Squirrels conquer Chester Marathon

Three squirrels headed up to run the Chester Marathon which was run in unusually warm conditions for October making the testing hilly course even more of a challenge.  Rachel Arnott donned her first England vest as she was selected to run in the inter nation competition and finished in 3 hours 13 minutes and 9 seconds, finishing 6th in her age group and taking 5 minutes off her previous best time. Elwyn Howell completed the race, broke the magical four hour barrier in his debut marathon in 3 hours 57 minutes and 48 seconds and reported "so pleased to do a sub 4 hour time especially as it was so hot for October."  Close behind was Richard Barker crossing the line in 4 hours and 16 minutes who said "what a great event! The City is lovely place to visit both as a carb load opportunity and a post run hobble.. this year the weather was baking hot.. but the countryside was gorgeous and the support in the various villages inspiring… initially it was looking like a sub 4 hour marathon, but the heat and lack of fitness took its toll and I walked the last three miles..to come in at 4 hrs 16.. not too shabby! Can’t recommend the marathon enough and a great long sleeve T-shirt to take home!"

---

Squirrels race round the Royal Parks
James Dalton and Jenny Wilkinson headed to London to take part in the stunning Royal Parks Half Marathon that winds its way through four Royal Parks.  James ran to raise money for Caffod in an impressive time of 1:34:05, especially as he went into the race with a slight knee injury but is hopeful he hasn't made it worse.   Jenny Wilkinson also raced round in 1:47:58 and said "Such a lovely run in the sunshine!"

Cani-Trail Ultra 50k
​Jill Tooley-Boys and Anna Gibson took on the mighty Cani-Trail Ultra 50k up in the Welsh mountains near Llanharan with their incredible furry sidekicks Lulu and Flora.   Jill reported "We set off in the dark at 7am and soon found ourselves running literally in the clouds with 10m visibility at some points. It was a pretty brutal course with steep and stony ascents and descents, plus the odd bog and a few stiles thrown in for good measure (always tricky with a dog attached to you!). We finished a respectable 7h 40m and both in one piece – not bad considering I forgot to pack my trail shoes and had to run the whole thing wearing someone else’s shoes!"

---

Parkrun Roundup 
Lindsey and Viv's Australian trip near it's end, so this is "The final one".  Loved reading these!
​
 "As it was our last Saturday in Australia, we wanted to do a parkrun. As usual we had to work out the logistics of finding a parkrun nearby we can get to and checking timings with our itinerary. Fortunately we have a car at the moment so a parkrun 20km away was doable. With a 7am start we were on the road by 6.15 and easily found the location in Urunga. A beautiful setting with a river, beach and boardwalk over the mangroves. After the large gathering of 400plus runners in Centennial Park last week, this week it was back to a field of 40 runners. As always we were made very welcome and asked the standard question “have you done Bushy?”
Another lovely Parkrun completed. It’s been a lovely way of doing some running on our trip and meeting lots of very friendly people."

---

Akrotiri: Alice Noakes (26:43)

Aldenham: Christian Allen (23:03)

Barclay: Tim Banting (26:51)

Brockwell: James Laing (25:14)

Chester: Elwyn Howell (33:52)

Hampsteadheath: Tracey Palmer (33:11)

Heartlands: Tom Barclay (17:43)

Henlow Bridge Lakes: Bob Davis (28:31)

Houghton Hall: Kris Whitmore (20:08)

Keswick: Richard Harbon (22:11), Jo Harbon (28:40)
​
Letchworth: Daniel Mallett (23:07), Steve Brenton (23:17)

Milton Country: Brian Judkins (37:45)

St Albans: Chris Stokes (20:27), Jon Hunt (22:07)

Stevenage: Ian Harvey (19:59), Joe Dixon (20:40), Steve Tracey (21:16), Nicky Tracey (29:52)

Urunga: Viv Lucas (25:39), Lindsey Lucas (36:43)
​
Wimpole Estate: Vincent Wright (20:08), Emily Yossarian (33:10)