After its postponement on Saturday the 7th December due to Storm Darragh, NHRR were finally able to stage the annual Santa Canta 5k on Norton Common on Saturday, and what a fine turn out it was. Over 200 runners took part and there was a veritable sea of Santa hats, Elf costumes & Snowman costumes on display, with the dedicated runners braving the muddy terrain to complete a 2-lap circuit of the Common.

The event was organised to raise money for the fantastic Headway Herts, who work tirelessly to improve lives of those affected by brain injury. It raised £500 and was described as ‘truly magical’ by those who took part. Prizes were given to the participants with the best costumes.​

Chase the Moon Battersea Park 10K
Elsewhere, Tom Barclay took part in the Chase the Moon Battersea Park 10K on Wednesday evening, finishing in a fantastic 3rd place with PB of 32:56, beating his previous best by 56 seconds.

​Parkrun Roundup
With our Santa Canta taking place on the same day, there were fewer parkrun results than usual to report on, but for those who did get to run in the mud, there were some excellent performances to report on. Of particular note was Elwyn Howell, who completed his first parkrun outside of the U.K, in Rheinpark in Cologne. He finished in 21st place and was 1st in his age category.

The other results were as follows:

Sunday was North Herts Road Runners home race in the Three Counties XC league. The weather was kind to the event with a beautiful sunny morning with minimal wind and stunning scenary. The event HQ used gazebos in a local field. The course was challenging with some steep hills and plenty of wet thick mud. 
 
Trailing overall after the first race, the team had an good opportunity to take the lead going into the festive period. 
 
45 squirrels ran in total including some first time cross country runners as well as some well grounded veterans of the sport. 
 
On the day, NHRR’s men won the race emphatically - beating close rivals Bedford Harriers and Amptill and Flitwick Flyers who were second and third respectively. 
 
NHRR’s women were third behind Rugby and Northampton AC and Bedford Harriers. This was a very close race with only 4 scoring points between these clubs. 
 
The combined team result was that NHRR won the race - beating Bedford Harriers and Amptill and Flitwick Flyers who completed the podium.
 
Scoring for the women’s team was Hannah Ridley, Tracey Pitcairn, Astrid Mckeown and Caroline Thrussell. Scoring for the men was Sam Coxon, Rob Jowett, Andrew Leach, Travis Kruger, Ben Sewell, Shahab Ahmad, Matt Sayers and Vince Wright. 
 
This means that after two events, NHRR lead the league overall in the combined team competition. The men’s team are second overall, 1 point behind Bedford Harriers. The women are also second behind Rugby and Northampton AC, equal on points, but trail by a very close 2 scoring points.
 
John Auld, the clubs mens team captain and cross country representative, thanked everybody for their contributions to the event as a whole - adding that the team victory and overall league placings was a lovely cherry on top. Its brilliant to have NHRR top of the league for Christmas and starting the new year leading the league overall. 

Plymouth Reindeer 5k 
Elwyn Howell completed the Plymouth Reindeer 5k in Central Park in 23:57 finishing in 8th place. This is a new event that will raise money for local charities. Elwyn described it as a nice event with a mince pie and a reindeer medal at the end. 

Parkrun roundup
Letchworth: Kris Whitmore (23:04), James Dalton (24:38), Steve Brenton (28:29), Michelle Grudzinski (29:44), Adam Wilson (33:16), Jennie Fraser (37:42), Michael Over (37:43)

Norwich: Chloe Lucas (22:34)

Stevenage: Daniel Wrigley (23:51)

Parkrun
We know Parkrun is not a race but one highlight from this week’s results is Tom Barclay’s time of 15:58 at the York event finishing just two seconds behind the leader.

This Saturday we had a number of Squirrels celebrating milestone Parkruns. Jon Hunt, Chris Stokes and Paula Holm made the pilgrimage to Bushy Parkrun (the home of Parkrun) to celebrate their 100ths and 50th Parkruns respectively. They were 3 of a field of 1400 runners on the completely flat, one lap course with glimpses of Hampton Court Palace for an exceptionally well organised event!