Race Report for Week Ending 12th December

Pictured: John Auld with two fellow runners.

On Saturday four squirrels journeyed across to Oxford for the SEAA Masters XC Champs. Andrew Leach and Dickie Harbon ran in the earlier mens vet 50 race over approximately 5.8 miles. With firm ground and good running conditions, Andrew managed to pull away from the chasing pack in the first half a mile and by the second lap it appeared he was over half a mile ahead of the second placed runner. Dickie also put in a sterling performance and looked to be having a great run. Andrew finished first in 32:48 and Richard finished 65th in 39:48.

Jim McConnel and Mark Vaughan ran in the mens vet 40 race later in the afternoon. In deteriorating conditions Jim finished strongly in 17th place. Mark finished 20th in 34:12.
 
Six squirrels ran five different Park runs this week. Chris Poole ran Finsbury in 24:48. This was Chris' 85th UK parkrun event. Steve Tracey and Nicky Kemp ran at Bedford in 19:04 and 23:42 respectively. Steve ran a PB for the course and Nicky ran a 5K PB. Sheila Leavy ran a new PB at Stevenage in 29:06. Vincent Wright ran Wimpole in 20:58 and Brian Judkins ran his 50th different parkrun at Huntingdon, finishing in 35:12. 
 
Michelle Grudzinski ran a new PB at the Milton Keynes Winter Half marathon in 1:57:54. Michelle was had a great start and was knew she was on for a PB. The last three miles were tough but she managed to hang in and dip under the 2 hour mark for the second time.
 
John Auld ran Roseberry Topping half marathon which is part of the Hardmoors Trail Series. Heading over the North York Moors to the Roseberry Topping, the route was very hilly and full of mud and was actually 14.5 hardmoor miles long. After running in a group exchanging 3rd to 5th positions, the hills eventually took their toll on the legs and John finished in 5th place.

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