There was glorious sunshine and blue skies on Sunday, resulting in perfect race conditions.

 

GREAT BENTLEY HALF

What an impressive turnout for HRR at Great Bentley half marathon!! The sun was shining on no less than 27 roadrunners dressed in yellow and ready to take on the 13.1 mile challenge. Run mainly on country lanes Bentley half is a fast, flat course, perfect for attaining PB’S. There was certainly some very inspirational running with many using it as a training run ahead of fast approaching spring marathons.

First home for Halstead was Stephen Metson in a superb time of 1:24:10, securing himself a PB of 52 seconds. Not far behind was Mike Smith in 1:24:36 who was exceptionally pleased to get himself a huge PB of 2 minutes 40 seconds. Matt Hutley finished in 1:27:44.Steve May was happy to cross the line in 1:29:40.

Our first lady home and getting herself another PB was Karen Pickering in 1:29:57. Vikki Suett was back racing after some time out with injury and what an amazing run she had, clocking 1:34:57. Rachael Roughan always making it look easy, enjoyed her race and crossed the line in 1:36:12. Next home was Joe Slee who had a fantastic run finishing with a massive PB of 10 minutes and clocking 1:37:38. Rachel Rising finished in 1:39:40. Training for Chelmsford marathon in March, Gareth Dyball had a fantastic race finishing with a 26 second PB in 1:44:25. Men’s captain Ross Kemble is in excellent form after completing his RED (run every day) challenge. After 35 days of RED which finished at the end of January he secured himself a PB of over 3 minutes crossing the line in 1:45:24. Gav Ripton and Alan Fancy crossed the line together with Gav clocking 1:46:35 and Alan a PB of 1:46:36. Running well and pleased to get a course PB was Mandy Humm who finished in 1:50:12.

Working as a team were Anoushka Springett, Hannah Ervine and Grace Bauckham with Sam Wolton pacing the ladies round the course. Anoushka finished in 1:54:52 getting herself a very well deserved 3 minute PB. Hannah clocked 1:54:53 while Grace and Sam both finished in 1:54:58. Taking it steady and using it as a training run was Perry James. Perry finished feeling good in 1:55:24. Sarah Waddington gets stronger and stronger and knocked a whopping 14 minutes off her previous half marathon time crossing the line in 1:58:20. Making her debut for HRR and looking good in yellow was Jody Smith. Jody had a great run and was pleased to finish in 2:01:01. Dan Roughan who is also training hard and running well at the moment got himself a PB clocking 2:01:22. Taking on her first half marathon in a very long time was Caroliena Cameron, finishing in a pleasing time of 2:01:25.

John Warne is looking forward to a few races this year and kick started it all with Bentley. A fantastic race for John finishing in 2:06:51 and coming 3rd in his M70 age category. Rebecca Gilroy, coming back from injury ran well and finished strong with a new PB of 2:08:24. Bringing Halstead home was Jenny Smith. Jenny was using it as a training run and struggled with ankle issues from mile 9. None the less she persevered finishing in a time of 2:12:36.

To add to the excitement of the race was the news that Halstead Ladies Team finished in 3rd place overall. Massive well done to our first three ladies to cross the line, Karen Pickering, Vikki Suett and Rachael Roughan.

 

BRAINTREE BOGGLE

We also had two road runners taking on the Braintree Boggle marathon on Sunday. A self navigation trail run with no marshals or route markings. Keely Jordan loves trails and she ran yet another outstanding race finishing in 3:56. New to the club and running his first race for HRR was Neil Addington. A tough race for Neil but running with friends he was pleased to finished in 6:24. Well done to both!!

 

WATFORD HALF MARATHON

Another newcomer to the club and making his very impressive debut for Halstead was Ben Ryder. Ben took part in the Watford half marathon also on Sunday. A scenic, undulating race which took runners on a challenging route through the country lanes of Watford. Ben is ultimately training for Manchester marathon and has quite a few races planned in the next few months. Ben secured himself a PB crossing the line in a fantastic time of 1:27:28. We look forward to hearing more race news from him soon!

An incredible weekend for racing! Inspirational running from all!