The Beast & The Serpent

Baldock Beast
There was a strong NHRR turnout at the Baldock Beast half-marathon, with 19 Squirrels running and the Club also supplying many of the marshals and helpers.

NHRR swept the board in the team competitions, winning both the ladies' and men's categories.
Leading the club home was Richard Springall who finished 5th overall in 01:22:52.  Leading the ladies team home was Rachel Arnott in a time of 01:35:14.
James Walsh commented ‘I was delighted to feel strong in my first half-marathon for some years and pushed on from halfway to finish in 1.43.54 - quite a bit faster than I had expected.  A good day out!’. Grace Cleary was also pleased with her result giving thanks to John Auld for shaming her into putting more speed into the last 2 miles and coming home in 01:51.  Ladies' winning team was Rachel Arnott, Rhia Botha, Grace Cleary and Tracy Pitcairn. Men's winning team was Richard Springall, Chris Stokes, Ollie White and Steve Tracey.
 
Everyone said they were grateful to have such a picturesque race so close by and thanked the super-positive marshals and NHRR supporters. "It's a real pleasure to have friends cheering for you around almost every corner."

​Serpentine Last Friday of the Month
Four squirrels headed down to Hyde Park in London to take part in the Serpentine Last Friday of the Month which attracted a competitive field on a beautiful spring day with the park starting to blossom.
Andrew Leach was first squirrel home and first in his V60 age category in 16:55 and achieved the highest age graded percentage on the day of 94.4% and smashed the NHRR club record by over 2 minutes. He was followed by Shahab Ahmad in 17:59 who was using it as a training run for Cambridge next week, Darren Matussa in 19:16 and Tash Pitman in 20:51 also practicing her pacing! Tash commented " I really recommend this race - friendly atmosphere and if you're working in London it is a good lunch break and only a few pounds to enter!"

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​Brighton Half Marathon
Nick Malpeli headed down to the Brighton Half Marathon and finished in a time of 01:31:18. Nick commented ‘Slower than I'm used to racing, but the best I had after some months out. Luckily it finished before the rain came in’.
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​Fellow squirrel Dervla Downing also ran, finishing in 01:45:18.

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​London Winter 10k
Finally, Dave Braybrook headed into London to take part in the Cancer research Winter 10k.
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Dave finished in 46:49. Also running was Jane Morgan and Julie Taylor who both finished in 01:07:06.

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Parkrun Round up

​Fletcher Moss: Hannah Ridley (27:22)

Henlow Bridge Lakes: Brian Judkins (38:51)

Letchworth: Ian Harvey (24:02), James Dalton (24:47), James Poulton (29:57), Paul Bowal (31:29), Alice Noakes (31:30), Philip Flack (34:30)
Norwich: Ellie Scott (28:52)

Oakhill: Jon Hunt (23:43), Richard Harbon (24:00)

Panshanger: Ian Datlen (20:20), John Auld (21:11), Michael Over (21:12), Mike Phillips (21:20), David Edwards (22:25), Paula Holm (22:34), Natalie Phillips (23:42), Natasha Pitman (23:55), Andrew Robson (29:06)

Harlow: Darren Matussa (22:32)

​Shrewsbury: Nick Walker (30:37)
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Soham Village College: Meyrick Jenkins (30:32)

Stevenage: Tom Barclay (22:37), Chris Stokes (23:43), Andrew Coates (23:55), Daniel Mallett (24:52), Barbara Sayers (25:09), Georgia Barker (30:28), Richard Barker (30:29), Amanda Greig (31:09)

Terry Hershey: Emma Sandham (24:21)

The Old Showfield: James Godfrey (32:25), Frances Stanton (32:25)