From Parkruns to Cross country, trail runs to big city road races – there has been a surface and a distance for everyone this weekend and some outstanding runs to report on too. In fact, with so many events to cover about this report will concentrate on the weekends trail runners , leaving part two (coming soon) for our epics road racers.
Lets start with the Saturday morning in the local parks.
Not surprisingly, with the number of events this weekend, we had just 23 GVH parkrunners out on Saturday morning. Our quickest runners of the day, Lewis Ellerby (10th with a new course PB) and Amanda Barker (20th) were at Rickmansworth parkrun. Rachel Haffennden was our best placed gender position with her well deserved 7th position at Gadebridge parkrun. Well done to Russell Bailey too with a new course PB at Leavesden Country parkrun.
The return of XC
Saturday afternoon was the long awaited (by some) return to competitive cross country running and the Autumnal weather took a less than nice wet turn in preparation. Keysoe Equestrian Centre was the venue for the first round of Chiltern Cross Country league, with its water splash feature on each lap, ensuring its place as the most favoured or most hated ,XC course amongst the members polled. We had an astonishing 26 GVH runners take part, all proudly decked out in the new 2024 kit. Sadly, there are a few late arrivals missing from the dry pre-start pics.
As said, the highlight (or lowlight?? ) of this event seems to be the water feature …. which when explained to me seemed to go something like “ the same water feature that the horses jump, but the horses cross “front to back” on the longer side of the water ,whilst the runners take the shorter “right to left crossing” ?? As the photos show no horses, I can only assuming the events don’t coincide? and I am still awaiting an explanation for the presence of the crocodile & sharks.
The dreaded water splash feature
Either way it sounds like fun was had by all despite the tough course and the cold. There were some great photo opportunities for the various strategies for tackling the said water. The award for the most delicate “girlie” entry to the water must surely go to Sam Raffety who looks like she is attempting to hop through on one leg.
Harriers splashing around
A huge welcome to our first time XC runners; Ellie Melloy, Dominic Hook, Jack Boughton, Eleanor Bennewith, Jen Brown and Emma Reed. We hope its not a One “n” done ! And a big shout out to three of our runners Russel Jones, Ellie Melloy and Andrew Wells ,who had a double helping of mud, having run a park run in the morning. Welcome back Ashleigh – we have missed you. And finally done everyone and a great score for the team.
Full results are below -Basically Each runner is awarded points for position they finish in their various categories, which are then added together to give a score for the team.
Matt Ashby wins the Ridgeway Run
The last opportunity for glory in the mud this weekend was the Ridgeway Run. Billed as a beautiful but challenging trail run that loops up amd down muddy hills out through Ashridge, along a stretch of the ridgeway and back down into Tring. Great views and a brilliant atmosphere on a bright and sunny Sunday morning. “Loved it” seemed to be the sentiment of the day despite the toughness of the course.
Ridgeway crew ready to go
A super fast performance from Matt saw him not only win the event overall and lead home our 15 runners but finish 3 minutes clear of his nearest rival. A strong showing from all GVH runners runners saw Heather Timmis, Megan Frances and Jenny Stubberfield take 1st place in the ladies team event and Matt Ashby, Chris Dowling , Daniel Green took 3rd place for the men. All runners came safely home under 1hr 45, another great achievement for 10 miles ish over lots of hills with lots of mud.
Ridgeway results
Rounding off the GVH’s on trail tours today. Tom Evans races in the North Chiltern 50K
Not content with any of the 5, 10 or 15 Km events on offer over the weekend, Tom Evans challenged himself to a great Ultra run on Sunday. Starting at the Putterbury estate near Luton/Dunstable the route suggests you can experience the stunning North Chiltern trails packed with ridgeline running and views for miles. When the race details advertise viewpoints including Warden Hill and Barton & Pegsdon Hills, it would suggest the route is a little hilly! 795m worth of hilly in fact!
Well done Tom! A time of 4hrs 57 brought him home in 35th place
Look out part two featuring GVH’s on tour in Chicago, London, Leicester and Cambodia