Double delight for Dacorum & Tring at Berko Half Marathon

Dacorum & Tring dominated the standings at the Berkhamsted Half Marathon, scooping both the men's and women's team prizes with blistering performances across the board.
By The Newsroom
Published 10th Mar 2016, 08:00 GMT
Sam Fawcett (in grey) finished first in her age group and as second woman overall at the VOTWO DuathlonSam Fawcett (in grey) finished first in her age group and as second woman overall at the VOTWO Duathlon
Sam Fawcett (in grey) finished first in her age group and as second woman overall at the VOTWO Duathlon

Coach Rob Deane had put a lot of work into training and fine tuning the runners for a big day, and it paid off with a vast array of PBs for the Hemel-based club.

Hannah Bennett continued her rapid development in sublime fashion, beating her previous best by over nine minutes, coming in as 19th placed lady with a time of 1:37:15.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Jan Strachan smashed her PB by almost 13 minutes as she crossed the line in a time of 1:46:51, while the over-60 half marathon club record was broken as Ken Perry chipped 15s off the benchmark that he had previously set. His time of 1:47:59 saw him take first place in the VM65 category.

Most Popular

Men’s team captain Jamie Marlow set a super fast new PB of 1:17:18 to finish 12th in the overall standings, while Ania Gabb built on her superb PB at the Watford half with a new best time of 1:29:35, good enough for fifth lady on the day.

Right at the sharp end of the field, Jack Parslow turned in another top performance, taking second place overall in a staggering time of 1:11:12. Andy Cracknell wasn’t far behind him, finishing in fifth in 1:15:15.

In the women’s competition, Kate Rennie spearheaded the D&T charge, finishing as third placed woman with a time of 1:22:37 and 30th overall.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mike Kazer secured 22nd place in 1:21:21 and Duncan Hamilton set a new PB of 1:23:23 for 38th position. Duncan’s brother, Douglas, finished neck-and-neck with Jamie Saunders in 1:25:55, with Matt Hamilton following straight after in 1:26:08.

Other notable PB’s included Richard Brawn, Dan Griggs, Robert Davies, Rachel Lewis, Sam Sullivan, Ruth Eykelbosch, Charlotte Ashton, Kate Crossland and Jules Robinson.

Andy Wass completed his first-ever half marathon in a time of 1:43:25, while fellow debutante Rasmi Nanda registered an impressive 1:49:30.

Jim Mason was trying his hand at the distance for the first time too and exceeded his target of getting under two hours by just over a minute; Janice Flowers completed her first half marathon in a solid 2:18:20.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

In the Five Mile Fun Run, Mervyn Dempsey finished in 29th place in an impressive time of 34:57. Casper Du Buisson scored a fine new PB of 39:01, as did Louise Flower in 42:14.

Clare Hunt also managed a PB, finishing 48th overall and 12th placed woman in 37:33. Matthew Hallissey was 31st in a time of 35:24, while Daniel Belsey and dad Richard came in 62nd and 63rd with a time of 38.13, which meant Daniel bettered his PB by over two minutes. Ant Gomm completed the distance for the first time ever in 1:11:29.

Elsewhere, Sam Fawcett finished first in her age group and as second woman overall at the VOTWO Duathlon at Eton Dorney. Sam only narrowly missed out on the overall win by two minutes, finishing behind a GB international and a full 10 minutes ahead of the third placed lady.

In other news, Janice Briggs shaved a minute of her PB at the Supernova 5k, which goes round the Olympic Park, clocking a time of 26:52.

Elsewhere, Chris Kitchener continued his marathon training by completing the MK Festival 20 miler, finishing in an impressive 2:33:08, which put him in 181st position.