Squirrels Take Pride from Stunning London Performances

Stewart Overton, Darren Sunter, Adam Bowller, Matt Sayers

​​On a day that will be long-remembered by the North Herts Road Runners, the 2019 Virgin Money London Marathon saw no fewer than 16 Squirrels taking part, eight of whom completed the race in under three hours, helping to raise thousands of pounds for charity.

First  home for the club was Adam Bowller, who saw the culmination of months of hard training come to fruition and produced an incredible performance to finish the race in 2:32:57 - the fastest time a North Herts Road Runner has ever run a marathon, beating a record  which has stood since Paul Pearce, a GB paralympian, ran 2:34:34 in 2005.  

Having taken the club record, an emotional Adam described himself as “humbled and honoured” and was quick to congratulate his teammates, many of whom also gained PBs. These included Darren Sunter, who finished second for the club in 2:39:09 and was eager to acknowledge  the cheers he received from members of NHRR as well as other local running clubs. “Apart from seeing all the fabulous Squirrels on the course, all the running community from different clubs in Herts were all amazing and it was great to hear their support.”

Another runner to come away with a PB on the day was Matt Sayers (2:41:18), who raised money for the local charity TRACKS Autism. “They have been a great support to my family and do amazing work with young children with autism,” said Matt. “I’m pleased with all the  donations - every pound makes a real difference to keeping TRACKS going.” Matt wasn’t the only runner from North Herts to raise money for TRACKS. Niccolo Bassani, who was the recipient of a club place in the marathon, also raised money for the Stevenage-based  charity. Niccolo had run the Brighton marathon only two weeks before, and was pleased to finish at London in an almost identical time of 3:29:50.

Still more Squirrels finished the grueling 26-mile distance in under three hours. Nathan Pask was the club’s fourth finisher in 2:41:21. Not far behind was Rob Harris, whose time of 2:44:10 was also a personal best. After the race, he said, “I got to 30km and told  myself it was time to properly knuckle down. I cramped up at Embankment and the Mall, as usual, but finished with an 11-second PB and a negative split (faster second half) overall.” Guy Jones ran 2:52:46, followed closely by Nick Malpeli (2:53:44) and Stewart
 Overton, who ran a PB of 2:54:40. 

There were plenty more successful races (and PBs) for the Squirrels, including Vince Wright (3:27:01), Hailey Batson, who finished close to her target time and was delighted to have doubled her initial sponsorship target for the mental health charity Mind. There was even another club record, as Andrew Porter got the club's over-70 marathon record. After the race, he said: “What an amazing day, the atmosphere, the encouragement from the crowds all helped me to keep going and achieving a time of 4 hours 49.”

Here’s the full list of Squirrels who ran the Virgin Money London Marathon, and their finishing times:

Bowller, Adam 2:32:57 
Sunter, Darren 2:39:09 
Sayers, Matthew 2:41:18 
Pask, Nathan 2:41:21 
Harris, Robert 2:44:10 
Jones, Guy 2:52:46 
Malpeli, Nick 2:53:44 
Overton, Stewart 2:54:40 
Wright, Vincent 3:27:01 
Bassani, Niccolo 3:29:50 
Sherwood, Adrian 3:43:35 
Barry, Sam 3:57:56 
Harding, Laura 4:10:16 
Allen, Christian 4:45:26 
Porter, Andrew 4:49:54 
Batson, Hailey 4:55:02 

London wasn’t the only major city to host a marathon at the weekend. Sue Foot ran the Düsseldorf Marathon. Although there were slightly fewer runners than at the London Marathon (around 5000), Sue enjoyed the route, which took the runners twice over the River Rhine.  “I finished in 4.13.16,” said Sue. “This was my 21st road marathon and am now at 130 in total!”

In  other news, Kat Gourd ran the Runthrough “Chase the Sun” Hyde Park 10k on Wednesday evening. “It was a bit repetitive,” said Kat, “but weather conditions were good and I got a new post-knee surgery PB of 51:41.”

David Annetts competed at the RWA National 10k Race Walking Championship at Warwick University. He finished 4th overall (3rd in the  Senior men's race) in a time of  49:56, and said: “I’m happy to get a medal and a time just under 50 mins.”

The  North Herts Road Runners’ parkrun results for Saturday 27th April:

Letchworth parkrun 7 Ian DATLEN 00:21:21 9 James DALTON 00:21:44 41 Katherine GOURD 00:26:07 46 Jennie FRASER 00:26:46 51  David WESTON 00:27:06

Great Denham parkrun 6 John AULD 00:19:38 15 Peter SIBBETT 00:21:06 44  Angeliki SHEARSTONE STATHOPOULOU 00:25:18 52 Karen DODSWORTH 00:26:43

Jersey Farm parkrun 2 Mark VAUGHAN 00:17:48 90 Sue VAUGHAN 00:27:56

Millom parkrun3 Glyn BLAKEY 00:23:59

Stevenage parkrun 43 Dervla DOWNING 00:22:55 46 Jane CLARKE 00:22:59 150 Bob DAVIS 00:28:05 252 Patrick NORRIS 00:34:41

Tees Barrage parkrun 200 Brian JUDKINS 00:30:50

Wimpole Estate parkrun 111 Lucy O'CONNOR 00:26:18

Sixfields Upton parkrun 29 Chris POOLE 00:24:37