NHRR News & Results

Squirrels can climb mountains!

29/5/2023

Andy Grudzinski headed to Romania for the Transylvanian Trail Ultra. Advertised as a mountain ultra, they traverse the Bucegi Mountains just a two hour car journey north of Bucharest. Andy joined the other runners at the start-line beneath Dracula's Castle in the village of Bran, ready to tackle the 50k option through the alpine scenery and mountain weather of rural Transylvania. He crossed twisting single tracks, ancient forest trails, mountain plateaus, 50% inclines on snowy paths, rock walls towering on both sides with fixed metal cables to assist if required. Andy battled through, accompanied by a 20 minute hail storm, with a snapped pole and a twisted ankle from the half way point to descend the thousands of meters to the finish line back at Bran Castle in 14 hours, saying he was "lucky to meet a fellow Brit" and they displayed their true ultra-spirit promising to help each other finish.

On Friday Stuart Overton raced in Hyde Park at the popular Serpentine Last Friday of the Month 5k, and finished sixteenth overall in 16 minutes and 58 seconds in a very competitive field.

Elwyn Howell Ran the virtual version of the Great West Run, he finished the half marathon in 1:53:16.

Parkrun action
Great to see so many squirrels out enjoying parkrun this sunny Saturday with the bank holiday resulting in lots of parkrun tourism fun. Phillip Flack revisited his childhood neighbourhood of Grovelands Park, North London where he was born and bred where he "used to go and play as a child/teenager’ he commented. Phillip was delighted with his time of 27:44, saying it was ‘my best time for a couple of years.’ He also wanted to thank head coach Karen for the one to one coaching he has received since January.

Sheila Leavy’s return to running continued at Henlow Bridge lakes for her first trail parkrun since injury. Sheila finished in 41:47 and was smiling all the way round the 2.5 lap course. James Dalton ran a personal best time at Letchworth parkrun where he is one of the regulars, either volunteering or running most weeks. He finished in first in 20:11. Helen Cairns celebrated her 25th parkrun milestone at Letchworth, a day before tackling the London Ride 100! Mike Over ran another PB of 19:44 at Stevenage and first in his age group.

Gorleston Cliffs Parkrun – Kris Whitmore 18:41

Grovelands Parkrun Enfield – Philip Flack 27:44

Leamington Parkrun – John Russell 24:54

Milton Country Parkrun – Brian Judkins 35:57

Stevenage Parkrun - Natalie Lawrence 18:53, Michael Over 19:44, Mike Phillips 21:25, Joe Dixon 21:41, Elwyn Howell 22:00, Chris Stokes 22:56, Matt Roberts 23:47, Adam Stout 27:31, Natalie Phillips 29:11

Lowestoft Parkrun – Jon Hunt 26:46

Letchworth Parkrun - James Dalton 20:11, Steve Brenton 23:29, Richard Harbon 23:42, Helen Cairns 25:42, Paul Bowal 27:08, Katherine Hinitt 27:26, Alice Noakes 27:29, Jo Harbon 28:44, Georgina Quayle 35:13, Carina Quayle 35:14, Vanessa Rolfe 38:11

Bolberry Down Parkrun – Jane Robson 33:05

Henlow Bridge Lakes Parkrun - Stewart Overton 17:22, James Godfrey 22:05, Dave Braybrook 22:18, James Poulton 22:59, Lucy O’Connor 24:53, Frances Stanton, 25:49, Bob Davis 27:34, Helen Giffin, 30:27, Sheila Leavy 41:47

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Midweek League 2023 Race 1 - Katie and Ben do the double!

21/5/2023

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The 2023 Midweek Road Race League kicked off last week with all three divisions in action on Wednesday evening. The series is a local league involving other Hertfordshire running clubs competing in 10 kilometre road races at different venues around the county, on weekday evenings from May to July.

An impressive 7 local running clubs are competing across the three different divisions this year. Letchworth based North Herts Road Runners are the only local club to compete in Division One and their 2023 campaign got off to a blistering start on the challenging Chingford course. The team were delighted to field 44 runners, with Katie Harbon and Ben Hadman the fastest individuals round Epping Forest, both comfortably claiming top spot in both the Womens and Mens individual races.

The Women's team were delighted to finish second overall, while the Men's Team were slightly disappointed to finish fifth, but confident they will bounce back at race two, as it was an exceptionally close result as they finished just 2 points behind fourth placed Trent Park Running Club.

Womens scoring team: Katie Harbon; Rhia Botha; Rachel Arnott; Astrid McKeown; Tracey Pitcairn; Paula Holm; Jane Clarke; Helen Nuttall
Mens scoring team: Ben Hadman; Darren Sunter; Nathan Pask; Sam Coxon; Stewart Overton; Edward Price; Tom Barclay; Shahab Ahmed; Vincent Wright; Richard Springall; Nicholas Malpeli; Ian Datlen

Ridlins Athletic track in Stevenage played host to the first race where Divisions Two and Three raced together. In Division Two, Stevenage's Fairland Valley Spartans got their promotion campaign off to a strong start finishing second overall, just ahead of Royston Runners in third. In Division 3, Hitchin Running Club finished joint second, comfortably ahead of Stevenage Striders in fourth, Stevenage & North Herts AC in seventh and Letchworth based Freedom Tri in eighth.

For full results see runherts.com

Fraser Cruises round "Race the Tide"
Jennie Fraser travelled to Mothercombe in Devon to ‘Race the Tide’. Opting for the ‘long half’ marathon, a 16 miler taking in just over 2,000ft elevation, Jennie said "The route consists of miles of wildflower lanes blooming like wedding confetti with trails across private estates, beaches, mud and water crossings. You essentially spend the entire time running up, to run down, to run up, to run down, to run up, whilst taking in panoramic views of postcard perfect coves, coasts and cliffs." "There is just one snag, you have to have crossed the Erme estuary (at 7 miles) before the tide comes in to be able to continue. With the weather at 22 degrees with zero cloud bank and no wind, the sea crossing was incredibly refreshing and I happily splash splashed across with the tide just below my knee." Jennie said she had "an absolute blast of an event with excellently stocked aid stations and I was delighted that I had decided to be sensible - I finished with enough energy to run another rolling mile straight back to the beach and into the sea."

Malpelli returns to form at Chester Half Marathon
Nick Malpelli took part in his second England Masters representative race of the year at the Chester Half Marathon and after "an interrupted training block" decided to target a time of 1 hour and 25 minutes. Nick said "it was a lovely day in Chester, pleasantly warm, no wind. As the race went on I managed to maintain my position in the field, but also tried to keep something back for the uphill finish I remembered from last year." He finished in 1:23:25, eleventh in his male veteran 55 age group and pleased with his performance.

Completing Parkruns this week
32 NHRR squirrels appeared at 12 different parkruns. At Storeys Field parkrun Mike Over celebrated his 50th parkrun milestone with a parkrun PB! Sheila Leavy was pleased with her fastest walking 5km PB at Stevenage parkrun in 40:51!

Gorleston Cliffs parkrun Andrew Coates 24:13

Stevenage parkrun Vincent Wright 19:04, Chris Stokes 20:56, Ian Harvey 21:14, Christian Allen 25:28, Sheila Leavy 40:51

Storeys Field parkrun Michael Over 19:56, Mike Phillips 21:10, Natalie Phillips 29:25, Tracey Palmer 29:27

Gunpowder parkrun Darren Matussa 20:05

Clacton Seafront parkrun John Russell 24:45

Barclay parkrun Tom Barclay 18:51

Great Denham parkrun Kris Whitmore 18:44

Pocket parkrun Hannah Ridley 24:05

Letchworth parkrun James Dalton 21:13, Joe Dixon 22:18, Steve Brenton 24:19, Philip Flack 29:04, Jane Clarke 29:07, Helen Cairns 29:08

Coldham’s Common parkrun Georgina Quayle 24:44

Henlow Bridge Lakes parkrun Stewart Overton 18:04, Tracy Pitcairn 22:15, Anna Greetham 26:03, Matt Roberts 26:04, Tim Banting 27:28, Anna Gibson 27:52, Bob Davis 28:45, Joseph Barker-Sherry 30:12

Talkin Tarn Country Park parkrun Dawn Power 28:18

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Squirrels crack one of UK's toughest half marathon courses

14/5/2023

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Adam Wilson and Andy Grudzinski headed off for a nice social half on the roads of Snowdonia and laughed at the Run Wales sign warning - "ONE OF THE UK’s TOUGHEST HALF MARATHONS WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! THIS IS VERY TOUGH! THIS IS VERY TOUGH!"

Andy reported that "After an evening of hydration in the sunshine, it was an early start to ensure we made it to the coffee shop before the race. From the moment we crossed the start line, it was up, up and away; up 210m in the first 2 or so miles. The run continues around two llyns with a small hill in between, before descending to the start of the last hill. If Baldock has the beast, Llanwrst has a Welsh Titan: a 1 in 7 hill rising from the 11 mile mark is a great challenge. But when you get to the top and realise you've got to drop 160m towards the finish line, the fun continues and the quads start to dream of a finish line." Both crossed the line in 2:22:18 which they were pleasantly surprised by given the 585m height gain. They highly recommend if you like a hilly challenge!

Copenhagen Marathon
Over in Denmark Karen Townsend completed her 8th Marathon in an excellent time of 3:13:05 in unseasonably hot weather!

Completing Parkruns this week, 40 NHRR squirrels appeared at 12 different parkruns. At Henlow Bridge Lake Astrid Mckeown set a new club record in the FV50 category and Ian Harvey achieved his 100 parkrun milestone. Meanwhile in Letchworth Sam Coxon completed his first parkrun and led the field home!

Letchworth parkrun: Sam Coxon 18:26; James Dalton 21:37; Rachel Arnott 22:59; Ian Datlen 23:48; Jennie Fraser 26:33; Georgina Quayle 28:27; Helen Cairns 28:51; Philip Flack 31:10

Henlow Bridge Lakes parkrun: Michael Over 20:53; Astrid Mckeown 21:35; Mike Phillips 22:39; Ian Harvey 23:05; James Poulton 23:21; Dave Braybrook 23:28; Anna Greetham 26:25; Rhiannon Botha 26:26; Matt Roberts 26:26; Lucy O'Connor 26:29; Katherine Gourd 28:22; Andrew Coates 28:56; Natalie Phillips 29:21

Stevenage parkrun: Vincent Wright 19:04; Chris Stokes 21:33; Laura Fairbanks 22:56; Stuart Cocks 24:12; Paul Bowal 26:23; Adam Stout 28:09; Hayley Cocks 36:55; Sheila Leavy 41:39

Storeys Field parkrun: Kris Whitmore 17:57; Frances Stanton 24:49; James Godfrey 24:50; Joseph Barker-Sherry 28:23

Amsterdamse Bos parkrun: Anna Priestley 31:10

Leamington parkrun: John Russell 24:46

Lincoln parkrun: Darren Matussa 19:53

Longrun Meadow parkrun: Jim Mcconnel 22:21

Rugby parkrun:Brian Judkins 33:33

Rushmere parkrun: Mike Bullock 43:52

Sheringham parkrun: Stewart Overton 18:51

York parkrun: Tom Barclay 17:39

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Squirrels fly round the Greenway Challenge

7/5/2023

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NHRR's very own Greenway challenge was on Sunday and race director Lindsay Cook "thanked everyone who made the event so successful with an amazing team effort from all those who helped organise, marshalled, and ran". The greenway is home to many black squirrels and 17 of the clubs members participated round the self-guided event in perfect conditions, although Saturday's rain made it muddy underfoot in places. Squirrels claimed victories in both the female and male categories with Dervla Downing completing the course in an impressive 1 hour and 47 minutes and Stewart Overton finished in great form just 2 weeks after his London Marathon race in 1 hour and 21 minutes.
Vanessa Rolfe ran her 2nd event since September 2021, and was "over the moon to just simply complete the course as I’ve only been running for 8 weeks & no longer than 6 miles". She dipped well under 3 hours mark finishing in 2:52:31. Hayley Cocks finished in 2 hours 54 minutes and her summary was "it was very humid,forgot how hilly it is and that I've not done any distance for over a year and was super pleased to over-take a few people and to stay in front!".

Full results: Stewart Overton 01:21:23, Ian Datlen 01:32:40, James Keogh 01:34:07, James Dalton 01:34:44, Lee Varley 01:39:12, James Johnston 01:41:44, Simon Clapham, 01:44:07, Dervla Downing 01:47:19, Stuart Cocks 01:47:59, Joanne Hoare 02:05:51, James Humphrys 02:06:02, Jillian Tooley-Boys 02:07:16, Grace Cleary 02:12:21, Nicola Withington 02:12:46, Vanessa Rolfe 02:52:32, Tracey Mccreath 03:01:03, Farzana Bhatti 03:01:04, Hayley Cocks 02:56:41

In Marathon and Half Marathon action
We had Rachel Arnott at the Milton Keynes marathon on the Early May Bank Holiday Monday in an impressive time of 03:20:46, to finish 10th lady and 2nd in her age category, gaining qualification for the English Masters Representative Marathon in October. Then across the pond Laurie Scott completed the Toronto Marathon in 4:18:48 which he described as a "nice marathon, well organised and the world's biggest heaviest medal".

Frances Stanton returned close to her home town with James Godfrey to run The Richmond Ranlegh Harriers Half Marathon. James still heavy legged from his marathon debut agreed to pace Frances round who said "It was a picturesque flat course round Hampton court and Thames River path and due to solid pacing I finished in a time of 1:58:36 achieving my goal to finish in under 2 hours for the first time in 4 years!"

Run to the Sea
On Saturday while most were at FSOTM and then watching The Coronation, a trio of squirrels including Coach and Co-Chair Cara Sutton, Anna Gibson and Helen Cromack headed to the South Coast to take part in the ultra 50km point-to-point course from Horsham through varied and hilly terrain to Brighton seafront promenade. Cara reported they "battled awful conditions of side-wind and rain throughout, but were rewarded with the best hot chips" at the end.

Results: Cara Sutton 6:28:19, Anna Gibson 6:56:13, , Helen Cromack 7:05:52.

Coronation Special First Saturday of the Month
We were lucky with dry conditions and a total of 85 runners took part with many in fancy dress outfits to have some fun before the Kings Coronation. The going was slightly slippy underfoot in places, but all 83 runners completing the 5km managed to stay upright to be rewarded with drinks and sweet treats organised by Richard Harbon as a special coronation offering.

Full results:
Steve McKeown 20:34, Katie Harbon 20:43, John Auld 21:19, James Dalton 21:31, Astrid McKeown 22:13, Hannah Ridley 22:28, James Godfrey 22:29, Richard Barker 24:32, Matt Ankers 24:34, Richard Harbon 25:27, Caroline Thrussell 25:38, Viv Lucas 26:52, Stuart Cocks 27:13, Mke Phillips 27:14, Tim Banting 27:23, Dawn Power 28:09, Andy Grudzinski 28:13, Joanne Hoare 28:29, Jo Harbon 28:31, Geoff Davis 28:41, Andrew Coates 28:42, Helen Cairns 28:50, Jane Clarke 28:50, Kat Gourd 28:58, Tash Pitman 28:58, Natalie Phillips 29:39, Sue Vaughan 29:41, Philip Flack 29:46, Emily Yossarian 29:55, Georgia Barker 30:10, Victoria Markham 30:23, Andrew Robson 31:10, Aimee Flack 31:45, Jo Sopala 34:40, Geoff Pettengell 35:21, Tracey Pitcairn 36:03, Clare Hooley 42:38, James Keogh 42:38

Completing Parkruns this week, NHRR squirrels appeared at 8 different parkruns:

Stevenage:
Ian Datlen 19:55, Chris Stokes 00:21:11, Ian Harvey 22:38, Elwyn Howell 22:47, Christian Allen 24:32, Mike Bullock 29:16, Andreea Weisl-Shaw 30:06

Mile End:
Kris Whitmore 19:08

Wimpole Estate:
Vincent Wright 20:00, Anna Priestley 31:14

Longrun Meadow parkrun:
Jim Mcconnel 18:19

Lowestoft parkrun:
Chloe Lucas 22:33

Bushy parkrun, Dublin:
Jennie Fraser 25:39

Letchworth parkrun:
Steve Brenton 24:51, Karen Shaw 34:00

Henlow Bridge Lakes parkrun:
Dave Braybrook 23:17; Bob Davis 28:29

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Squirrels shine at the Hitchin 10k

4/5/2023

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Bank holiday sunshine provided the perfect conditions for the many North Herts Road Runners who turned out to support the Hitchin 10k race on Sunday. Twenty six squirrels took to the start in the historic market square to complete the ‘beautiful course’ and the bright sunshine certainly made for a great day. Kris Whitmore led the men home in 38:11, followed by Oliver Babik (39:15), James Dalton who sneaked under 41 minutes to cross the line in 40:55, Dave Edwards (42:01), Mike Philips (43:02) and James Godfrey (43:17). Astrid Mckeown was the first female home for North Herts Road Runners in a brilliant time of 43:32, followed by Stuart Cocks who, having had only 3 hours sleep after a night shift, came in with a superb time of 44:17. Paul Holm followed next in 44:54 having achieved a massive PB at Manchester Marathon just 2 weeks before – bravo! Richard Baker also joined the great NHRR team turnout and crossed the line with a new PB of 45:07. David Weston followed in (46:10), Elwyn Howell (47:53), Mark Seddon (47:56), Laura Fairbanks (48:06 and another great post Manchester marathon race), James Poulton (48:39), Shaun Allin (53:37), Nicola Withington (58:16), Andrea Weisl-Shaw (59:03), Jenna Manggos (59:52), Lucy Hurley (1:01:25) and Ian Sutcliffe (1:01:39). Georgie Barker finished in 1:01:11, followed a few minutes later by Aimee Flack who crossed the finish line in 1:04:34, Allison Blunt (1:08:13) and Vanessa Rolfe, who having not raced since 2021 due to injury, was pleased with her superb time of 1:16:53.

Jillian Tooley-Boys competed in a slightly different event with her beloved canine companion, Lulu. ‘The Claydons’ is an eight mile scenic multi-terrain route in North Bucks. Jillian described it “as a beautiful, undulating, multi terrain route across stunning countryside and woodland. Although it was a warm day, Lulu loved the puddles left over from the wet weather!”

The parkrun was also a popular event on Saturday morning with squirrels travelling far and wide.
Stevenage
Vincent WRIGHT - 19:07
Michael OVER 20:41
Ian HARVEY 21:09
Chris STOKES 21:15
James POULTON 22:55
Emma SANDHAM 23:00
Elwyn HOWELL 23:17
Paula HOLM 23:59
Mike PHILLIPS 23:59
Jane CLARKE 24:44
Sarah MITCHERSON 25:55
Natalie PHILLIPS 29:25
Joseph BARKER-SHERRY 37:11
Letchworth
Katie HARBON 19:56
Ian DATLEN 20:31
James DALTON 21:24
Steve BRENTON 26:21
Jo HARBON 29:29
Geoff PETTENGELL 36:33
Carina QUAYLE 40:32

Milton Country Park
Georgina QUAYLE 25:16
Brian JUDKINS 34:38
Gunpowder
Darren MATUSSA 19:55
Cassiobury
Mike BULLOCK 41:37
Great Denham
Jon HUNT 22:03
Richard HARBON 23:18
Great Dunmow
Kris WHITMORE 19:38
Irchester Country parkrun
Caroline THRUSSELL 25:13
Henlow
Stewart OVERTON 18:16
Yarborough
Anna GREETHAM 25:52

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Squirrels can climb mountains!

Midweek League 2023 Race 1 - Katie and Ben do the double!

Squirrels crack one of UK's toughest half marathon courses

Squirrels fly round the Greenway Challenge

Squirrels shine at the Hitchin 10k

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