Ania flies round for D&T at Dame Kelly winter 10k

Three Dacorum and Tring runners headed to the Olympic Park to take on the Dame Kelly Holmes winter 10k.
D&T runners at the Festive 5.D&T runners at the Festive 5.
D&T runners at the Festive 5.

Ania Gabb smashed her previous best to cross the line as the first female runner in a new PB of 39:24.

Robert Davies sped round the route in 45:17 whilst Richard Blaxhill was hot on his heels in 45:45 with all three putting in fantastic performances over a route which is ‘definitely not flat’

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The Royal Armoured Corps Tank training ground in Dorset was home to the inaugural Bovington Trail Half Marathon.

Rebecca White at the Bovington Trail Half Marathon.Rebecca White at the Bovington Trail Half Marathon.
Rebecca White at the Bovington Trail Half Marathon.

Rebecca White, braved feeling under the weather and carrying a slight injury to her leg to take part in this run. The course wasn’t for the faint-hearted but Bex, ploughed through the thigh deep puddles, powered up the endless hills and enjoyed the boozy aid ‘love’ stations serving up mulled wine and cake.

The race instructions warned you not to pick up anything that looked like a grenade or a bomb as it was a live Army training ground. Bex finished in a very respectable 2:30 to earn a themed medal, a goodie bag and importantly a boost to her recent flagging running confidence.

On Sunday morning more than 500 runners wearing Santa suits, lined up outside the Riverside shopping centre in Hemel to take on the annual Santa Dash.

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It was a family affair for Dacorum and Tring runners, as Richard Belsey ran with his son Daniel who put in a sprint finish to narrowly pip his dad to the post, as did Erin Marlow crossing the line ahead of dad Jamie and brother Lewis. Gwen Mostyn ran with her family and Gary Sturdy and Robert Lewis were accompanied by friends and family.

Rebecca White at the Bovington Trail Half Marathon.Rebecca White at the Bovington Trail Half Marathon.
Rebecca White at the Bovington Trail Half Marathon.

The event was a great success, ably organised by the Hospice Team which included D&Ts Kirsty Russell. They were joined by an army of Dacorum and Tring volunteers with Casper Du Buisson, Louise Flower, Denise Burford, Wendy Pearson, Alexis Bunce, Kelly Du Buisson, Andy Mitchell, Jim Mason and Penny Wallduck all donning their tinsel and high vis jackets to help out the runners.

On Sunday Annette Howard ran in The MK Winter Half Marathon which was her eighth and final half marathon of a very busy 2016.

It was an enjoyable and scenic, traffic free route but did have a huge unavoidable puddle around the five mile point which left the runners with wet feet.

Annette ended the run with a time of 2:16.

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Welwyn was the destination for three club members to take part in the Festive 5, a 5 mile road run consisting of two 2.5 mile laps and is organised by Garden City Runners.

Hannah Bennett had a great run to finish as third placed senior lady in a time of 34:31. This was even more impressive considering she had just returned from her holiday, Jan Briggs ran very well to finish in 45 minutes making her 17th senior lady. Alan Grover was close behind her ending up with a chip time of 45:12 to be 31st in the VM50 category.

Giles Leather was the sole D&T representative at the National Trusts Osterley Park on Saturday to run in the Osterley Park 10k. He crossed the line in 103rd place out of some 487 runners in a time of 47:15 putting him 24th in his age category.

D&T roadrunner Leah Sill joined some of the best indoor rowers the country has to offer on Saturday at the Olympic Park competing in The British Indoor Rowing Championships. She earned herself a marvellous bronze medal by finishing third in The Women’s’ 30+ lightweight 500 metre category. Her time of 1 minute 44.6 seconds was also a personal best by 2.5 seconds and shows that she is going from strength to strength in this event.

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