D&T out in force at half marathon

Simon Walker impressively dipped under the 1 hour 30 barrier, as his time of 1:29:14 earned him a superb 76th place finish in a field of over 2,400 finishers.

Naimh Dempsey was competing in her first half marathon since 2012 and she proved she’s still got what it takes, speeding home to a phenomenal new PB of 1:34:19. Niamh finished in 153rd position. She was also the ninth placed lady on the day. Chris Kitchener wasn’t far behind, with his time of 1:35:41, putting him in 193rd position. Russell Morris was 291st with a time of 1:39:15.

Keith Wishart came in with a time ofon 1:40:13 and Tim Coysh recorded 1:44:09, accompanied by Duncan Hamilt a second later.

Rasmi Nanda managed 1:45:09 and Rob Davies 1:46:54. Giles Leather finished in 1:48 with Richard Stevens following in 14 seconds later. Karen Wishart finished in 1:48:27.

Tony Reeve managed 1:49:16, beating last year’s time by almost six minutes. John Stevens came in with a time of 1:50:18.

Tracey Dowding finished in a time of 1:52:01, Andy Mitchell clocked 1:54:27 and Rob Lewis 1:56:31. Rachel Lewis and Esther Hamilton crossed the line together in 1:57:01 and Casper Du Buisson was at 1:57:31. Penny Wallduck finished in 2:02:27.

Angela Aikman bagged 2:05:08, which beat her previous best by almost 20 minutes. Gary Sturdy also secured a terrific new PB of 2:09:07. Annette Howard recorded her second best half marathon time in 2:17:38.

A Dacorum & Tring ladies quartet won the overall team prize at The Relay in Hertford defeating, not just all the ladies teams but also all the men’s teams as well.

The foursome of ladies team captain Kelly Du Buisson, Sam Sullivan, Becky Fawcett and Sam Fawcett blew the opposition away.

In an event billed as Glastonbury for runners, Michelle Ashwell undertook the ultimate endurance test tas she competed in the award winning Mizuno Endure24.

Michelle took on the immensely tough challenge as part of a team of five, running six laps at five miles a piece, racking up 30 miles. Her team covered 145 miles in total over the 24 hours,

Hannah Bennett finished as first female in the Splash and Dash standard distance aquathlon at Stoke Newington West Reservoir Centre. The standard distance event consisted of a 1500m open water swim and a 10k run.

Hannah completed the swim in 26 minutes 12 seconds and the run in 43 minutes 43 seconds, giving her a total time of 1:09:55. This put her in 12th place overall out of a field of 58 and she was three minutes ahead of her closest female rival.

Elsewhere, Dacorum & Tring athletes came up trumps in the ITU Sprint Triathlon in Leeds with Matt Hamilton finishing in 24th place overall in a field of 662, and fourth place in the M25 category. Tim Churchill was 119th overall and 19th place in the M35 category, very impressive performances from both of them.

In sprint triathlons, the swim is usually 750m, the bike ride is 20k and the run is 5k.

Matt completed his swim in 13:15, the bike ride in 36:13 and his run in 17:50, giving him to total finishing time of 1:13:20, including transitions. Tim did the swim in 15:27, the bike ride in 37:50 and the run in 21:50, giving him a total time of 1:22:57, including transitions.

On a rather wet and drab morning in Kings Langley, four Dacorum & Tring members weren’t put off by the conditions as they entered the Kings Langley Puffaten 10k.

It was Kerry Hoar who stole the show, as she took the prize of third placed female with an impressive time of 51:09. This put her in 21st place overall. Richard Brawn also had a good run, finishing in 6th position out of a field of over 80 competitors with a time of 42:53.

Alan Grover finished in just over 61 minutes and Sam Hawkridge also completed the race as she returned to running after a bit of time out. As well as the 10k, there were also 1.5k and 3k races available. Ant Gomm tried his hand at the 3k.

Meanwhile, in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Celia Findlay took part in the Kelly Holmes 10k finishing in a time of 46:01, which put her made her the 25th placed female to cross the line. Impressively, she was 102nd overall out of a field of 814.

Hayley McNeill was also in the 10k race, recording a time of 1:04:06. Andy Guilder featured in the 5k run at the same venue, completing the course in 28:44, which put him 55th male on the day.