Hertfordshire Half Marathon Sunday June 6th: Paul Holley put in a top class run in this annual race, which had been postponed from November 2020 due to Covid-19. He clocked 1:19:29 and finished 13th of 1,097 runners overall, with an age grade of 82.73%. He was 1st of 30 in M55, over 20 minutes ahead of his nearest rival; a great performance. Also running was Chris Aylmer (2:14:20, 811th, 1st of 2 M70), happy to improve on a good number of virtual half marathon times over the past year. The event HQ was set in the beautiful surroundings of Knebworth Park, with the start and finish close by the visually impressive Knebworth House. A three mile stretch of main road had been closed off, for use only by runners as an out & back section, with cones dividing the road into two running lanes. It was nice for those nearer the back to be able to see the leading runners coming through on the other side. The route was tough due to constant undulations, but the weather relatively kind, with the sun mostly hidden by white, hazy cloud, which kept the temperature within reasonable bounds.
Knebworth House en.wikipedia.org
Mike Groves 10K Sunday June 6th: Three Joggers took part in this popular annual event, organised by Coltishall Jaguars at the Scottow Enterprise Park in the Bure Valley, North Norfolk. Brian Munns had a very good run, finishing 69th of 317 runners in a time of 47:00, 5th of 18 in M55. Then came Clive Purbrook (50:44, 114th, 4th of 12 M65), a sterling effort in his fourth race in 8 days, followed by the consistent Jim Withers (54:04, 156th, 8th M65).
Thetford Summer Trail 10K Thursday June 3rd: The Inspire Races team were back with another of their Thetford Forest trail events at High Lodge, which have quite a following amongst Newmarket Joggers. Jason Beeton was first Jogger home in 45:09, 5th of 70 runners overall, followed by Clive Purbrook (52:20, 20th) and Wayne Hargreaves (1:03:23, 38th). First female Jogger to finish was Lisa Ann Garrand (1:06:52, 18th F), from Sarah Kinston (1:10:37, 23rd F), Alexia Smithson (1:11:21, 24th F), Caroline McIntosh (1:12:11, 27th F), Angela Brennan (1:17:23, 32nd F) and Emma Reader (1:26:06, 36th F). Running conditions were warm and humid but the scenery and atmosphere were as good as ever.
Norfolk 100K Saturday June 5th: Alan Shand did the club proud (as did Dylan Cunha last week), with a 100K trail ultramarathon success in an event organised by Positive Steps (who also put on the Bury to Clare 18 and various other trail races in Norfolk and Suffolk). His time was 15:39:04, putting him 41st of 48 participants and 1st of 2 in M65, safely within the cut-off time of 16 hours. The course followed the Peddars Way from Castle Acre, north of Swaffham, to the Norfolk coast at Holmes-next-the-Sea; then followed the Norfolk Coastal Path eastwards to the finish in Sheringham.
Grafman Triathlon Sunday June 6th: Newmarket Jogger Aaron Self took part in the Grafman Triathlon at Grafham Water near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire, primarily representing his first claim Newmarket Cycling & Triathlon Club. It was a so-called ‘middle distance’ triathlon, better known as a ‘half ironman’ in old language; i.e. it included a half marathon running leg. This race was advertised as a 1.9km swim, followed by a 90km bike ride and a 21km run, totaling 112.9km in all. The exact distance seems to vary a little between metric, miles and the event organiser. Aaron did well to record 6:29:22 and place 218th in a high class field of 240, achieving 40:56 in the swim, 3:23:14 on the bike and 2:18:58 in the half marathon run. His strongest discipline, by a very narrow margin, was in the run; then bike, then swim. He will have gained a lot from the experience.
Grafham Water wikiwand.com
Vitality virtual 10,000 (10K) June 6th: Talking of the Norfolk Coast, Richard Jones (50:42) completed his Vitality virtual 10,000 race on the East Sands beach near Brancaster, not far from Holmes-next-the-Sea. It was a good time (62.95% age grade), especially running on his own, on the sand.