Just parkrun and Cross Country to report on this week. Although there has been some great Long Slow Runs being posted at the weekends, as many of us start solid training in preparation for events next spring. As this is the last weekly round up for November, be sure to read to the end for ….. Members of the Month!
Parkrun Round up
The most popular parkrun for GVH this Saturday was Wendover Woods. A surprising choice you might think, given its reputation for tough muddy hills? However their parkrun team had gone all out to put on a special St.Andrews Day event. “Kilted runners were welcome” and a fantastic Scottish piper escorted everyone to the start line. A massive well done to Lisa Newing who took 1st female home and Nick Crowther who was 3rd over all. Great running from all our team there .
Elsewhere…. Simon Wheeler, Anthony Fogden, Kirstie Hardiman, Ines Trent and Neil Harper took on mud and hills closer to home at Gadebridge Parkrun. Well done Kirstie on a fantastic 5th place finish and Ines on a new PB for Gadebridge.
Vince Ellerby went to Black Park for his 597th Park run. That 600th run is getting very close! Vince also took the highest age grade/ effort score of our park runs this week of 73.32%
Chris Howe was surprisingly our only runner at the usually popular Rickmansworth parkrun. Cassiobury park was also quiet for us with only Russell Jones, Peter Green and Helen Pollard in attendance. Well done Helen for taking 3 mins of her previous best time here.
Dave Wood travelled to Lymington woodside Parkrun and finished 11th with a new PB of 22:39 for this venue. Well done Dave. And finally Tom Perry took on Melksham Parkrun (near Bristol) for the first time. Well done all 
Fantastically strong running from our GVH team at Cross Country
Our XC team at Stopsley
Superb running from our teams at XC Round 3 today, at Stopsley Luton. More importantly it sounds like everyone had great fun and thoroughly enjoyed the day – even if it was a hike and a half from the carpark. They were cheered all the way by our marshalling dream team, a welcome sight from all our runners who much appreciated the support. Thank you marshalls!
It was a great turn GVH team turn out and for the first time in a long while, our mens team out numbered our ladies team (14 to 10) The ladies took on a 5.6km route consisting of one small loop plus one large loop whilst the mens course was 9.6km, 1 small plus two large loops. What it lacked in hills it certainly made up for in mud.
Strong running from all of the team. Jon was our first male finisher in 40:16 with Russel Gareth and Tom racing hard for the line and finishing within a few sec of each other. Much was made of Russell out sprinting Gareth on the line. It was the 1st Appearance at XC for the new captain Simon Morris, who put in a solid performance and was our 6 male home 🎭.
Lovely photo pf Naomi hero worshiping Jack Boughton
Russel out sprinting Gareth
The rest of the mens team formed a nice orderly procession (making it nice and easy for the cheering spectators) to finish in 30 sec spaced intervals – all nicely caked in mud of course. James Birnie, I am told, only did 1 loop and dropped out but he was there with the tiffin! and to cheer our runners to the finish. Full results as follows
Despite what looks like in the photo evidence, we did have 10 ladies running. Sadly Kitty, Sam, Mary and Louise were MIA at the wrong moment. We also had lights in the tent!! Teressa Reason was first GVH home in an astonishingly quick 24:23 considering the conditions. Followed by Megan and Kim. A nice race in the middle too between Kitty, Jade and Mary, all finishing around the 35 min mark. Strong running from all our ladies to keep them 10th place in the league. Well done all
Top GVH Finishers
Ladies Results round 3
Much fuss was made of the tent with no lighting last time out. Hence Roland is at pains to point out that we had 3 lights in the tent week , so there’s no excuse for the 4 pieces of lost property left behind 😄
So after 3 rounds what are the scores on the doors for GVH? Firstly here are the individual standings
Individual standings after round 3
More importantly for overall for GVH after 3 fixtures we sit 14th in division 1, not too far behind Watford Harriers.
Overall GVH standing in Division 1
The Next XC event is in Watford on the 11th of January, We need as many runners as possible as all all finishers receive points that all add to our overall score. Lets see if we can get ahead of Watford Harriers and secure our place in Division 1.
and finally its Member of the Month time
Women’s Member of the Month, November 2024 reported by Kim Morgan
The women’s Member of the Month for November is a club legend. This is someone who is a regular at club sessions, she works extremely hard, and offers fantastic advice and support to other runners. Personally I have learnt so much from this woman and really appreciate her support. November has been a great month for this member. She rarely misses a cross country race and on Saturday 9th November, she was part of the ladies team at Tear Drop Lakes in Milton Keynes. She had a great run, crossing the line in a very impressive 28:49 and scoring 86 points for GVH. On 24th November, she took on the challenge of Hatfield 5. This is slightly out of her comfort zone being a shorter road race. She completed the course in 39:56, 2nd in her category and taking the GVH FV55 5 mile record. Congratulations! The following weekend, she was back at cross country, this time at Stopsley Common in Luton. This time she was the 5th GVH woman to complete the course, finishing in 28:05 and scoring 57points for the club.
Our member of the Month for November 2024 is Claire McDonnell. Well done Claire, you are an inspiration!
Claire McDonnell. November Member of the month.
Male Member(s) of the Month, November 2024 reported by Simon Morris
There have been a number of stand out performers this last month with strong running at club nights, cross country (x2) and the Hatfield 5. However, this month Kim and I would like to acknowledge the non-running role of 3 GVH stalwarts who were happy to give up the bulk of their Saturday to volunteer at Stopsley Park cross country. In doing so, they fulfilled an important role for the club as a participant in the cross country league.
With great hats and truly fantastic marshalling support (it really does give you a lift to hear your name/club being cheered on) members of the month for the men this month are: Robert Bowler, Andy Newing and Paul Mosley. Well done gents and thank you!!!
Well done all on another great week of running!