Nine Ten Eleven

For those people who love numbers, Sunday 9th October brought a unique dateline of 09/10/11 and also saw  twenty-one Northampton Road Runners take part in three different events

Great Eastern Half Marathon Peterborough
A dozen members travelled to Peterborough to take on the Great Eastern Half Marathon beginning and ending in the city centre.  Andy Blaize finished 195th in all in a time of 1:26:59 and close behind was Steph Russell 1:27:58.  Star of the day was Mary Davies who set a new PB and broke the two hour barrier for the first time in 1:59:53.  Chris Ford and Sue Thompson were just over the two hours in 2:02:48 and 2:07:24 and Dave Soloman crossed the line in 2:26:38 despite battling a sickness bug.

Ridgeway 15.5K
The feeling of Autumn returned for those making the short trip down the M1 to Tring for the 29th Annual Ridgeway 15.5K to take on a challenge that had everything.  A congested start along a farm track soon opened out to fields before a long woodland climb that flattened occasionally to enable runners to take in stunning views.  The second half roller-coasted up and down steep climbs and descents as strong winds battered runners who were grateful for a tree lined drop through a long woodland trail. The final mile and a half was a flat run in along the leafy village streets.

36th overall on the day was Mark Garrett who pulled away from the crowds at the beginning to finish in 1:09:49.  The other Mark, Kennedy finished strongly to record 1:14:50.  Alan Burgess, again visiting from France finished in an impressive 1:20:24 and Darren Baldwin was on his heels in 1:23:16.  The other Darren, Byfield finished in 1:25:15 ahead of the other Kennedy, Tony in 1:26:40.

Jocelyn Granger was the first lady to finish for NRR in 1:27:49 with veteran Mick Clarke (1:29:07), Jo Smith (1:30:12) and Jim Anderson (1:30:18) all closing in.  Jo Lee came home in 1:33:27 only seconds ahead of Suzanne Baldwin in 1:33:50 with Andy Pate and Cathy Craig completing the line up in 1:34:50 and 1:50:20.

Royal Parks Half Marathon
From the quiet countryside of Tring to the busy streets of the nation's capital Mark Nightingale completed the Royal Parks Half Marathon in 1:30:50 finishing an impressive 257th overall.

Ridgeway 15.5K
36th Mark Garrett 1:09:49
72nd Mark Kennedy 1:14:50
150th Alan Burgess 1:20:24
193rd Darren Baldwin 1:23:16
224th Darren Byfield 1:25:15
251st Tony Kennedy 1:26:40
269th Jocelyn Granger 1:27:49
289th Mick Clarke 1:29:07
308th Jo Smith 1:30:12
310th Jim Anderson 1:30:18
352th Jo Lee 1:33:27
360th Suzanne Baldwin 1:33:50
370th Andy Pate 1:34:50
492th Cathy Craig1:50:20

Great Eastern Half Marathon Peterboro
195th Andy Blaize 1:26:59
217th Steph Russell 1:27:58
1845th Mary Davies 1:59:53
2029th Chris Ford 2:02:48
2268th Sue Thompson 2:07:24
2931th Dave Soloman 2:26:38

Royal Parks Half Marathon
257th Mark Nightingale 1:30:50