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The London Marathon saw great performances from two club athletes, Chris Westcott ran a pb of 2 hours 47 minutes 10 seconds. Running her first ever marathon Rebecca Pickard saw her training pay dividends as she completed the race in 4 hours 10 minutes 27 seconds.

Thanks to Sharon Crowley for the photo of Chris.

The first Eastern Young Athletes League Match of the season took place at Ridlins Stadium on Sunday. Up against full teams from Dacorum, Cambridge and Bedford, SNHAC youngsters fought hard for every point, but gaps in the team sheets saw the team finish fourth, 15 points behind Bedford, Cambridge were second with Dacorum winning by 128 points. Watford were fifth and Peterborough sixth.
There were some lovely performances from all the U13, U15 and U17 athletes competing, with lots of Personal Best performances. Team managers Libby Taylor and Melissa Doran were impressed by the number of athletes who stepped up to fill gaps and competed in the maximum number of events.
In the U13 age group there were A and B string wins in the Javelin for Kyle Moffet and Elijah Ragoobar and there were good debut performances from Isaac Bull 100m, Zachary Olabode 1500m, Ralph Dormer 800m, Emilia Henley 200m, Ivy Amofa 75H, Harriet Newstead 800m and Naomi Akingogun LJ.
In the U15 age group there were A string win for James Branch 1500m and Thomas Chivers HJ, along with a B string wins for Charlie Walker 300m, Maya Kihogo 100m, Sarena So 1500m and Scarlet Victory HJ. Good debut performances came from Oluwagbemisola Majiyabe SP and Lara McLoed HT.
U17 A wins came from Ben Lewis TJ, Edward Turner HT and Enid Whitten SP and HT. Edward Turner also won the B string SP and Charlotte Dormer the B string JT. There were good debut performances from uNathi Vokwana, Owen, Chidavenzi, Amber Bakobaki, Bethan Ward and Lucia Lam Chapman.
The non scoring athletes produced some good times, distances and heights which will see them climb the Club rankings for 2024.
Full Club results are on the Club website. Full league results will appear on the Power of 10 once they have checked and amended.
The next EYAL is Sunday 5th April. There will be a coach (free to athletes and parents). Libby and Melissa will be sending out details at the beginning of next week.

154 entries were received for the Open Event at Stevenage on Sunday. Not deterred by gusty winds and the threatened showers, competing athletes gave the Club the opportunity to test the new Electronic Gun, Kyle Spitzer to undertake his first event as starter, the new cabin to be christened and Norma to enjoy her first sitting down role, registering athletes.
Installed on Tuesday, electrics on Wednesday, the new cabin proved to be a success, easy to link to photo finish and set up WiFi, with plenty of space for registering athletes using Roster. The event gave the Club the opportunity to fine tune arrangements ready for a ‘run’ of home league matches starting next weekend with an Eastern Young Athletes League Match.
In spite of a head wind for the 100m there were nineteen personal best performances in the five races. Although the sprinters didn’t enjoy the head wind it gave the pole vaulters a tail wind resulting in two PBs and a season’s best. Many more PBs were recorded in the 200, 300, 400, 800 and 1500m along with the U11 events (80 and 600m).
The first Peter Lee Memorial Trophy was awarded to the athlete who had made the most progress in a Field Event since 2023. This went to U17 Edward Turner who recorded a 4m PB in the hammer. The award was presented by Janet Lee. The Club presented Janet with a photo book featuring Peter in his many roles as a Field Judge.
SNHAC results are on the results page of the website.

After his good fortune in securing the club's extra London Marathon place this year, Christopher Westcott headed to Debden Airfield on Sunday 17th March to take on the Essex 20 mile road race. This was excellently organised by ATW and comprised of 5 flat laps, so ideal for practicing pacing strategies.

Chris was at the top end of his plan for the first lap but found a nice rhythm and was surprised to find himself getting slightly quicker each time. The outcome was a finishing chip time of 2:08:59 and a nice 5 minute PB, his first (and hopefully not last) since turning 50. Now he will hope to maintain this form through to the big day..

Photo courtesy of Mark Easton

Two SNHAC athletes were in action in Birmingham at the weekend.
Jess Astill ran 56.78 in her heat of the 400m.
In action in the para 60m U20 Rebecca Scott ran a personal best of 8.49 to secure the bronze medal.