Cassiobury Park really is a testing course, and it is great to see it as a regular fixture again in the Chiltern League. The grasslands for the younger years make way for predominately gravel paths and woodland tracks for the older age groups, so as ever footwear choice is really tricky. It was even more challenging as the sun had melted the ice on the top, but the ground underneath was absolutely rock solid.
Of course, nothing gets in the way of our athletes, and although unfortunately there was a lot of illness about, we still had good numbers out. Their good spirit and efforts never fail to impress, and it was so pleasing to see that some were really happy with their runs – so they should be! As you will see from the results, there were some really great performances (and remember that some of our runners are a year down in their age-groups too!). But all of our athletes should be proud of what they did and getting round!
Oxford next, the last match of the season, on February the 8th. Hopefully all the coughs and colds will be long gone, and the injuries will have all healed up by then….and there will be a coach! It might even be less muddy than last time (surely it has to be!)?
A small team of SNHAC athletes made the journey down to Trent Park on Saturday to take part in the county cross country championships. Top performer was Sarena So who took bronze in the U15 girls race. Also competing in the same race were Neve Sayers (7th), Hannah Cook (8th) and Indiya Quinlan 9th. U17 woman Esme Searle was 4th in her race, with U17 man Aubrey Murray 7th. In the U13 races Haysan So was 9th in the girls' race and James Cook 13th for the boys. Under 11 boy Matthew Cook was 11th and finally Senior Man Adam Searle came 41st.
Full results can be found on the county website at http://www.hertscaaa.org.uk/2020results.html
On a wet and windy Sunday, Fairlands Valley Spartans hosted the 5th running of the decennial Stevenage Marathon. After a good autumn preparation period with some solid results ranging from 5k to half-marathon, Christopher Westcott was thrilled to finish in second place and be the first "local" runner home. His time of 2:49:43 on a challenging course also saw him take County V50 gold.
Whilst the weather was far from ideal, it was great to see so many supporters dotted around the course and as someone who has lived in Stevenage for almost 50 years of his life it was great to cross off the "to-do" list.
Other SNHAC runners in action were Paul Murray and Phil Turner who completed the marathon in 4 hrs 22 minutes 4 seconds and 5 hours 53 minutes 48 seconds respectively, while Paul Spicer sompleted the half marathon in 1 hour 39 minutes 33 seconds.
Having faced the very real prospect that the Chiltern League could fold, it was great the season was able to start yesterday at the Keysoe Equestrian Centre, Bedfordshire. 28 athletes competed for SNHAC, with turnout from our girls / women particularly impressive.
It couldn’t be more different to the summer. Laps of an all-weather track were replaced with laps of an equestrian horse course, including the notorious water-jump which hilariously one of our team said, ‘wasn’t that deep!’ Perhaps for horses!
The weather was variable. It wouldn’t be 2024 if there wasn’t rain intermittently, sometimes very heavy - those by the tents were asked at one stage if they would like to take cover in the big marquee there! Pity those running in it!
Well done to everyone. A great effort as usual and fantastic to see some new faces amongst the ‘old’ regulars (who have seen and done it all before of course!).
The results are on the results page. You will see that the juniors are doing brilliantly again, taking up 3rd place in Division 2…..out of 22!!! I am sure that we will get even stronger as the season progresses, next stop Milton Keynes on the 9th November.
There are photos of some of our athletes in action on the gallery page and others can be found at https://markeaston.zenfolio.com/f532397138
Sunday saw the England Athletics Regional Awards for volunteers and projects take place at the Athenaeum in Bury St Edmunds. The eight awards were made to the individuals and projects in the East Region that had seen volunteers and clubs go ‘above and beyond’ to ensure that athletes, athletics and communities thrived.
SNHAC were shortlisted for the Community Project of the Year for the Holiday Programme the Club organises at Easter and during the summer which provides 24 days of athletics for forty, 8 to14 year-olds, including youngsters on free school meals, who are provided with a hot meal while having fun. The programme gives everyone the opportunity to try all events including pole vault and hammer and introduces them to timekeeping and field judging. Nick ward collected the Runner Up Award on behalf of the club. Nick, along with Barry Mainstone, Libby Taylor and Dan Mainstone ran the programmes assisted by the Club’s coaching assistants and leaders.
Sarah Berry was nominated for the Newcomer to Volunteering Award and richly deserves winning the category. Sarah’s daughter joined the Club three years ago and Sarah volunteered to help at matches when her daughter was competing. Sarah became a L1 Track and Timekeeper in 2023 and officiated in all the leagues the Club participates in during 2024. In November 2023 Sarah became Club Treasurer and a member of the Club’s Management Committee.
Norma Harris was nominated along with two other stalwarts from the East Region for Services to Athletics and Running. Between them Noel Moss (Cambridge and Coleridge), Peter Cassidy (Loughton AC) and Norma have ‘clocked up’ over 135 years of volunteering between them, covering most positions in the sport over the years. Norma has coached, officiated and held many Club, County and Regional positions over the years. When interviewed at the awards ceremony Norma admitted that her most enjoyable moments have come from watching the many teenagers she has coached achieve success, but also grow up to become lovely people, many of whom have become friends, are still involved in sport at various levels and in various roles. Noel, Peter and Norma all received the award as joint winners from Mattthew Dalton, East Region Chair.