Finally, after what seems like a long winter, the evenings are longer and we are back on the on summer running routes ! Whats not to love about the Golf course and Gladiator routes !
Race wise, although its been a relatively quite week, we have seen some great results.
Congratulations to Claire McDonnell for a fantastic run at the Flitwick 10k. A beautiful, undulating course around Flitwick and the surrounding areas. Claire surprised herself and clocked a super faster 49:18 finishing time, 30th female home, 4th in her category and a New CLUB RECORD! Well done Claire
Nice Medal and a new club record
Charlie Cadogan took on the Kent Spring Marathon.
A two-lap marathon, covering the undulating but quiet country lanes outside Ashford in Kent. plus a short section on the Pilgrims Way. Friendly and well supported. Charlie reports that it was a beautiful sunny day, the undulations were challenging but the country side views stunning! Well done Charlie on an impressive 03:53:28 finish – even if you say “its not get any easier with age”!
Congratulations Charlie!
Phil Robbins and Nick Crowther took on the Run the Wild Chiltern trail Marathon.
This looked like it was another beautiful event through our local Chiltern Hills. Starting in Tring, taking on some of the ridgeway and then trails through Wendover Woods. Challenging for sure with the hills, but a beautiful scenic challenge. Congratulations to Phil and Nick on their respective 4hrs 39m and 4hr 44m finishes.
Run the Wilds!
Meanwhile Rickmansworth parkrun was the place to be if you were looking for GVH’s on Saturday morning , where we had 11 runners. Stephen Newing and Gareth Tucker battled it out to take the glory for first GVH place, Stephen pipping Gareth as they finished 10th and 11th respectively, just under the 20 minutes mark. Sandra Flynn was our first female finisher in 27:39. Andrea Beattie continues her impressive runs of PBs, taking a new parkrun PB of 30:51, paced by Jade Evans.
Gadebridge park was also busy with 7 of our runners. Andy Bishop was our first runner home with a new PB at Gadebridge of 21:44. Deborah Fogden was our first female finisher in 28:25, also clocking up a nice new PB! Well done both
Congratulations Kim on a 1st Female finisher place at Luton Wardown parkrun.
This Saturday sees Andy Watt celebrating his 100th Parkrun at Gadebridge – I am sure there will be a few wanting to celebrate with him
Members of the March
Women’s Member of the Month – by Kim Morgan
Our Member of the Month for March started the month strong and continued the month in exactly the same way. She must be exhausted! On Sunday 2nd this woman was one of the 62 GVHs at the Berkhamsted Half Marathon. She completed the course in an incredible 1 hour and 43 minutes, bagging herself a half marathon PB on a hilly and challenging course. The weekend after, she jumped up to her longest run of her current training block, completing 22 miles in under 3.5 hours and collecting Strava PRs the whole way. Just a week after that, she ran Milton Keynes 20. This was a fantastic race; she maintained a consistent pace throughout averaging 8:11min/miles and finishing in 2:44:38. Not stopping there, she entered Ashridge Boundary Run the following weekend. This is a 17.5 mile hilly trail run in a clockwise direction around the boundary of the beautiful Ashridge estate. She made this into a sociable run with a few of the other women yet still managed to complete the course in under 3 hours.
Our women’s Member of the Month has also taken every opportunity to join us for reps and tempo sessions throughout March. All the hard work and consistency is really paying off as she seems to be picking up her pace, milage and improving her endurance. She is now really hard to keep up with! Our Member of the Month for March 2025 is Megan McCreadie. Congratulations Megan! Well done on a fantastic month of training. I can’t wait to see you reap the rewards at Shakespeare Marathon
Member of the Month Megan
Mens March Member of the Month by Simon Morris
The men’s March Member of the Month is an absolute gentleman who has been on my radar for a number of months now. He has had a really strong start to 2025, getting back into cross country after a short (when measured in decades) absence and run a number of park runs at various locations this year, notably Austria in March. However, without question his biggest success this year so far was a very impressive run at the Berko half. Not just a half marathon PB (1:54:56) but also 10 Mile/15km and 20km PBs as well!
Beyond his own running, he stands out for his warm and supportive demeanour. He is such a friendly runner who is willing to lead groups on Thursdays and run with others, encouraging them on their journey. He is positive and helpful and looks tremendous in yellow. Men’s Member of the Month for March is Anthony Fogden! Congratulations Anthony !
Member of the Month – Anthony