Harbon smashes the hour barrier at Sandy

​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
 

Meanwhile other runners toed the line at big city marathons with 4 runners heading to Brighton.   It wasn’t quite beach weather, but that didn’t stop Luke Nicholl dipping under 3 hours, followed by Rachel Arnott 3:18:14, fourth in her age category.  Mike Phillips was delighted to finish his debut marathon in 3 hours and 42 minutes despite bad cramping over the last 10 miles.  Across The Channel at the Paris Marathon, Jenny Wilkinson finished in just over 4 hours and said “I was pleased given I’d not been able to train properly while travelling overseas for work”.  This was Lindsay Cook’s 17th marathon and she managed even pacing, crediting head coach Karen Dodsworth for a great training plan.  She was very pleased with how she ran to finish in 5 hours and 1 minute and said "Conditions were perfect for marathon running, cold and overcast and a staggered start and wide roads made for good running without too many people. I especially enjoyed the ginger cake at the water stations and am now planning on enjoying a very large beer!”
 
Closer to home saw Andreea Weisel-Shaw and Ben Ryan head down to London to run the London Landmarks Half Marathon.  It was the first time at this event for both and they gave it rave reviews, with Ben saying “It was amazing. Great crowd support and an awesome route. Finished two minutes slower than my PB which I was very happy with considering lack of training. Need to get back to NHRR training sessions soon!”.  Andreea achieved a PB of 2:00:58 in only her third ever half marathon and loved it so much she has already pre-registered for next year!  This came just one day after a Parkrun PB of 27:10, a day after celebrating her birthday and entry into a new age category.
 
The final race report relates to the previous weekend where Jillian Tooley-Boys and her lovely dog Lulu took part in Cani-Trail UK Ultra in Llanharan, the UK’s first ever Canicross Ultra Marathon, Wales.  Gillian said it was “30 miles of super tough terrain and relentless conditions. Gales force winds, horizontal hail, endless bogs plus almost 5000ft of elevation was the order of the day and I can honestly say it was the hardest but most amazing thing I have ever done!”   Tash Pitman wondered "whether a dog could ever be nominated for Squirrel of the Month!"