Historic League Victory

Trent Park MWL Runners

Champion Squirrels! North Herts Road Runners win the Midweek League for the first time in the club’s history

Thursday saw the final race in Division 1 of the Midweek League, in which leading clubs from Hertfordshire and North London battle it out in a summer series of 10k races. North Herts Road Runners not only finished as overall winners on the night, but also sealed the league win. It was the first time the Letchworth-based club has won the first division, and was particularly impressive given the larger size of some of the league’s other clubs. Women’s team captain, Katie Harbon, said “We can’t forget that Division 1 is hard, with several strong clubs competing against each other and with every place to play for it certainly does test your strength.”

Throughout the season both the women’s and men’s NHRR teams consistently delivered leading results, right the way through to the final fixture, in which the women’s team finished second, having worked their way from third place to second throughout the four races, placing eight scoring runners between 4th position (Katie Harbon) and 46th (Rhia Botha). The men’s team won their race, as they have done in every fixture this season, placing twelve scoring runners between 3rd position (Tom Webb) and 22nd (John Rayner). “It wasn’t just the scoring teams that made us win,” said Katie Harbon, “but every single runner who put their all into each race contributed to our success.”

See below for all Thursday's results.

Saturday was the Midsummer Dawn and Dusk double First Saturday of the Month 5k. With cakes at the end and donations to the Hospice, 86 runners completed the dawn event and a 49 runners then ran at dusk. NHRR’s very own James Fox won at Dawn and whilst Matt Sayers won at Dusk.

Vanessa Rolfe had a good run at the Ware 10 mile race, despite not feeling confident following so closely to the MWL race on Thursday and a double appearance at the Dawn and Dusk. However, she did better than expected and finished in 1:53:37.

Showing off their multi-sport skills, several squirrels participated in the Hitchin Triathlon. Several more came down in support and there was many cheers from fellow squirrels on the course. Steve McKeown won the race, “fending off the youngsters” and retained his title from last year. Sofie Thrussell was third lady and Caroline Thrussell was 1st FV50. Shani Fielding throughly enjoyed completing the super sprint nitro event. Hayley Cocks also took on the challenge of Swim Bike Run for the first time and “would definitely do it again”. Adam Wilson completed the sprint distance for the first time. Afterwards Adam said that he beat his target time, but admitted he needs to work on his transitions. John Auld also competed, finishing 8th, taking 3 mins off his time from last year.

Anna Greetham and Helen Cromack had a great weekend at Love Trails Festival in The Gower. They each ran in the 5km, 13km and 9km guided trail runs taking in beautiful beaches and stunning scenery. With a relaxed vibe and food and music, they described it as a brilliant way to enjoy trail running.
Lucy Hurley went to Willingham to do the Fen Gallop 10k, and event fundraising for the local primary school. She finished in 51:40 and received a wooden medal.

Jo Summers ran marathons in the 5 day Great Barrow Challenge. She finished in 4:30 on Monday and 4:14 on Saturday. 


Midweek league results;


Race Pos Cat Vet Time Name Surname Cat. 
3 3 34:50 Thomas Webb S 
6 6 1 1 35:36 Andrew Leach V 50 
7 7 1 2 35:43 Mark Vaughan V 40 
8 8 2 3 35:49 Jim McConnel V 40 
10 10 35:59 Adam Bowller S 
12 12 36:12 James Fox S 
13 13 36:21 Nathan Pask S 
15 15 4 5 36:40 Matthew Sayers V 40 
18 18 36:52 Stewart Overton S 
19 19 6 7 36:54 Wayne Bell V 40 
21 21 8 9 37:03 Edward Price V 40 
22 22 37:04 John Rayner S 
29 29 37:38 Ollie Saville S 
49 49 38:58 Andy Mutton* S 
52 52 3 20 39:19 Nicholas Malpeli V 50 
93 4 41:24 Katie Harbon S 
99 95 30 36 41:36 James Keogh V 40 
110 105 42:15 John Auld S 
112 6 1 1 42:23 Astrid McKeown V 45 
122 115 38 50 43:12 Ian Datlen V 40 
127 118 40 53 43:22 Vincent Wright V 40 
134 10 3 5 43:38 Paula Adams V 45 
137 11 44:06 Sophie Thrussell S 
138 127 16 59 44:06 Peter Sibbett V 50 
155 137 45:26 Brent Lloyd S 
171 22 1 14 46:49 Caroline Thrussell V 55 
172 150 51 73 46:50 Andrew Underhill V 40 
181 26 7 17 47:15 Helen Cairns V 45 
183 157 22 77 47:27 Richard Harbon V 50 
186 159 47:32 Mark Seddon S 
188 28 11 19 47:42 Rachel Arnott V 35 
191 162 47:56 Scott Reed S 
213 177 60 91 49:33 James Drew V 40 
219 179 62 93 50:04 Steve Tracey V 40 
221 181 26 94 50:15 Andrew Robson V 50 
231 189 67 102 50:44 Stuart Cocks V 40 
240 46 51:16 Rhia Botha S 
252 53 21 39 51:58 Dervla Downing V 35 
258 55 52:23 Ellie Scott S 
261 57 22 42 52:38 Jane Clarke V 35 
262 205 52:41 Daniel Mallett S 
266 61 52:53 Kat Gourd S 
269 207 36 117 52:58 Johnny Spinks V 50 
276 212 72 120 53:34 Harry Agius V 40 
281 214 38 122 54:09 Andrew Cooper V 50 
283 215 11 123 54:26 Elwyn Howell V 60 
296 75 7 53 55:36 Linda Aird V 55 
297 76 25 54 55:38 Lewina Agius V 35 
303 80 9 58 56:17 Lucy O'Connor V 55 
314 85 10 61 57:06 Jo Harbon V 55 
316 87 27 63 57:10 Jennie Andrews V 35 
317 230 57:13 Chris Poole S 
329 235 3 141 58:06 Andrew Porter V 70 
336 101 30 76 58:37 Jennie Fraser V 35 
341 239 4 145 58:56 Ian Sutcliffe V 70 
344 104 30 79 59:28 Sue Vaughan V 45 
345 105 16 80 59:28 Karen Dodsworth V 55 
361 115 35 90 1:01:17 Alison Blunt V 45 
364 247 18 152 1:01:34 Geoff Murray-Rochard V 60 
369 119 19 94 1:02:25 Miranda Morgan V 55 
387 131 1:04:56 Gladys Cheng S 
394 138 28 110 1:06:24 Vanessa Rolfe V 55 
397 140 40 112 1:07:45 Lindsay Cook V 35 
400 143 29 115 1:08:23 Jane Tyler V 55 
406 258 21 162 1:11:34 Patrick Norris V 60