Fast Times and Fierce Competition

Stevenage Menzies 5k, 10k and Mini Mile
Fairlands Valley played host to the Stevenage Menzies 5k, 10k and Mini Mile on Sunday, with a new course promising speed and excitement. North Herts Road Runner Kris Whitmore confirmed the 5k lived up to its “flat and fast” billing, while the 10k added a twist with Stevenage’s signature underpasses. Runners could choose to tackle either distance—or both—with the children’s Mini Mile providing a well-timed breather for the double racers.
 
In the 10k Shahab Ahmad stormed to second place in 35:20, narrowly missing the win by two seconds and earning second in age grading. Kris Whitmore clocked a season’s best of 37:51, finishing 9th overall and first in the MV50 category. Hannah Ridley made a strong comeback from injury, finishing as second lady in 43:53. Sam Whitmore impressed in his debut 10k with a 44:07 finish and a personal best. Dervla Downing comfortably dipped under 50 mins in 49:39 followed by Tracey McCreath in 70:52.
 
In the 5k, Tom Kingham took on the 5k finishing in 22:28, then four hard core squirrels (James Dalton (21:24 / 45:00), Dan Wrigley(23:48 / 46:31), Danny Alden (36:00 / 46:02 - clearly keeping something back to secure a season's best in the 10k) and Sheila Leavy (38:00 / 78:51)) opted to take on both events.

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Hadman strides to victory at Hatfield 5k Season Finale
North Herts Road Runners Ben Hadman ran a personal best time of 15:15 to clinch victory at the season finale held on Wednesday, September 10th and was joined in his celebrations by teammates celebrating a successful series with NHRR collecting an impressive haul of five individual and two team prizes across the three races. In the individual standings, Rhia Botha secured 3rd female overall, Tracy Pitcairn claimed 1st FV35, and Rachel Arnott took 3rd FV45. On the men’s side, Tom Barclay finished 3rd overall, while Matt Sayers earned 2nd MV50. NHRR also dominated the team competitions, with both the female team (Rhia Botha, Tracy Pitcairn, Rachel Arnott) and male team (Tom Barclay, Abdullah Athar, Matt Sayers, Kris Whitmore) delivering strong performances to take home team honours.

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Further afield:
David Brewer was happy with his time of 45.41 at the Sandridge 10k, a mainly off road trail run.
Daniele Socci completed the Dunstable Downs Challenge Half Marathon in 1:56:04, commenting, ‘As the name suggests it was a proper challenge.Hills, and muddy plowed fields, where the only option was to walk to avoid injuries— tougher than expected but proud to finish it.’
Ben Snowden raced in the Northampton Half Marathon in 1:35:39, and finished 12th in the MV45 category, just narrowly missing out on a PB by 40 seconds, but was pleased with his time on a tough, relatively hilly course. He said, ‘It’s a well organised event, nice track, some interesting steps at around 8k but you do have option to run round them.’

Parkrun roundup:

Battersea: Greg Smith (19:24)

Brookleys: Chris Stokes (21:40), Jon Hunt (23:25)

Central plymouth: Mike Phillips (21:04), Natalie Phillips (25:37)

Edgbaston Reservoir: Matthew Ronayne (19:48)

Folkestone: Laura Fairbanks (24:24)

Henlow Bridge Lakes: Andrew Coates (24:14), Craig Snowden (25:54), Ben Snowden (25:55), Jeff Salter (31:35), Amanda Greig (34:24), Emily Yossarian (36:13), Annette England (40:14), Bob Davis (43:36)

Jubilee bedford: Kris Whitmore (18:29), Thomas Buzzard (21:17), David Brewer (23:01), Scott Reed (26:58)

Itchen valley country: Bev Rimmer (36:11)

Letchworth: James Dalton (24:11), Phil Hunt (26:34), Andrew Robson (26:58), Philip Flack (31:03), Gregor Bowie (33:03)

Milton Country: Joseph Barker-sherry (25:02)

Pocket: Philippa Hardcastle (25:55)

Stevenage: Matthew Sayers (19:38), John Russell (26:51), Ellie Scott (28:07), Barbara Sayers (30:20), Sue Vaughan (30:55)

Walsall: Natasha Pitman (25:03)

Weymouth: Daniel Wrigley (25:56)

Wimpole Estate: Lucy Hurley (28:13)