From Letchworth to Berlin..

Letchworth 5K and 1M
The sun shone on Broadway Gardens as the town centre was taken over by runners for the much loved annual Letchworth 5K and 1 Mile races hosted by Love Letchworth and supported by the town’s running club North Herts Road Runners. There were 182 finishers in the mile/fun run and 281 in the 5k.

NHRR made a clean sweep on the women’s 5K podium with Rhia Botha first in 19:28, Tracy Pitcairn second in 19:41 and Hannah Ridley third in 20:11, while Rob Jowett also impressed with second place overall in 16:34, just three seconds behind the winner. Babs Sayers raced to 1st V50 in 25:14 and Sue Foot scooped 1st V70 in 28:00. We also had Phil Flack 1st V70 and Ian Sutcliffe set a V80 CR of 33.03! 
 
In the mile race it was another NHRR clean sweep for the women, with Rhia again leading the way in 5:46, followed by Ridley in 5:51 and Pitcairn in 5:52.  Shahab Ahmad claimed second place overall with a rapid 5:07, while Craig Cartier clocked 5:18 for a personal milestone, calling it a “last-decade PR” and claiming 1st V40.  Anna Priestley was 1st V60 and Sheila 1st V70.

Rhia also broke the women’s mile course record, collecting a £30 prize for her efforts. Rhia used the races as part of her 20-mile marathon training run, described it as “an amazing morning with a phenomenal event” where her whole family and many friends took part.
 
Lots of squirrels opted for the 5k and delivered great results including Ben Snowden in 19:50, Steve McKeown in 19:52, Ian Harvey in 20:29, James Godfrey in 20:47, James Dalton in 21:13, Mark Wilding in 21:59, Tom Kingham in 21:58 (PB), Daniel Wrigley in 22:16, Laura Fairbanks in 22:19, Andrew Wallis in 22:56, Joanne Hoare in 23:13, Hannah Gardner in 23:50, Nikki Wright in 24:58, Dan White in 24:54, Barbara Sayers in 25:14, Luna Miao in 26:16, Victoria Markham in 26:42, Hannah Bloomfield in 30:12, Mary-Jane Finlay in 30:17, Natalie Fiddy in 30:29, Carina Quayle in 32:29, Rina Dayalji in 32:45, Ian Sutcliffe in 33:03, Tracey McCreath in 33:09, Farzana Bhatti in 36:08, Brian Judkins in 36:04 and Susan Foot in 28:00.

The shorter one-mile race saw further NHRR success, with Andrew Wallis in 7:01, Anna Priestley in 8:59, Nikki Wright in 9:37, Farzana Bhatti in 11:05, Sheila Leavy in 11:59 and David Edwards in 16:05.

---

Spartans and Squirrels sizzling in the sun
​
Four North Herts Road Runners flew out to Germany for the Abbott World Major Berlin Marathon in sweltering 26°C heat. 

First home for the club was Paula Holm in 3:30:02, delighted with her run despite the conditions,

followed by Natasha Pitman who was thrilled with 3:42:14 to comfortably secure a World Major age group qualifying time, David Weston who exceeded his planned target with 4:22:21, and Dave Braybrook who bravely battled a groin injury from 28km to finish in 4:54:47.

​They united with the incredible Yuko Gordon from Fairlands Valley Spartans to get some last minute tips on pacing strategy to deal with the heat. Yuko won her FV70 age group in an impressive 3:52:28

Triathlon
Away from the running circuit, Craig Cartier completed his first standard triathlon at Reading, finishing in 2:45 to comfortably beat his sub-3 hour target and winning his 40–45 age group.

Parkrun Roundup
There were many more excellent performances, with a full club presence across 20 different events, from Brentwood to Buncrana. North Herts Road Runners were once again well represented across the country at Saturday’s parkruns. 

Brentwood: David Brewer (23:07)

Buncrana: Annette England (38:48)

Cockermouth Greenway: Bev Rimmer (33:57)

Ferry Meadows: Phil Hunt (25:53)

Finsbury: Rhiannon Brooks (32:48)

Great Denham: Daniel Mallett (21:14), Linda Aird (29:06)

Green Dale Farmshop: Jennie Fraser (29:24)

Henlow Bridge Lakes: Matthew Sayers (20:06)

Jubilee bedford: Chris Stokes (20:57), Thomas Buzzard (21:20), Jon Hunt (23:08), Verity Hague (23:29), Joseph Barker-sherry (25:09)

Leamington: John Russell (24:49)

Letchworth: Ian Datlen (22:01), Steve Brenton (24:59), Georgina Quayle (25:07), Laura Fairbanks (26:49), Gregor Bowie (29:51), Carina Quayle (34:21)

Longrun Meadow: Jim Mcconnel (21:32)

Luton Wardown: Daniel Wrigley (23:24), Ian Harvey (24:15)

Maryport Prom: Craig Snowden (21:43)

Stevenage: Mike Phillips (20:25), Michael Over (24:18), Natalie Phillips (24:23), Jane Clarke (29:08), Sue Vaughan (31:25), Vanessa Rolfe (39:38)

Stratford Park: Kris Whitmore (19:54)

Theplens: Carl Haskell (28:09)

Wimpole Estate: Eva Mccabe (21:20)