Squirrels show big heart at the Big Half

Matt Sayers during the Big Half

 Squirrel quintet ran the Big Half through the roads of London. Kenenisa Bekele won the race but the Squirrels weren't far behind. Matt Sayers dipped just under championship qualification time for the first time in 74:58 and a new personal best by 75 seconds. Stewart Overton finished in 76:42. John Rayner finished in 80:17. Vincent Wright finished in 82:35 and a new personal best by 58 seconds. David Weston finished in 94:25. Matt said afterwards that he really enjoyed the day and with no rain, sunshine, only 14mph winds, plenty of music and a friendly atmosphere on the course - all contributed to good spirits. John was running for local Hitchin children charity Phase, raising over £1000. He ran his best half marathon time since October 2017.

Susan Mansfield and Lucy O'Connor ran a 10 mile event taking in the beautiful countryside just north of Milton Keynes. Named “Cattle Creep...A Little Further”, the route takes in many of the sites of the traditional route but take the run a little further. However, after several motorway diversions they arrived to find that the course had been changed from a 10 mile loop to two 5 mile loops instead due to localised flooding. Lucy crossed the finish line victorious as first place in FV50 category in 1.26.21. Susan crossed the line in 1:29:36 despite a rogue shoelace and insole malfunction half a mile from the end.

Lucy Hurley travelled to the vale of Belvoir in Leicestershire to take on the 30th Belvoir Challenge where the course changes every year. Lucy finished the already challenging marathon course in under 7 hours. The route took in many ridges and hills and provided many amazing views of the vale. The weather definitely made it a challenge with the hail, wind, snow and rain. The ground underfoot was also ankle deep in mud or water for about half the course. 

Despite heavy rain and puddles the size of the lakes, Darren Matussa ran the Serpentine last Friday of the Month 5km around Hyde Park. With the weather meaning there were fewer tourists to dodge, Darren was pleased to cross the line in under 19 mins, finishing in 18:56. 

Andrew Porter and Sue Foot completed 28 miles on the Hannington Hike challenge which started and finished in Wellingborough and included ankle deep puddles, sludge and mud. Equipped with a detailed route description and three very well stocked check points, they completed the course in 7:26. 
David Annetts took place in the England Athletics 10km Race Walk Championshsips in Warwick University, Coventry - he finished 7th in 49:32.
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Parkruns
Valentines: Carl Haskell (23:20), Abbie Haskell (50:17), Vicky Haskell (50:18)
Stevenage: Dervla Downing (22:29), Jennie Fraser (23:31), Adam Wilson (23:49), Andrew Coates (24:09), Dave Braybrook (24:20), Tim Banting (25:44)
Panshanger: Chris Poole (26:24)
Letchworth: James Dalton (21:46), Ian Datlen (23:19), Matt Roberts (25:11), Glyn Blakey (25:17), Carl Goodrum (30:03), Philip Flack (32:14), Brian Judkins (35:33)
Crewe: Naomi Parkinson (24:10)

Susan Mansfield and Lucy O'Connor