Squirrels slay the Marathon dragon on Saint George's Day

The 43rd edition of the much loved London Marathon returned to its pre-pandemic April billing on Sunday, Saint George's Day with the weather offering the classic Spring mixed bag of heavy showers and bright sunshine.  Sixteen North Herts Road Runners undertook the epic 26.2 mile challenge, many of them raising money for important charities as they notched up the miles.  They were cheered round by the Super Squirrel Support Squad who were strategically dotted around the course. Sophie Thrussell thanked the team for their support, saying "It really does make the world of difference".

First female home for North Herts was Sophie Thrussell in her best ever time of 3 hours and 13 minutes which gives her a championship entry for next year's race.  Rhia Botha "was dreading the cold and wet" but ran her best marathon time of 3 hours and 26 minutes.   Lucy O'Connor looked in great form to finish in 3 hours and 57 minutes, with Eve Surridge close behind raising money for Dementia UK.  Sue Foot finished almost less than a minute ahead of Dawn Power in 4 hours and 39 minutes.  Dawn was running in a club ballot place and raising funds for our club charity Stevenage and North Hertfordshire Child Contact Centre.  Andreea bolstered our female contingent in 4 hours and 57 minutes, and in typical Andreea fashion said yesterday evening "I can't wait to get training again and improve my time!"

First male home for the Squirrels was Ben Hadham in a time of 2 hours and 32 minutes in his debut marathon, and ranks 3rd in the all-time marathon list! He was closely followed by experienced marathoner Matt Sayers who was "both pleased and relieved" to finish in 2 hours and 38 minutes and Ben Sewell in 2 hours and 45 minutes. Tom Barclay ran a stunning debut marathon in 2 hours and 48 minutes. Stewart Overton also smashed the 3 hour barrier in 2 hours and 50 minutes. Casey Walker and Dan Mallet finished within seconds of each other in just over 4 hours and 13 minutes.  Alan Hazlehurst had knee pain from around 19 miles, but battled on over the last 7 miles to finish in 5 hours and 25 minutes.  Paul Forde supported the men home, breaking the six hour barrier in 5:59:52.

Runners were also able to take part in the London Marathon virtually if they wished, and we had one brave squirrel take on this challenge. James Dalton set off around the local towns and villages to complete his 26.2 miles in 4 hours and 15 minutes.  

Also worth celebrating the performance of our North Herts friend Yuko Gordon who ran for Fairlands Valley Spartans. Yuko won the female 70-74 age category in an amazing time of 3 hours, 28 minutes and 20 seconds, setting a new GB record and only 4 minutes off Jeannie Rice's world record set in Berlin in 2019.
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Full results:
Ben Hadman 2:32:18; Matt Sayers 2:38:42; Ben Sewell 2:45:03; Tom Barclay 2:48:48; Stewart Overton 2:50:45; Sophie Thrussell 3:13:22; Rhia Botha 3:26:04; Lucy O’Connor 3:57:45; Eve Surridge 3:59:17; Casey Walker 4:13:37; Dan Mallett 4:13:59; Sue Foot 4:39:37; Dawn Power 4:40:16; Andreea Weisl-Shaw 4:57:59; Alan Hazlehurst 5:25:06

Parkruns
41 squirrels ran at 11 different Parkruns this week.

Leamington: John Russell (25:15)

Bedford: Mike Bullock (39:37)

Milton Country: Anna Klunika (19:41), Frances Stanton (29:35)

Stevenage: Ian Harvey (20:54), Mike Phillips (21:13), Mike Over (21:15), Elwyn Howell (21:40), Matt Roberts (22:27), James Poulton (23:07), Chris Stokes (23:27), Ian Datlen (24:51), Andrew Coates (24:56), Barbara Sayers (25:07), Angeliki Shearstone (28:07), Paula Holm (28:42), Natalie Philips (28:42), Amanda Greig (30:10).

Mile End: Kris Whitmore (18:55)

Sheringham: Richard Harbon (26:00), Jo Harbon (30:28)

Wimpole Estate: Jane Robson (33:12), Julie Taylor (33:13)

Shrewsbury: Andy Grudzinski (27:08)

Cleethorpes: Jon Hunt (22:33)
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Letchworth: James Dalton (21:12), Steve Brenton (25:00), Georgina Quayle (25:17), Philip Flack (28:40), Alice Noakes (29:21), Aimee Flack (33:27), Karen Shaw (33:35), Geoff Pettengell (35:42), Carina Quayle (39:10).

Great Denham: David Edwards (19:53)

Henlow Bridge Lakes: Richard Barker (23:43), Dave Braybrook (24:50), Rob Milburn (26:52), Tim Banting (27:13), Bob Davis (29:33). 

Squirrels roll with it at Manchester Marathon
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Twelve North Herts Road Runners headed up to Manchester to take part in the marathon which is seen as one of the fastest courses in the country.  There were 7 personal best times and three athlete smashed the 3 hours barrier in near perfect conditions.
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First home for the club, was Sam Coxon, knocking an impressive 15 minutes off his debut marathon time to lead the North Herts contingent home in 2:45:05.  He was followed home by Anna Klucnika who also ran her fastest ever marathon despite a "huge crash" to finish in 2:54:33.  Ollie Parsons completed the trio to break the magical sub 3 hours, also running his fastest ever time of 2:58:51.  Luke Nicholl has just joined the club and did a brilliant time of 3:06:56, even more impressive considering he only completed Brighton two weeks ago!  Paula Holm had an amazing race, speeding up with every mile to knock 14 minutes off her previous best time to finish in 3:21:06.  Talking after the race Paula credited coach Karen for an excellent training plan to get her to the start line uninjured and in peak condition.  James Godfrey also looked determined and finished in 3:28:23.  Laura Fairbanks had a stunning race to finish in 3:34:00, a 14 minute improvement from her previous best time from Paris in 2019 and a huge 53 minutes faster than her first marathon in London 2014.  She commented "she is over the moon, gave it everything and never been so relieved to see a finish line in her life!"  David Weston dipped under 4 hours in 3:59:14 and is now focused on his training plan for the Richmond Marathon in September.  New club member Emma Sandham ran an excellent 4:00:22, a huge 29 minutes off her time at Edinburgh last year and she is "super chuffed"!  Jodie Wilkes was next home in 4:08:47 followed by Anna Gibson in 4:35:12 and Laura Preston in 5:57:55.

​Full results: Sam Coxon 2.45.05; Anna Klucnika 2.54.33; Ollie Parsons 2.58.51; Luke Nicholl 3:06:56; Paula Holm 3.21.02; James Godfrey 3.28.23; Laura Fairbanks 3.34; David Weston 3.59.14; Emma Sandham 4.00.22; Jodie Wilkes 4.08.47; Anna Gibson  4.35.12; Laura Preston 5.57.55

Easter saw members of North Herts Road Runners fanning out across the country and tackling races wherever they were on their travels.
 
The Maidenhead Easter 10 provided a handy stop-off for Linda Aird on her return from a holiday in Bruges and was also an opportunity to revisit the scene of her best 10-mile time, which she set on the same course in 2011. ‘12 years and plenty of injuries down the line, but continuing my cautious return to racing, I wanted to test myself over a slightly longer distance’ said Aird, as she set herself a pre-race target of finishing in less than 1 hour 40.
 
She ‘headed off cautiously in favourable conditions’ and was pleased to find she could ‘increase the pace a little in the last couple of miles’. A fast finish saw her clock a very pleasing 1.32.39 - ’10 mins slower than my PB, but not the personal worst I was expecting’.
 
Anna Greetham reported that she had to ‘battle the elements’ as well as the course as she tackled the Easter 10k Coastal Road Race in Guernsey. After a ‘character-building’ race she was pleased to cross the line in 49.08 and celebrate with a jam doughnut  provided by her support crew in the form of her brother!
 
Elwyn Howell completed two races in Devon, celebrating his birthday with a 21.31 finish at the Teignmouth Parkrun on Easter Saturday and then clocking 45.43 at Yeovilton’s Easter Bunny 10k on Monday. Howell made it a particularly active holiday by also fitting in a 13-mile training run on Easter Sunday!
 
Ross Black was another Squirrel on tour, in his case tackling the ‘Kilomathon’ 13.1 km race in Edinburgh, which he finished  in 1.04.17
 
Closer to home, Sheila Leavy took the short trip down the A1 to Stevenage and was delighted to complete her first Parkrun since a major hip operation, completing the 5km course in 43:10. Adopting a fast-walk strategy, she said she ‘really enjoyed it and was able to keep up a steady pace’. Well done, Sheila!
 
The Squirrels recorded another Parkrun success by providing both male and female first finishers on the hilly Letchworth course, with Tom Webb and Katie Harbon clocking 18.02 and 19.07 respectively. Stewart Overton was first finisher at Henlow Bridge Lakes in 17.45.

​North Herts Road Runner Katie Harbon joining 10 other squirrels at the sell-out hilly Sandy 10 mile race on Sunday which was our April Run of the Month.  She won the female race and finished fifth overall in a blistering 59 minutes and 40 seconds breaking the female course record and the 16 year old club record in the process.  The men’s team of Robert Harris, Ian Datlen, James Keogh and James Dalton all ran great races to win the men’s team race.  James Keogh entered as “it was the 40th anniversary of this race and realising that I had run the 30th anniversary race, which I think was my very first race as a member of NHRR. I also still have the souvenir t-shirt (as well as a bottle of beer) from that race, so wore that today.”  He said “There was a slight delay to the prize giving, but glad we stayed for it. Even when there was a collective gasp as one of the glass trophies was awarded to the wrong runner and had to be recalled just the same time as the previously awarded trophy slipped from the fingers of the recipient to sound of shattering. Thankfully, it turned out that wasn’t the trophy in question!”   Ian Datlen was chuffed with his PB and said “it was tough, hilly, hilly and breezy.... so only a bit traumatised”.  Dave Braybrook commented he was “pleased with his time on a challenging course. Fantastic to see so many friendly faces out on the course supporting.”
Sandy NHRR results:
5 Katie Harbon F 00:59:40.47
9 Robert Harris M 01:00:14.63
29 Ian Datlen M 01:06:20.83
33 James Keogh M 01:06:57.97
34 James Dalton M 01:07:21.92
67 Dave Braybrook M 01:15:58.12
110 Lucy O'Connor F 01:22:20.97
133 Steve Brenton M 01:25:44.22
151 Mel Flynn F 01:27:52.11
189 Ed Hartley M 01:34:07.97
247 Carina Quayle F 01:49:09.5
 

​Saturday saw the April Fools Day edition of the popular North Herts Road Runners free to enter First Saturday of the Month 5km on Norton Common.  Much to the runners amusement, the route started at the usual finish point and was run in reverse. Luckily there were plenty of marshals to keep the runners on the right track and Brian Bailey did a great job overseeing proceedings and scanning us all!  Conditions were incredibly muddy, with lots of slipping and sliding, but Vince Wright had a smooth run and was first male over the finish line in 20 minutes and 23 seconds, with Astrid McKeown running strongly to claim first female in 23 minutes and 4 seconds.

Want to run FSOTM next month?? FSOTM - Free 5km Race (nhrr.org.uk)