News

Beforehand, the League told us that “the rain should stay away, and that the ground would be muddy underfoot”….well they were sort of right!
It was cold, and at least the rain did stay away….a bit like the Portaloos which unfortunately didn’t arrive despite being ordered by the race organisers! The ground was soaked and the bits of the course that were not muddy to start with quickly churned up, becoming a worsening quagmire for runners, particularly as the day went on. Thus, the races were not at all like the usual canter around a park, it was incredibly heavy going, and really hard. All our athletes did really well as this was not for the faint hearted. A particular mention must go to all 1st-timers, a tough way to start, it will get easier with subsequent races (fingers crossed)! And some finished high up in their respective races too, well done!!!
Great stamina and effort was on display as usual. It was great to see so many out representing the club; our Juniors must be one of the strongest teams now in the League.
Individual results are on the results page.

Last night England Athletics hosted their annual volunteer awards evening for the Eastern Region in the glamorous surroundings of the Ball Room at the Athenaeum in Bury St Edmunds. SNHAC have a history of success in these awards and 2023 was no different. Libby Taylor won newcomer to volunteering for her work coaching and managing the EYAL team. Alan Ephgrave was rewarded for his tireless work as a field official and particularly the support he gives to athletes and new officials as he won official of the year. The final award of the evening was for services to athletics which rewards those who have volunteered for decades and this was won by Norman West who has been a starter for over 40 years. Well done to you all!

The going was good at Keysoe in Bedfordshire this Saturday for the first Chiltern Cross Country League match of the season! All the components for a successful match were there: the weather was ideal and the course was exciting, with the added jeopardy of an equestrian water jump for the athletes to run through. A strong contingency came out to represent SNHAC with a number of first- time runners amongst them. Well done to everyone who ran; each of you played a significant part in the club’s success. We came 6th out of 25 in the overall team scoring: 4th in the male category, 11th in the female, 8th in the seniors and, most impressive of all, 2nd in the juniors.
…And they were off! Just to explain how the results listed below are recorded: positions for Under 11s show where they came overall in the race, whereas all other age categories are shown within the two divisions entering the races. SNHAC are in Division 2.
U11G: Haysan (7th) and Harriet (30th) U11B: Daniel (49th) and Ralph (52nd) U13G: Hazel (5th), Evie (13th) and Neve (15th) U13B: Oliver (10th), James (12th) and Luke (13th) U15G: Sarena (4th), Eleanor (5th), Juliet (9th), Esme (11th) and Hannah (13th) U15B: Aubrey (2nd), Karol (4th), Matthew (7th) and Evan (10th) U17G: Abigail (2nd) U17B: Tommy (5th), Daniel (16th), Calum (17th), George (18th), Thomas (19th) and Edward (21st) U20F: Amelie (4th) U20M: Will (1st), Isaac (2nd) and Owen (3rd) Senior Female: Chris (32nd) Senior Men: Adam (17th), Phil (96th) and Ed (98th)
So many thoroughbred performances: 11 top five placings; impressive first-time runners; a magnificent U17B team and a photo-finish between our top two U20M with just two seconds separating them over the 49.71 furlongs (or 10K in running terms)!
Got plenty more ‘horsey’ puns in the (nose)bag, but don’t want to ‘stirrup’ any trouble! See you in Milton Keynes for next month’s race.

Jockeying for position

On a warm Sunday morning 9 SNHAC athletes lined up amongst over 1000 local runners in the Standalone 10k race in Letchworth. First home was Adam Searle (40 mins 44 secs). He was just 3 seconds ahead of under 20 man Daniel Gill who was making his debut in SNHAC colours.

Next to finish was U20 woman Abigail Manson who followed up her impressive performances in the Midweek League with a win in her category (44.41). Senior woman Alex Gates (46.51), under 20 men Edward Turner (48.51) and Oscar Whitley (50.34), senior woman Rebecca Pickard (51.50), V40 Phil Turner (57.24) and V50 Paul Pickard (58.53) made up the rest of the SNHAC contingent.

Thanks as always to North Herts Road Runners for their excellent organisation and our own Alan Ephgrave who marshalled and offered encouragement, and Eleanor who popped up to take the photos!

The last two weekends in September traditionally end the Track and Field season with Regional and National Combined Events Championships.
The 16th / 17th September was the English Schools Combined Events Championships at Bedford. Bobby Pitman and Jamie Timms had qualified for the final when they, along with two other Hertfordshire athletes won the Inter Boy’s team competition at the regional finals in June. One of the team had to withdraw due to injury, but the remaining three started Saturday with high hopes. A successful mornings LJ and DT saw the team in third and Bobby in second. The team held onto third place after the afternoon’s two events JT and 400m where Jamie ran a PB and Bobby a SB in the 400m. None of the thirty-two athletes involved enjoyed the JT as a gusty cross wind meant distances were well down on what was expected and there were a number of ‘wide’ throws. Bobby still in second to the eventually winner.
Day two started with the hurdles where Jamie dipped below 15 seconds for the first time in an Octathlon and Bobby was just over the 15 second barrier. Bobby at this point slipped to third. The HJ isn’t a favourite event for either athlete and although Bobby jumped a 4 cm PB he slipped to 5th and the team to fourth by the end of the morning. The afternoon saw a 1m PB for Bobby in the SP throwing over 11m for the first time to maintain 5th place. The Octathlon ended with the 1500m which was a favourite event for Adam (Hertfordshire’s third team member) and where Jamie knocked 15 seconds off his PB running 4mins40. Bobby’s 5.14 saw him slip to sixth place, his highest finish at a National Combined Events Championship, record a 500 PB points score and go to ninth on the National Rankings. The Hertfordshire team finished 4th.
A dull, windy 24th September saw 10 of the Clubs young athletes take part in the Eastern and Hertfordshire Pentathlon Championships in Peterborough. A great performance in his first Pentathlon, saw U15 Tom Pymar win both the Eastern and Hertfordshire titles scoring 2,424 points and record PBs in 4 out of the 5 events. U17 Jamie Timms scored 2,578 points also winning the Eastern and Hertfordshire titles. U17 Fran Hart came 2nd in Hertfordshire competition with 2039 points. The Clubs U15 girls had a clean sweep in the Hertfordshire competition with Edythe Oughton 1st 2082 points, Emily Rapley 2nd 1877 points and Abigail Tonge 3rd 1787 points. U13 Hazel Spitzer came 3rd in the East Region Championships and 1st in Hertfordshire with Suzy Tonge 3rd in Hertfordshire competition. Also competing were U17 Edward Turner and U15 Eleanor Roberts. Full results and photos can be found in the website.