Scurry of Super Squirrels Smash Standalone

Darren Sunter

Sunday was host to NHRR’s esteemed Standalone 10k. The weather was as cheerful as the amazing NHRR marshals. Whilst the majority of the club volunteer to help on race weekend, a team is selected to compete in the event and county championships.

North Herts Road Runners men won the open team competition with a team of Andrew, Adam, Darren and Mark. The ladies team also won the open with Katie, Astrid and Paula. In the Hertfordshire 10km veteran county championships, NHRR men of Andrew Mark, Ed and Matt won the county gold. Likewise the ladies won the veteran county champs with Astrid, Paula and Sarah.

Squirrels also won individual gold with Mark Vaughan winning the V40 category gold. Andrew Leach was 3rd overall in the race and the 1st V50 in the county. The gold kept coming for the ladies with Paula Holm wining 1st V35 and Astrid Mckeown winning V45. Oliver Brady was 2nd U20 and set a new club record. Sarah Mitcherson was 2nd in the V35 county champs and Jane Clarke was 3rd V35.

In the race, first home for the club was Andrew Leach who finished 3rd overall in 33:23. Other members of the team were right behind him meaning that after the first two in the race, NHRR had 5 squirrels in the top 7 - finishing continuously from 3rd to 7th. Adam Bowller (4th) with a new PB of 33:33 said afterwards that it was “An absolute honour to represent the club when so many others are working hard to make the wonderful event happen. Thanks so much for the fantastic support out on course”. Others finishing for the men were Darren Sunter (5th) 33:37 (PB), Mark Vaughan (6th) 34:09, Ed Price (7th) 34:42, Matt Sayers (11th) 35:07 (PB), Oliver Brady (21st) 36:42 (PB) (CR). Darren said after the race that following his PB at Hatfield 5km earlier in the week and another at Standalone - he’d was looking forward to cracking open a bottle of Drambuie to celebrate. 

The ladies team was fantastic too. First home was Katie Harbon (65th) 39:34 followed by Astrid Mckeown (88th) 40:55, Paula Holm (101st) 41:23, Sarah Mitcherson (120th) 42:11, Jane Clarke (144th) 42:57 (PB), Sophie Thrussell (145th) 43:00 (PB), Helen Cains (169th) 44:00.

Standalone Eve was also the First Saturday of the month, and this day is always host to NHRR's own 5km in Norton Common. The event saw 47 runners in the morning sunshine before the rain started. NHRR's own Paul Jackson lead the way finishing in 17:51 whilst the first lady was NHHR's own Eva McCabe finishing 10th overall in 21:39. The field included another 12 squirrels including James Keogh (4th) 19:20, Ian Datlen (7th) 21:10, Declan McCabe (9th) 21:39, James Walsh (14th) 22:26, Caroline Thrussell (19th) 23:53, Geoff Murray-Rochard (28th) 26:51, Lewina Agius (30th) 27:08, Andrew Porter (34th) 27:55, James Dalton (36th) 28:24, Lindsay Cook (44th) 31:09 and Dawn Power (45th) 31:58.

Nick Malpeli ran in what he described as almost perfect conditions, chilly and dry, at the Chester Marathon. It was as good as day as it could get, said Nick, finishing in 41st overall and 2nd MV50 with a time of 2:43:16. This was a PB by over 1 minute. Competing in the England vs Celtic nations challenge, Nick finished 1st MV50 and 2nd in the British masters MV50. Nick also achieved the 3rd highest age grading in the England masters marathon team. Other squirrels running at Chester were Lucy Hurley and Naomi Parkinson who finished in 4:18:41 and 4:07:20 respectively.

On Wednesday, a scurry of 35 squirrels participated in the 3rd and final race in the Hatfield 5k series. First home for the club was Tom Webb (4th) 15:58. Darren Sunter (5th) 16:15 (PB), Mark Vaughan (7th) 16:28, Matthew Sayers (10th) 16:38, Stewart Overton (12th) 16:40, Oliver Brady (22nd) 17:34 (PB), John Rayner (26th) 17:45, Nick Malpeli (37th) 18:21, Lee Hayes (46th) 18:38, John Auld (47th) 18:45, Astrid Mckeown (50th) 18:59, Vincent Wright (53rd) 19:28, Martyn Annetts (55th) 19:34, David Weston (60th) 19:42, Sarah Mitcherson (69th) 20:35, Jane Clarke (74th) 20:46, Peter Sibbett (75th) 20:46, Chris Poole (86th) 21:28, James Walsh (91st) 21:27, Andrew Underhill (98th) 21:49, Ellie Webb (103rd) 22:03, Rhia Botha (106th) 22:06, Lucy O'connor (110th) 22:12, Hannah Keeble (126th) 23:27, Russell Hagan (138th) 00:24:17, Geoffrey Murray-rochard (154th) 25:21, Nicky Tracey (157th) 25:36, Sue Vaughan (162nd) 26:18, Karen Dodsworth (168th) 27:00, Joy Stroud (185th) 30:09 , Brian Judkins (186th) 30:22, Helen Marson-smith (189th) 30:37, Hayley Cocks (190th) 30:45 (PB), Joanne Sopala (201st) 34:54, Jo Kenlin (202nd) 37:14. 

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