NHRR Report

On 11th January Old Warden Park, near Biggleswade in Bedfordshire hosted the 2009 Bedfordshire Cross Counrty Championships. Two NHRR runners were in action and both came back to Comet country with silver medals.

David Frampton finished second in the men's V50 race and was 23rd overall. His time of 50.34 was enough to finish around 30 seconds later than the new V50 county champion and was an excellent result for Dave. Derek Myall doubled the Squirrel's medal haul taking second place in the men's V60 category. The V60s raced over a different course and Derek was second home in a time of 28.48.

Stewart Smither was the star performer for the North Herts Road Runners at the Fred Hughes 10m race in St Albans on Sunday. Stewart completed a heroic run to break the club's V60 record over the distance and take victory in the V60 event. His time of 1.10.29 was a personal best and secured him 132nd place overall.

Gary Cook was the first NHRR athlete to finish the course in 21st place and a time of 1.01.01 on a bright, sunny morning in St Albans. His performance earnt him 5th place in the County 10 mile championship. James Atkins and Pete Scrowther were the next Squirrels to finish in 1.01.36 (26th) and 1.01.37 (27th) respectively. Pete took 5th place in the men's V45 County championship, Adrian Sherwood made up the men's scoring team, which finished 4th, coming home in a personal best time of 1.04.52 (50th).

There were also PBs for Oliver Saville (1.05.13), who was taking things a little easy in preparation for the London Marathon and Johnny Spinks (1.06.44). Recent joiner Steve Tracey also posted a PB crossing the line in 1.16.02.

Karen Dodsworth was officially the first NHRR lady over the line, finishing in 1.22.18 but she recorded the same finishing time as fellow club member Natasha Pitman. The next NHRR lady to complete the course was Rachel Annetts in 1.25.57 with Lindsay Cook following in 1.36.10.

NHRR racers taking part in the Folksworth 15 had to contend with a bitterly cold wind on Sunday morning. Mark Young put in a strong performance to finish in a personal best time of 1.43.19 and 49th place. Richard Thackery finished in 1.45.31 with John Russell not far behind in 1.46.29 in his first race over the distance. Melissa Winters was the only lady NHRR taking part. She came home in 84th place and a time of 1.47.29, a good performance given the oppressive wind in otherwise clear and bright conditions.