News

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.

Last weekend 2 SNHAC runners joined the participants in the Stevenage 10k. U20 George had a really good race, and ran a PB of 39:21 for the 10k, coming 15th overall and was the 1st U20 Male. Trevor Mason finished in a time of 48:15, coming 63rd. There were 306 finishers.

Christopher Westcott took part in the popular Hatfield 5k series of races organised by Garden City Runners and RacesOnline in August and September. These took place on 3 consecutive Wednesday nights, with the first race incorporating the Herts Senior Champs, the second the Herts Veterans Champs and the third race crucial for overall series prizes. In the second race, Christopher won the V50 male category with a gun time of 17:07 and after the third race, he also took home the overall V50 male 1st prize with a combined time of 34:19 (best 2 from 3 gun times).

In between the second and third races, Christopher also travelled to Battersea Park to compete in a half-marathon. He finished that in 1:18:56 (chip time), which placed him second in the V50 male category. This was nice and flat, which helped with a decent time but not ideal preparation for the upcoming Stevenage marathon.

Last weekend Paul Murray travelled north to compete in a very damp Great North Run.

SNHAC/HAWCS dreams of retaining the EYAL final won at Stevenage in 2023 disappeared in a flurry of mishaps. Athletes and teams delayed (M25 closed), heavy rain, soggy athletes, injury in warm up, gaps filled, a great team spirits, an ample supply of sweets and a timetable running late were all part of the story of the EYAL Plate final at Thurrock on Sunday.

The first bit of good news – our coach driver had picked up on the M25 closure, so our coach left Hitchin early, Stevenage on time and got all the athletes, team managers and officials to Thurrock in plenty of time for the first event. Those travelling by car were not so lucky! Stories of long delays on M25, A13 and alternative routes meant many athletes, missed their first events, others filled in and those arriving late filled gaps later in the day.

The match lead changed hands numerous times during the day and right up until the last relays no one knew who had won. When the final calculations had been made, soggy field cards read and official’s points added Thurrock won the match with 585.5 points from SNHAAC/HAWCS with 558.5, HPX were third followed by Basildon, Cambridge and Coleridge and Bedford. Stevenage won the U17 girls and U15 boy’s sections, were second in three other age groups and fifth in one.

Team managers praised all the athletes who stepped up, filled in, supported their team in every event and fought for every point.

Girl’s wins came from U13 Jasmine Styles A DT 19m53 and Jessica Radcliffe B HJ 1m20. In the U15 competition there were A and B wins in the 1500m, Sarena So 5.06.00 and Neve Sayers 5.46.00 and 75H Ellie Picton 12.17 and Edythe Oughton 12.91. Emily Rapley won the U17 A 200m 26.81 and LJ 4m82, Esme Searle the 1500m 5.06.00 an Enid Whitten the HT 35m20. B wins were recorded by Fran Hart 800m 2.39.00, Hazel Spitzer 1500m 5.10.00, Florence Fausset TJ 9m58 and Khadija Eyitayo SP 7m33. In the U13 Boys competition there were A wins for Stanley Wilkinson the 100m 13.36 and Luke Frostick 75H 15.12, B wins were recorded by Cameron Chivers in the LJ 4m2 and Elijah Ragoobar in the SP7m28. There were A and B wins in the U15 Boys 300m from Alastair Gall Gray 39.59 and Alfie Kenlin 40.68 and in HJ from Thomas Chivers 1m 60 and Monty Norwood 1m55, LJ from Noah Clark 5m62 and Thomas 5m46 and Thomas also won the B 100m 12.43. Lucas Robinson won the PV 2m80. U17 Edward Turner won the PV 1m90 and HT 38m 07 while there were B wins for Murray Heal in the 100H 22.81 and Horatio De Voytt in the TJ 11m38.

Team Managers Melissa Doran and Libby Taylor were full of praise for the 82 Club members who were in action, the athletes who got us to the final but couldn’t be at Thurrock and the 20 Officials and volunteers from the Club who ensured the team got full Officials points for the team.