Running round-up: Including all the action from Dacorum’s big-three clubs

The road race started and finished at St Columba’s School, with around 800 athletes battling it out.

First back for the Harriers was Michael Birch in a blistering 1:07:19, followed by Steve Newing (1:07:48), Gemma Bitaraf (1:07:51), Simon Geary (1:11:44), Claire McDonnell (1:14:05), Rupert Cavenagh-Mainwaring (1:16:12), Rob Potten (1:18:34), Dean Kidd (1:24:56), Clare Cavenagh-Mainwaring (1:36:34) and Peter Tucker (1:50:31).

In action in St Albans the previous day, Harriers James Thomson and Joanna Kidd competed at the parkrun, where Thomson clocked in at 21:07 and Kidd in 26:56.

Tring parkrun also had two entrants from the Harriers, where Tom North took on the mud and hills to come home in 21:17, for seventh overall place. Team-mate Simon Wallis was just behind in 22:38, in 15th place.

Elsewhere, Vince Ellerby and Scott Dixon from travelled to Black Park parkrun. Dixon put in a sterling effort to come home in 10th place, in a time on 19:31, while Ellerby was hot on his heels in 13th place, in a time of 19:44.

> Dacorum & Tring AC

Dacorum & Tring AC brought home more county medals as the weekend at the Herts HCAAA 10-mile Championships, held at the annual Fred Hughes 10-mile racein St Albans.

This time it was the turn of the senior men’s team, who won silver medals thanks in particular to a stellar performance by Andrew Cracknell (pictured).

He finished eighth overall out of 432 male finishers in 55:55, together with Chris Marriott (1:06:57), Russell Morris (1:07:33), Simon Walker (1:08:59) and Chris Kitchener (1:09:05).

Ken Perry (1:19:36) crossed the line in seventh place in the VM60 category, while Rob Deane ran smoothly to a 1:32:53 finish.

On the ladies’ side, Sam Fawcett finished as eighth senior lady in a time of 1:12:34.

She was followed by twins Samantha Sullivan (1:18:55) and Alison Richardson (1:28:03), both running in their first ever 10-miler.

Next to finish were Debbie Kennard (1:32:28), Vicky Thornley (1:32:52 - a PB by nine minutes), Sam Hawkridge (1:33:32) and Michelle Ashwell (1:34:42).

In other news, three of the club’s youngest runners swept the podium at an inter-schools race held at Bridgewater School in Berkhamsted in the lead-up to the county schools cross country championships.

U11 speedsters Jamie Bailey, Ethan Brimmer and Sam Furnell took the top three spots in the Year 6 boys’ race, in a further testament to the strength of Mike Dunphy’s middle distance squad.

Meanwhile, D&T members Wendy Pearson and Matt Earles completed the Harp Hilly Hundred – a 100km cycling event taking in most of the steepest climbs in the Chiltern Hills – as they prepare for the 2015 triathlon season.

Over on the track, Jon Rendell and Danni Town competed in the South of England Athletics (SEAA) Indoor Championships at Lee Valley.

Rendell, competing in the senior men’s 400m, won his heat in 50.29s and finished fourth in the semi-final in 51.82s. Town finished the senior ladies’ 60m sprint in 8.44s in her first race back in three years.

> Tring Running Club

A handful of Tring Running Club representatives ran at the very chilly Fred Hughes race in St Albans – with Luke Delderfield finishing in an excellent seventh place overall out of a field of more than 700 runners.

Results: Luke Delderfield - 55:28:00; Howard Clark - 01:08:32; Maria Cook - 01:21:09; Sue Merrett - 01:28:00; Elizabeth Daniel - 01:29:58; Clara Willett - 01:38:41.

Elsewhwere, 28 Tring runners turned out for the notoriously challenging and hilly off-road Box Hill race.

Tring finished third in the team awards, and eight of the club’s runners gained top-five placings in their respective categories.

Results: 6, Ross Langley - 1.00.10; 19, Kevin Harding - 1.04.46 (1st M50); 23, Nigel Bunn - 1.05.30 (3rd M50); 25, Michael Burgess - 1.05.34 (4th M50); 36, Steve Long - 1.07.10 (6th M50); 51, Alan Whelan - 1.09.43; 75, Simon Barnett - 1.13.01; 80, Tom Raftery - 1.13.30; 91, Rich Ansell - 1.14.44; 94, Sean Gregory - 1.15.24; 104, Chris Egan - 1.16.56; 109, Paul Bayley - 1.17.13; 128, Liz O’Keefe - 1.18.59 (15th female overall); 132, Hilary Warrell - 1.19.11 (1st F50); 135, John Manning - 1.19.39 (2nd M60); 136, Mary Ward - 1.19.51 (5th F40); 147, Becky Kingdon - 1.22.25; 149, Verna Burgess - 1.23.19(2nd F50); 170, Geoff Head - 1.27.25; 182, Brian Layton - 1.30.16 (5th M60); 202, Celine Wilcox - 1.34.00; 217, Peter McDaid - 1.37.47; 219, Helen Page - 1.38.23; 225, Jane Porteous - 1.39.32; 226, Alice Ely - 1.40.29; 233, Anne Kippax - 1.45.00; 250, Kirsty Barnett - 1.55.42; 257, Judi Hopcroft - 2.12.02.

Meanwhile, six Tring runners completed the arduous and lengthy 42.5-mile race from Wendover to Paddington.

The course is off-road and, once inside the M25, it shifts to the Grand Union canal path before finishing at Little Venice. Tring’s Maria Kerr finished as the first 40+ lady.

Results: 54, Andy Neill - 6.43.44; 68, Maria Kerr - 7.02.05; 140, Leon Bosch - 8.02.04; 240, Kingsley Basson - 8.56.35; 241, Simon Jessop - 8.56.41; 261, Andy Collings - 9.22.31.