News: November 2021

Christopher Westcott was delighted to earn another Personal Best in the Hatfield 5 on Sunday. Finishing in 12th position overall (2nd V40+), his time was 27:37 for a 39 second improvement over his previous fastest at the distance. It was a cold but beautiful morning for a run on a fast, flat course. The race also doubled as the County Senior Championship, with Christopher 7th fastest.

Congratulations to Dani Mainstone (newcomer to officiating) and Helen Pickard (unsung hero) who were both winners at the England Athletics Eastern Regional Awards this evening. Both very well deserved for their hardwork over the last year. Dani officiated at all of our matches home and away over the summer , often leading field teams. Helen has managed the new booking system, kept track and trace records, welcomed people to sessions, looked after the waitng list, dealt with 100s of emails from members and much , much more without which we would not have been able to return to trainng post Covid.

Without volunteers like Dani and Helen we would not have a club so thank you to both of you from everyone at SNHAC!

Saturday saw the second race in the Chiltern Cross Country league. More runners took part as it was a UK Athletics Cross Challenge event, which added a further competitive edge to proceedings. The weather was overcast; no rain fell so conditions were good for athletes and spectators alike. The course was quite technical with some steep sections.

After two rounds our Juniors stand in fourth place overall in Division 2, an excellent position. 28 athletes ran for Stevenage. Our new U11s performed superbly: notably Hazel Spitzer coming 8th in the girls’ mob match and Oliver Rose 9th in the boys’ mob match. James Cook ran too (42nd).

6 took part in the U13 boys’ race: Aubrey Murray was the first SNHAC runner home claiming an excellent 4th place; followed by Evan Robson (7th), Patrick Thorne (10th), Harry Thompson (11th), Matthew Thompson (12th) and Harry Price (18th).

4 ran in the U13 girls’ race: Lauren Griffin was the first Stevenage runner in 7th place; Jane Griffin came 11th, Gracie Hall-Watts came 12th and Hannah Cook was 17th.

5 ran in the U15 boys’ race: Calum Fairey secured an impressive 2nd place; followed by Jack Thompson (13th), Thomas Redfern (14th), William Toffa (21st) and Harrison Lund (25th).

4 ran in the U15 girls’ race: Abigail Manson also came 2nd; then came Charlotte Livingston (15th), Imogen Rose (20th) and Lilly Ash (21st).

Will Galliford and Isaac Whitten ran in the U17 Junior Men’s race, with Will coming in a strong 9th and Isaac was 12th. Amelie Hobbs flew the flag for Stevenage in the U17 Women’s race coming 13th.

Our Senior Men ran in a hotly contested race with almost 550 mob runners. Adam Searle came 51st, a great result, with Club Coach Bob Whitten in 179th place. Rebecca Pickard was our lone representative in the Senior Women’s race, coming a creditable 64th.

It was a good day for Stevenage and North Herts. Well done to all, particularly to those who were running for the first time. See you at the next race in Luton!