Doug Anderson
Midweek, on Wednesday, a group of squirrels headed to Bedford for the Doug Anderson Memorial 5k. The club recently acquired the new SOAR version of the clubs vests. This was a fantastic opportunity to show them off. The weather was glorious and spirits were high. Rhia Botha was the only female from NHRR and managed 4th place and 1st in her age category in a new PB of 19:02.
​
Sam Coxon (16:25), Andrew Leach (17:03), Shahab Ahmad (17:05) and Matt Sayers (17:39) were all first in their respective age categories. NHRR men's team made up of Coxon, Leach and Ahmad, also took silver in the team competition.
 
The exceptional performances didn't stop there, also running were Shaun Allin (17:47), Oliver Parsons (19:03) and David Edwards (19:11), all coming in well under the 20 minute mark.
 
I would highly recommend this race for anyone looking for a good, friendly atmosphere and the chance to improve their 5k time.

​Storming Storeys Field
Tom Barclay gave Storeys Field Parkrun an effort, finishing in 15:26, under the parkrun club record - beating the previous record by 6 seconds. 
 
Meanwhile the week previous Tom raced the Sri Chinmoy 5K in Battersea Park. It was a strong field that dragged me to a PB in 15:34 for 16th.

Lakeland 50
Jennie Fraser can now personally confirm that yes, the Lakeland 50 absolutely deserves its reputation as the hardest 50-miler in the UK. 50 miles, self supported. Taking in 9728 ft ascent and over 10,000 ft descent.

She described the race as having perfect weather but smashed her knee at mile 17 on a brutal technical section. Regrouped and then came the long, soul-chewing climb out of what she now affectionately calls Motherfing Mardale*.

By mile 27, Jennie rolled into Kentmere and was resurrected by the legendary 1980s disco checkpoint. Shell suits and smoothies! With 6 hours ahead of cutoff, with “only” 23 miles and 3,000ft of climbing left. The finish line was in sight…kind of… 

Peak moment: 2am at Blea Tarn, knee already busted, when her left leg suddenly disappeared into a bog. Up past the calf. Had to be slowly yanked out so she didn’t lose her shoe. Continued the race with a soggy, bog-silt-filled shoe and start of trench foot

The final ascent at 48 miles was a scramble, to clamber up and over alongside disused mines and a sheer drop to the top of Coniston Moor.

Bonus tale: she brought her trusty NHRR cup, which met the mandatory requirement of being a rigid drinking vessel. A runner from the Lakeland 100, already 90 miles deep, gifted Jennie his chair at a checkpoint when he read that I belonged to a road running club from the flat lands. Jennie reassured him that at no point, even during Mother***ing Mardale or jn the last 14 hours did I consider wanting to run a road marathon. We laughed.

Ales and Trails 3 Brewers 10k trail race
Kris Whitmore was one of three squirrels who ran the Ales and Trails 3 Brewers 10k trail race. Enticed by the offer of a free beer to all finishers and further enthused by the most useful race medal which doubles as a bottle opener. Kris  signed up for what looked like a fun event and put in some last minute vital training at the Millstream on Saturday night and arrived at the 3 Brewers brewery in plenty of time and raring to go. 
 
As it was a trail run we were warned about uneven ground and muddy patches but in the end it was a course that was fine to run in road shoes. It was a two lap course which took the runners through a number of recently harvested fields and a couple yet to be done which made passing tough at times, undulating but nothing too taxing.
 
Kris was in a race for third place for most of the event but had to settle for fourth in the end finishing in 40:09. This did however get him the MV50 victory and to his delight rather than a trophy the prize was a pack of beers to celebrate the success later in the day. Kris collected this, his medal, pint cup and beer token and made his way to the bar to cash in for a well deserved pint of golden ale.

Stotfold 5k 
Ian Sutcliffe ran the the Stotfold 5k challenge. This was a well organised off road event in aid of a leukaemia charity with 400 entries. My time was 33.46

‘A fantastic event to finish the summer racing’ was John Auld’s verdict on the FVS Relays in Fairlands Valley Park.
 
North Herts Road Runners turned out 68 athletes on a humid evening for the annual event, which brings the curtain down on busy summer season dominated by the Midweek League.  ‘The team spirit was fabulous’ said Auld.
 
The relay format involves teams of four, each running a 3k leg, and the Squirrels came away with what Club Chair Tash Pitman hailed as ‘an impressive medal haul’.
 
Leading the way were the female team of Katie Harbon, Tracy Pitcairn, Alice Carty and Rhia Botha, who took gold medals in the overall event and the Herts County Championship. The men’s team of Ben Hadman, Abdullah Athar, Sam Coxon and Conor O’Hara-Barrett placed third overall.
 
NHRR took silver overall and county gold in the veteran female category, courtesy of Paula Holm, Tash Pitman, Helen Nuttall and Natalie Phillips. The male veteran squad of Shahab Ahmad, Wayne Bell, Matt Sayers and Kris Whitmore were second in both the overall standings and the Herts championship.
 
NHRR had success in the mixed category too, with the combination of Adam Fisher, Frances Stanton, Verity Stow and Daniel Wrigley taking bronze in the County competition.
 
The evening was rounded off with a very welcome supply of ice lollies, brilliantly organised by Midweek League Rep Rhia Botha - ‘a perfect end to a hot evening’, according to Club Chair Tash.

Sewell supreme in St Albans
Ben Sewell conquered ‘grim conditions’ to win the St Albans 10k, despite a downpour that lasted until mid-way through the race.
 
Sewell ‘settled in for the first 4k’ before gapping his third and fourth-placed rivals by midway. From 5.5k onwards he reported it was ‘very much a time-trial, running much of the second half solo and chasing the lead bike’. He crossed a ‘damp finish line’ in an impressive 34.40 to take the win.

Fairlands Valley Challenge
Sue Foot completed the 27-mile Fairlands Valley Challenge - her ninth outing at this annual self-guided event, which starts and finishes in Stevenage via Watton at Stone, Waterford, Tewin and Datchworth.
 
Long-distance expert Foot said ‘It doesn’t get any easier, but it is a very sociable and enjoyable run with plenty of checkpoints  and – of course – their delicious bread pudding to keep us going!’ She finished in 6 hrs 33.
 
Brian Judkins completed the half-marathon version of the Challenge in just over 3 hours, finding the ‘light rain initially refreshing’ and he ‘only got slightly lost this time’.

​Midweek League Mob Match
Wednesday saw the final event in the 2025 Midweek League series concluding with the ‘Mob Match’, which brings together all the participating clubs across all divisions for a closing 10k event in Welwyn.  Ben Sewell led the team home and first lady for NHRR was Rhia Botha.  26 Squirrels in total ran the Mob Match. The ladies finished 3rd/22 and the men’s team finished 6th resulting in an impressive overall 3rd placing.  Results are as follows: 

​The evening continued with the end-of-season awards presentation, celebrating both team and individual achievements from the 4-race series across the three divisions.  Six North Herts Road Runners were awarded individual trophies for their excellent performances:

Rhia Botha claimed 1st place in the V35 category, with Tracey Pitcairn securing 3rd. Rachel Arnott earned 3rd place in the V45 category. On the men's side, Sam Whitmore won the Under 20 category, Shahab Ahmad took 3rd in V40 category, and Matt Sayers was 3rd in V50 category.

Ultra 5k Box End - 5 x 5K races, on the hour, every hour, for 5 hours!
Rhia Botha and Ian Datlen returned to Box End for the third year to take part in the Ultra 5 x 5k race.  Rhia was first lady home and crowned female champion for the third year and improved her time by over 3 minutes from 2024.  Her cumulative time was 1:49:51. 

​Described by Ian Datlen as “roasting hot, lumpy grass and a total game of self-control and strategy” Ian was 9th overall and won his V50-59 age category. Ian’s cumulative time was 1:48:21.  Rhia commented that it was “great to see the year-on-year progress”. She “loved the event, loved the challenge and loved running in the sun”.

Xterra Marathon trail running event Eryri National Park (Snowdonia)
Georgia and Richard Barker went up to Snowdonia for their annual pilgrimage to the Xterra marathon trail running event. Georgia was completing her first 10k since returning from injury and Richard the half marathon having not trained for 5 weeks due to injury.  It was going be hard and made even more brutal by the 30-degree heat. Both Richard and Georgia finished their respective races but soon after Richard finished his, all races were cancelled for safety reasons due to the extreme heat and a number of competitors falling ill.  Despite this, Richard described it as “a great event, well organised and supported”.  Richard and Georgia have booked in for next year and are hoping for rain!

The final Midweek League Race took place this week, with 44 runners finishing a hilly course on a hot evening in Berkhamsted. It was a challenging course, with the terrain constantly either up or down. With alterations to the course shortening it to 7km rather than 10, due to the high heat.  
 
Leading the women home was our MWL captain Rhia Botha in 7th and in the men's race Ben Hadman was first squirrel home in 8th. North Herts Road Runners finish the season in 3rd place in division 1. Overall after 4 races - the men were 4th and the women were 2nd.

Great North 10k
Rhia Botha headed to Newcastle to represent England Masters in the Great North 10k on Sunday. She had a fantastic race with everything going to plan and executing her first official sub 40min in the distance, coming home in 39:51. 

​She was ably supported by Ian Datlen who took on the pacing duties for the early running, a fantastic clubmate showing that we succeed as squirrels together.  Rhia also wanted to send her thanks to Peter Sibbett, her coach, who has shown belief in her and challenged her to qualify for this event.  

Holkham 10k
Over in North Norfolk, five squirrels headed to the Holkham 10k event.  The course was a hot, windy and hilly route around the Holkham Estate, and as if that wasn’t enough the start was delayed by the discovery of a wasp nest on the course.  This delayed the start and led to a re-routing which meant it measured at just over 10k.  
 
Paula Adams, Lucy O’Connor, Linda Aird, Tracey McCreath and Nessa Rolfe were the squirrels in question with Paula and Lucy 2nd in their respective age categories.

Wroxham 5k
Peter Sibbett had a fantastic result at the Wroxham 5k this week, finishing in a time of 20:09 and coming in 365th place in the race.  Coming the day after the hot and hilly MWL race, it was even more impressive.  Peter was full of praise for the raise as well “This is a fast, flat lollipop 5k course on roads closed to traffic. This is a top quality race and there were pacers for 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22 mins and then every 2 mins up to 28mins. I would definitely recommend this race but you have to be on it when it opens as this year the 1000 places sold out in 19 mins!”.  Sounds like one for a scurry of squirrels to target their PBs next year. 

Jersey Night of the 5,000m PBs
Tom Barclay headed to the Jersey Night of the 5,000m PBs, on Friday.

​Organised by Jersey Spartan Athletic Club and Rock n Road Runners Jersey, it was a first time wearing spikes for the distance for Tom and he didn’t disappoint, “ I really enjoyed it, winning convincingly and securing a PB quicker than my road 5K time in 15:52.” 

Ware Ten Mile Race
Over in the Ware Ten Mile Race Kris Whitmore came home in a very creditable 5th place, in less than ideal conditions as the thunderstorms struck. 

​Coming home in a time of 63:55 which was “identical to fourth place who I thought I had beaten in a sprint finish only to discover the finish line was some ten meters before the finish arch (with finish written on it in huge letters!) that I had been aiming for. Not that I'm bitter”

Hitchin Triathlon
Andrew Robson raced the Hitchin Triathlon (Sprint distance) on Sunday morning, with a very early start; in the water at 6:45am. Andrew was pleased to report “I finished 16 minutes quicker than 2024, in just over 1hr 30min, with a comfortable 400m swim, a fabulous 20km ride and held on for the final 5km run. Organisation of the event was, as always, excellent with a great friendly atmosphere throughout, and many first timers.”

Parkrun Roundup ​