set of sparkling performances to match the glorious weather. 
 
Mike Roberts led the Squirrels 31-strong contingent home, crossing the line in a superb 1:11:35, while Rhia Botha was the first female finisher for North Herts in 1:28:46.
 
Other notable performances on the famously fast and flat Cambridge course included Natalie Phillips, whose 1.45:22 left her ‘delighted to shave two minutes off my personal best’ on a ‘sunny and rather warm Sunday’.  She said ‘There is something rather special about running through the beautiful grounds of some of the University colleges.’
 
Shahab Ahmed joined the PB party with a rapid 1:15:26 and praised the ‘exceptional NHRR support on course’, adding that the ‘beautiful (but slightly warm) conditions made it a bit of a challenge after training through a miserable winter’.

Granite Way
Elwyn Howell stuck to a ‘nice and steady pace’ as he finalised his preparations  for the coming weekend’s Great Welsh Marathon by completing the Granite Way 10-mile race in Oakhampton. Elwyn finished in 1:37:24.

Tokyo Marathon
Two adventurous Squirrels with their eye on running the Six Marathon Majors toed the line at Tokyo Marathon on Sunday. Despite the hot weather Tash Pitman and Nicola Withington both enjoyed the run and although they didn’t score personal best times, they loved the event atmosphere as the Japanese cheer squads made a big effort to dress up with groups of Godzillas, Pikachus and Kermit among the most popular outfits.

​Nicola described the marathon as ‘hot, tough with an awesome atmosphere.’ Tash finished in 3:50:40 and Nicola in 4:23. 

The Jones O Gymru Anglesey Half Marathon
Seven Squirrels headed north-west to run the Jones O Gymru Anglesey Half Marathon in Wales.  Described as a challenging race with breathtaking scenery and views of Snowdonia and the Menai straight.  The course stretches along the scenic coastline and over the Menai suspension bridge.  Dervla Downing finished in 1:46:50, Caroline Thrussell in 1:49:08 (and was 1st in her age category FV60), Michelle Grudzinski in 1:57:57, Jennie Fraser in 1:59:12, Paul Bowal in 2:10:53, Andy Grudzinski in 2:13:38 and Adam Wilson 2:17:16.