North Herts hit national heights at MK 5000s

Mark Vaughan

Superb performances at the prestigious MK 5000 PB Special saw members of North Herts Road Runners seize places at the top of the national rankings.

The Letchworth-based club sent five runners to compete in the series of 5000 metre races on the Stantonbury Athletics Track in Milton Keynes. With the men’s and women’s A races also serving as the English 5000 championships, the Squirrels found themselves rubbing shoulders with plenty of high-profile GB runners. NHRR member Stewart Overton said ‘The chance to watch the current and future stars of GB athletics from lane 4 and the chance to interact (and get the odd photo) with them puts this event on a par with any track meet’.

Andrew Leach was the standout performer for North Herts as a superb 16.04 clocking put him first in the national rankings for the 55+ age group by over a minute, while Mark Vaughan’s 16.28 put him 18th in the country in the 45+ category.

Nathan Pask had a ‘bittersweet’ result, securing a 12-second personal best with 16.00, but missing a sub-16 clocking by just 0.68s of a second – ‘literally a dip for the line’ according to team-mate Overton, who finished in 16.33.

Tom Webb closed out what Overton summarised as ‘a great evening of racing for NHRR’ with 15.43 for the club’s fastest time of the night.

Damp conditions did not stop Elwyn Howell from enjoying the ‘nice scenery’ and securing 7th place in his age category as he finished the Lee Valley 10k in 55.40. Kat Gourd completed the 10-mile version of the same event in 1 hour 23 mins, and was 11th female. She said it was ‘an absolute treat to run in cooler temperatures under cloudy skies and rain after all the hot weather lately! ‘

Andrew Robson achieved new personal bests in all three triathlon disciplines as he finished third in his age group at the Galeforce Events Bedford Tri Crazy sprint triathlon. Despite the rain, ‘which could have made the ride tricky’, he was pleased to finish in 1.27.53. Andrew commented ‘It is a very friendly local triathlon and I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to dip a toe in the triathlon water, so to speak. The next race is on 29th September.’

As ever there was a strong NHRR turnout at Parkruns far and near:

Luton Wardown: Chris Stokes 20:30; Newcastle, Joe Sherry 28.20; Medina (Ise of Wight), Damon Clevely 23.38; Stevenage, Jennie Fraser 26.21, Paul Bowal 27.13, Helen Giffin 31.17, Pat Norris
33.42; Wimpole Estate, Jillian Boys 24.51; Whinlatter Forest, Glyn Blakey 26.48; Holkham, Ian Datlen 20.58,; Letchworth, James Fox 17.30, Peter Clarke 19.25, James Dalton 21.29, Jegan Simon 25.20, Ellie Scott 27.29, Carl Goodrum 28.30, Philip Flack 28.45, Lucy Hurley 31.27, Naomi Parkinson 31.28, Carol Goodrum 35.59; Fletcher Moss, Chris Poole 25.40. 
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