Double Bronze at the British Masters

Nick Malpeli and Astrid McKeown at the British Masters

Sunday saw Nick Malpeli and Astrid McKeown voyaged down to Redhill Aerodrome in Surrey for the Caterham Rotary Half Marathon, which incorporated the British Masters Half Marathon Championships.

Another warm one, with Nick Malpeli finding the undulating 2 lap course hard going the second time around. Malpeli finished with a seasons worst time of 01:23:41. This was 10 seconds slower than at the Hitchin Hard Half (so maybe it wasn't so hard after all). It was still good enough to secure him the British Masters MV50 Bronze. Astrid McKeown came 3rd FV45 in a time of 1:33:25 winning the British Masters FV45 Bronze.

Most of the racing started early this weekend with Five Squirrels taking on the tough but scenic off-road course at the Panshanger Park 5 Mile race on Thursday evening. This was the second race in the local Midsummer 5 Mile Series.

Unsurprisingly it was another warm evening, and the ladies team went into the race in 1st position after the first race in the series. There was a good turn-out and the bigger field meant the women would have to dig deep to maintain their winning position.

The Ladies team kept up their performance from the previous race to take first place in the series. Finishes were Naomi Parkinson 39:13, Jullian Boys 40:05, Lucy Hurley 42:23, Adam Wilson 43:38 and Alan Hazlehurst 43:51.

Six squirrels headed to Bedford on Friday night for the Beds AAA 10k. The fast, flat course produced some excellent times. Mark Vaughan finished 6th overall in 34:26 and was 1st M45, followed closely by Adam Bowller in 7th with a new PB by 32 seconds in a time of 34:29. Stewart Overton finished in 19th place in a time of 35:58, and Ryan Smith also ran a PB finishing in 36:49. Other Squirrels taking part were Ian Sutcliffe 54:42 and Sue Vaughan 55:28.

Taking the short trip north Andrew Robson competed in the Bedford Super Sprint Triathlon for the 11th time. In perfect racing conditions Robson set new PRs for all three sections clocking an overall time of 1:26:28, almost 4 minutes quicker than last year and finishing 11th in his age group.

Parkrun results as follows: Leamington parkrun John Russell 63rd 22:15, Stevenage parkrun Simon Poole 2nd 18:25, Miranda Mogran 150th 27:43, Helen Giffen 227th 31:16, Patrick Norris 255th 33:16, Naomi Parkinson 302nd 37:37, Wimpole Estate Brian Judkins 285th 35:04, Ellenbrook Fields Chris Pool 56th 23:13, Bakewll Jodie Brumhead 79th 23:52, and Letchworh Parkrun Vincent Wright 10th 21:40, James Dalton 13th 21:52, Jillian Boys 34th 24:54, and Bob Davis 60th 28:42.

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