World Championship qualification for Dacorum & Tring duo

It was another action-packed weekend for Dacorum & Tring AC

The Bedford Autodrome Duathlon was the first event of the day and Samantha Fawcett took it on in style. Doubling as a qualifier for the 2016 World Duathlon championships this summer, Sam finished first in her age group and second female overall to take one of four qualifying spots.

Mike Kazer also stormed home to qualify, and the duo will now travel to Spain in June to compete for Great Britain.

Elsewhere, the D&T veterans were representing the club at the Herts Vets Cross Country Championships in Watford. Dacorum put on a great show, with the ladies bringing home the gold team trophy.

Samantha Sullivan led the ladies home in 11th place and also managed to finish as third female in the v35 category. Celia Findlay was not far behind in 13th, followed by Karen Wishart who had a brilliant run to finish in 15th place. They were closely pursued by Alison Richardson (20th), Penny Walduck (39th) and Barbara Baker (44th).

Another impressive performance came from the men’s side, as they brought home the bronze team prize, with Russell Morris cruising back in 19th position. He was followed by Keith Wishart in 36th place and Robert Davis in 39th. There were also strong runs from Tony Reeves (40th), Rob Salt (44th), Michael Irvine (45th), John Stevens (48th), Matthew Stears (57th), Gary Sturdy (62nd) and Alan Groves (63rd).

In the men’s v60 age group, Bruce Baker finished in sixth position and Ken Perry was seventh.

Meanwhile, with lots of club members in the middle of spring marathon training, D&T had various runners taking part in half marathons and 20 milers.

At the Finchley 20, Ania Gabb stormed home in 2hrs 23 minutes (PB) as eighth female overall, while Luke Waller put in a top performance to finish in 3hrs 19 minutes.

Over in Wimbledon, new member Stefanie Harding and her boyfriend Aaron Bright took on the Wimbledon Half Marathon. Aaron finished his first half marathon in a time of 1hr 59, with Stef cruising to a 30-minute PB in 2hrs 33:08.

Further afield, the club had three runners taking on the Silverstone Half. Victoria Thornley scored another fantastic PB of 1hr 55, while Kate Crossland achieved a PB of 1hr 43 and Jim Mason clocked 2hrs 02.

Over in Bath, Rebecca White came home with a PB of 2hrs 05:55 in the Bath Half marathon, while, Alex Eykelbosch turned out at the Spring Shakespeare 10k to set a new PB of 35:51 minutes.