Race Report 2 - 3 September: Stragglers' River Relay, The Big Half, UTMB and more

Well, I hope not too many of you are reading this from far-flung places, having been unable to get home due to the issues with air traffic control. And that you have had the opportunity to enjoy the lovely weather which we have seen today (albeit it was a bit too hot for running!)

The weekend has seen some great racing from Chiltern Harriers AC. No less than 15 Harriers, split over three teams, took part in today’s Stragglers’ River Relay - a 26.7 mile relay along the River Thames from Dorney to Kingston. Our very own ‘Team Green 1’, made up of Adam Shute, Andy Hickman, James Repper, Helen Cholawo and James Grant - came away with a brilliant 3rd placed finish. Congratulations also due to Teams Green 2 and 3: Lyndsey Bill, Harriet Lemon, Christine Taylor, Kate Paxton, Lindsay Turner, Yours Truly, Tamsin Finch, Julia Aliaj, Jo Murray and Miriam Kempson. It was a brilliant event! Special well dones are due to Harriet for her amazing organisation skills and to Christine, who took on the challenge having got a parkrun course PB at Aylesbury the day before (23.05).​

Meanwhile, Ed Wright joined local running club Dunstable Road Runners for the Dunstable Downs Challenge - specifically the trail half marathon - clocking a very respectable time of 2.06.01 for the rolling course.

In London the Harriers were really well-represented at ‘The Big Half’. Ollie Jackson led the crowd home in 1.15.44, joined swiftly by: Ben Jackson (1.22.31); Molly Quinn (1.38.20); Katie Royals (1.38.25); Andrew Knott (1.49.37) and Nikolay Khumchev (2.05.20).
Jennifer Webb completed the Bedford Running Festival’s 20 mile event in 3.04.50.

However, leaving the longest until last, our very own Rick Clark completed the 170km and 10,000m+ of ascent that is the legendary (infamous) Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB). The race, which is an absolutely gruelling test of endurance starts and finishes in the high Alps in Chamonix, taking in France, Italy and Switzerland. Rick did brilliantly to complete the race in 41.03.30.

Congratulations to all our Harriers!

COMING UP LOCALLY: the Leighton 10k and our very own Shardeloes 10k. Check out the Club Calendar for more. If you’re unable to run Shardeloes this year, then why not help out on the day. Talk to Trevor Davies if you’d like to volunteer. Otherwise, hurry up an get yourself registered :-)