 Stellar Performances from Club Runners at London and Manchester Marathons 2025 It was a day of fantastic achievements for North Herts Road Runners at the 2025 TCS London Marathon, with outstanding performances across the board. Congratulations to the scurry of squirrel runners for representing the club so proudly – what an inspiring day! Leading the way was Tom Barclay, who delivered a truly exceptional run, crossing the line in an incredible 2:28:41 - a time which was teasingly close to the club record. He was closely followed by Mike Roberts, finishing strongly in 2:31:50, and Ben Sewell, who posted a superb personal best of 2:36:03. Matt Sayers continued the strong showing with a determined 2:41:53, while Travis Kruger and Rob Jowett battled to the line together, finishing just one second apart in 2:44:45 and 2:44:46 respectively.
While not racing in London, Ian Datlen smashed it, with a sub-3 effort at Manchester Marathon, clocking 2:58:18. Ian described it as an unbelievable day that was just amazing. Ian loved the course and the weather just about stayed bearable. Also running Manchester was Sue Foot finishing in 4.42.46. Rachel Arnott was first woman home for the club, leading the charge with a brilliant 3:19:34, closely followed by Darren Matussa (3:21:47) and Alice Carty (3:22:08), both showing immense strength and pacing. Chris Button completed his third marathon — and his first London Marathon — in an impressive 3:34:01! He described the day as having incredible support and an unbelievable atmosphere. Although it was just outside his personal best, Chris noted the warm conditions and lack of shade made it a real challenge. He also credited NHRR’s winter training for giving him the fitness boost he needed to take it on. We had some great performances from Ben Ryan (3:42:43) and Andy Mutton (3:45:06) both broke the four-hour barrier with strong runs. Matt Ankers (4:07.41), David Weston (4:27:35) and Greg Bowie (4:36:55) fought hard to the finish, embodying true marathon spirit. With Lisa Cuthbert running her first marathon raising vital funds for Garden House Hospice and finished in an impressive 4:30.01, Hannah Bloomfield (4:53:05) was also running her first marathon having only started running last June and was inspired to run for charity in memory of her Grandad, Philippa Hardcastle (4:56:59), Susan Cadden (5:28:39) and James Dalton (6:20:10) showed incredible resilience and determination to complete the iconic 26.2 miles in the virtual marathon. List of finishers as below;
Parkrun roundup
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 The Easter weekend kicked off with a very special celebration at Henlow Lakes parkrun, which was the club's April Run of the Month'. Many Squirrels came together to celebrate Ian Sutcliffe's 80th Birthday. In fact the high number of Squirrels helped to contribute to a record attendance at the event. The 2 and half lap course flew by for most and the celebrationscontinued after the race with tea and cake. Happy Birthday Ian! On Easter Monday, over in Stevenage there was the Spring 10k and Half Marathon taking place. North Herts had some impressive results at the event, with PBs and Podiums aplenty. Rhia Botha won the lady's Half Marathon event and secured 12th place overall in 1hr32. Hearing Rhia describe her day it sounds like a very successful training run - “The plan was a good effort training run with David Edwards, but when I realised that I was in second place, I really had no choice but to put in a little more effort! I even got to run through the winning ribbon and bagged myself a gold medal. David Edwards was not far behind me.” David finished 2nd in his age category.
Further afield, Lucy Robertson completed her first 10km ‘race’ on Friday 18th as part of the Isle of Man Easter Festival of Running. Some 550 runners took to the undulating streets around Port Erin and Port St Mary on a damp and blustery evening. Lucy was hoping for under an hour but smashed out a 50min 57sec PB coming in first in the U17F category winning £20.  On the other side of the Atlantic one of the oldest marathons in the calendar was taking place on its traditional Patriots’ Day, the Boston Marathon. Tash Pitman was representing North Herts and looking to also gain her 6 star medal for completing the 6 Majors. Tash finished in 3hr59 and enjoyed the special course, including the crowd and a helpful bagel at Mile 19 from a spectator which provided a needed boost after the famous Newton Hills. The journey to get her 6 star medal started in New York 20 years ago - A fantastic achievement! Parkrun roundup:
  Shahab takes silver for Squirrels at Flitwick North Herts Road Runners sent an eleven-strong contingent to the Flitwick 10k and turned in some impressive performances on what Lucy O’Connor described as ‘a lovely undulating course which is actually quite fast’. Shahab Ahmad took the silver medal in 34:44, reporting that he ran most of the race in third place, but ‘with a push at 8k and a kick with 100m to go I managed to secure a second place finish.’ The Squirrels also took third place in the female team competition, courtesy of Sophie Thrussell (42:05), O’Connor (50:59) and Nicole Whitton (54:23). The Flitwick course is officially described as ‘undulating’, but ‘felt more like hilly to me’, according to Richard Weber, who was ‘pretty pleased with a time of 47:44, especially after a bad fall and rib injury two weeks ago’. His verdict on the race: ‘A nice friendly atmosphere with great organisation – recommended.’ Other NHRR results at the Flitwick 10k: Shaun Allin (39:00), Kris Whitmore (39:36), Michael Over (41:52), Dave Braybrook (50:46), Meyrick Jenkins (61:36), Geoff Davis (63:01)
Parkrun round-up The Easter holidays saw Squirrels fanning out across 21 Parkruns this week, with two first finishers – Matt Sayers at Penrhyn (18:19) and Jim McConnel at Longrun Meadow (17:12).
 Olly Parsons Conquers Milan Marathon with Boston Qualifying Time Olly Parsons ran the Milan Marathon which he described as a “lovely well organised race, on a pretty flat and scenic course, and possibly the prettiest start finish line I've experienced right in front of the Duomo”. Olly crossed the finish line in a time of 3:03 on a day that slowly rose to 20 degrees for the final 10k. Having reached 30k Olly said he found it “a bit of a slog” but managed to regroup and discovered his form again and was able get back to his target pace. Olly’s finish time was also a qualifying time for the Boston Marathon.
Richard Thackery Showcases Endurance and Skill in Dales Traverse Ultra Richard Thackery tackled ran the Dales Traverse Ultra, following Wainwright’s coast to coast route between Kirkby Stephen and Richmond in a magnificent time of 8 hours 2 mins and was 4th in his age category V60. The Dales Traverse “passes through the North Pennines Area of Outstanding National Beauty, over the iconic Nine Standards, and into the heart of the Yorkshire Dales National Park weaving through Swaledale to a stunning finish below Richmond Castle”.  Rhia Botha Impresses in Ibiza Half Marathon, Battling Heat and Tough Terrain, Rhia Botha and David Edwards headed to Ibiza to run the Ibiza half marathon which she described as a gorgeous run on a gorgeous day”. Although the course as surprisingly tough, especially given the heat Rhia crossed the line in 1:30:27, and was 15th lady and 2nd in her age category. First Saturday of the Month 5k - results 5/4/2025
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