The North Herts Road Runners club mascot, Cyril the squirrel led the 100 deep queue on Tuesday 23rd July for ice cream from the Ice Baby ice cream van. After training, the club treated their members to free ice cream following their superb racing in the consecutive Three Counties Cross Country and Mid-Week League racing seasons.
 
In the Three Counties Cross Country, NHRR are five time champions and the club finished comfortably on the podium in Third place within division one of the Mid-Week League.

NHRR Parkrun Roundup 
As usual, the NHRR members enjoyed the various Parkrun events on offer, with the fastest time being bagged by Tom Barclay, completing the Selby event in 16:20 and Tracy Pitcairn being the quickest Park running NHRR lady completing the Westmill event in 22:52. Michael Over used the opportunity of being on holiday for some Parkrun Tourism, completing the Bryn Bach course 1st in his age category in a superb 19:23. 

Thursday evening saw 432 runners gather at Marriotts School in Stevenage to take part in the 31st annual FVS 3K relays. It’s always a fun event, with teams of 4 competing against runners from Herts and Beds running clubs and hosted by Stevenage's biggest running club, Fairlands Valley Spartans. Each runner must complete a gently undulating 3km course round the sailing lake in Fairlands Valley Park which was glistening in the late evening sunshine. There were awards for the top three teams in both the open and Herts Senior and Herts Veterans Mixed, Womens and Mens categories.
 
North Herts Road Runners enjoyed great success on the night with 13 teams competing and county medal winning performances from Katie Harbon taking top spot in the women’s race and the only female to dip under 11 minutes. Rhia Botha took 3rd place in the veteran 35 category while Linda Aird and Pete Sibbett both stormed to top spot in their respective veteran 65 and 60 categories. The teams were also successful with Katie Harbon, Rhia Botha and Tracy Pitcairn taking the county female senior silver team medal, while the club’s male veteran also took team silver: Shahab Ahmad; Matt Sayers; Daren Matussa and Vince Wright. In the mixed open event, NHRR team Ground Squirrel comprising Shaun Allin, Hannah Ridley, Natalie Phillips and Richard Springall came 3rd. Men’s team captain John Auld commented, ‘It’s such a fun race, unusual in it’s format and distance and brilliant to be able to run as well as watch and cheer fellow team mates. It was a fantastic atmosphere and great end to the summer club racing.’
 
On Sunday the trio of Sue Foot, Miranda Morgan and Andrew Cook fancied a longer distance and they were in luck as Spartans held their second event in 3 days which included a a self-navigating route of 26.5 miles starting and finishing at Marriotts School and mainly on trails and across farmland.  Sue reported, ‘We had to battle our way through some very tall sweetcorn fields with no clear path to follow. We had perfect weather and finished in 6 hours and 50 minutes.’

Parkrun roundup 20th July
Philip shared a lovely report from Didcot:   I spent this weekend visiting my daughter and family and joined them (first time for me) at their local parkrun at Didcot. It's a lovely course with the runners nicely spread out at the start. When they asked for any tourists, I got a few funny looks when I said Letchworth Garden City, North Herts but I wore my club shirt with pride. Over half of the fairly flat route was on grass and the rest on tarmac. You could hear the sound of the steam trains tooting their whistles at the famous railway centre behind the trees bordering the route. I shunted my way round to come 100th out of 227, 2nd out of 3 in my age group. I was very pleased to record my best parkrun time for this year 28:33. As usual, the marshalls and spectators were excellent. I would recommend this parkrun should you find yourself in this part of Oxfordshire.

Wednesday night saw the conclusion of the Midweek league series. The annual Mob match saw the clubs from all leagues race around the Welwyn course.  Tom Barclay lead the team home with a 6th place overall. First lady for NHRR was Riha Botha. 15 squirrels ran the mob match. Both of out teams were one member short of a full team. The ladies finished 5th/23 and the men’s team finished 12th. At least it meant that everybody that ran scored for the team. 
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​Full results are 

Ultra 5 x 5k - Box end park
Kris Whitmore, Ian Datlen and Rhia Botha ran the ultra 5k at Box End, which consists of 5 x 5k, a 5k every hour on the hour for 5 hours. It was a beautiful day and a wonderful, yet gruelling race.

Rhia won 1st female in a cumulative time of 1hr 53 mins, beating her time from last year, also breaking her own record for the fastest ever female to do all 5.  Kris came in 11th but unfortunately Ian had to step out after the first leg due to aggravation of a previous hamstring injury

XTERRA Snowdonia Half Marathon and 10km
The XTERRA Snowdonia Half Marathon and 10km races, held amidst the breath taking landscapes of North Wales, promised both a challenging and exhilarating experience for all participants. The morning dawned crisp and clear, perfect conditions for trail running.

Georgia, who had been diligently recovering from a significant back injury, approached the 10km race with a mix of trepidation and determination. Despite the physical and mental hurdles of her recovery, she was committed to testing her limits on the demanding Snowdonia trails. The race started off with a steep ascent that quickly tested everyone's stamina.

As the course wove around the quarries, Georgia's enthusiasm began to wane. The rugged terrain, marked by loose stones and uneven paths, was far from her favourite. The stark, industrial remnants of the quarries offered little in the way of scenic distraction, making this segment of the race particularly gruelling for her. "Not impressed," she thought, powering through with sheer grit and focus. Despite her discontent with the quarry section, Georgia’s training paid off as she pushed through the discomfort, eventually crossing the finish line with a sense of hard-earned accomplishment.

Meanwhile, in the half marathon, Richard and Natalie embarked on their race with a shared excitement. For Natalie, it was her very first trail marathon, and she was thrilled to experience it alongside Richard, a seasoned trail runner. The pair maintained a steady pace as they navigated the undulating trails, the camaraderie between them evident in their synchronized strides and mutual encouragement.

One of the highlights of their race was reaching the Halfway House on the Llanberis path. The quaint, rustic stop was renowned for serving the best cup of tea in the area, a well-deserved treat for the weary runners. Richard and Natalie savoured this brief respite, the warmth of the tea invigorating them for the challenging miles ahead. They exchanged stories and laughs, rejuvenated by both the tea and the stunning panoramic views of Snowdonia's peaks and valleys.
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As they neared the final stretch, Natalie felt the familiar burn of fatigue setting in, but Richard’s steady presence and encouragement kept her spirits high. They crossed the finish line together, a testament to their teamwork and perseverance. Natalie’s face beamed with the triumph of completing her first trail marathon, while Richard’s pride in her achievement was palpable.

Parkrun roundup
Bev Rimmer took on Pymmes in north London this week. The course is flat as a pancake, and takes in almost three laps of Pymmes Park. Bev says ‘My times have been fluctuating a lot this year, and I’m usually happy with anything around the 28 or 29-minute mark…however this one was fast from the off. No inclines, no excuse - I ran a season best of 00:26:49. Exhausted - yes! Pleased - also yes!’

As the mid week league comes to a close for 2024, North Herts Road Runners are certainly looking back on a successful season.  On Thursday, 38 squirrels headed to Trent Park for the last race. It was a tad cooler, making it a good racing temperature but the undulating course through the forest made for a tough competition. Tom Barclay led the men in, positioning 16th overall, followed closely by Mike Roberts in 19th place. NHRR women were out in force, with Rhia Botha leading the team as 5th female overall, followed closely by Hannah Ridely in 8th and Rachel Arnott in 9th. It was close competition for the team events, however NHRR smashed it, with the women coming 2nd overall and NHRR men 4th.

Overall for the season NHRR finished 3rd place, with women in 2nd and men in 4th. Comfortably on the podium, this means that NHRR will continue to compete in division 1 next year – an achievement NHRR should be very proud of.

​​Full Trent Park results: