Fairlands Valley Spartans were responsible for two events this week - all of which attracted runners from other clubs.
The Fairlands Valley Challenge is an off-road, self-navigated trek near Stevenage with various distances on offer.
There were eight from Stevenage Phoenix involved.
In the half marathon, the quartet of Phil Gover, Gemma Smith, Jess Clarke and Caitlin Evans helped each other around in 2:38 while the longer route of just over 18 miles was completed by Ian Young, Mark Legate and Scott Crawford in 4:25
Russ Wingfield had initially set off to tackle the 50k route but stepped down to the marathon as he approached Datchworth on the return leg.
He completed the course, and his first marathon, in a creditable 5:14.
For Stevenage Striders, Chris Rowlands completed the 18-mile course in two hours 46 minutes 45 seconds while Esther Doxin, Lucy Crocker, Matthew Robinson, and Martin Scales all finished the half marathon in 2:36.
Mike Astley, Chrissie Thomas, and Fiona Davis came in at 2:46:38 while Helen Cal-Fernandez and first-time half marathoner Maxine Shackell completed their run in 3:17.
Neil McKinnon and Marc Hagland ran The Viking Run Half Marathon at Walton-on-Thames with the former getting a PB of 2:15:20 and Hagland finishing in 2:20:30.
The trio of Sue Foot, Miranda Morgan and Andrew Cook from North Herts Road Runners took on the marathon distance, battling their way through crops to finish in 6:50.
The other big event from FVS was the 3k relays which brought a total of 432 runners to Marriotts School.
The event sees teams of four complete a gently undulating 3k course round the sailing lake in Fairlands Valley Park.
There were awards for the top three teams in both the open and Herts Senior and Herts Veterans categories.
Among the field were 41 from the host club who had plenty of successes, including the winners of the veteran mixed team competition, the quartet of Andrew Patterson, Sam Pretty, Ashley Johnson and Jonathan Parr.
Their veteran women’s team came second.
The fastest Spartan over the 3k leg was Patterson who was 10th overall with a time of 9:39. Kirk Ndugu was 15th, 11 seconds later.
The fastest Spartan women were Pretty in 11:23 and Johnson in 11:29.
Shaun Allin, Hannah Ridley, Natalie Phillips and Richard Springall of North Herts Road Runners. Picture: NHRR (Image: North Herts Road Runners)
North Herts Road Runners enjoyed great success on the night with 13 teams competing.
There were also county medal winning performances, Katie Harbon taking top spot in the women’s race and the only female to dip under 11 minutes.
Rhia Botha took third spot in the veteran 35 category while Linda Aird and Pete Sibbett both stormed to top spot in their respective 65 and 60 age categories.
The teams were also successful with Katie Harbon, Rhia Botha and Tracy Pitcairn taking the county female senior silver, a feat matched by the club’s male veteran squad of Shahab Ahmad, Matt Sayers, Daren Matussa and Vince Wright.
In the mixed open event, the NHRR team comprising Shaun Allin, Hannah Ridley, Natalie Phillips and Richard Springall came third.
Men’s team captain John Auld said: "It’s such a fun race, unusual in it’s format and distance and brilliant to be able to run as well as watch and cheer fellow team mates.
"It was a fantastic atmosphere and great end to the summer club racing."
Stevenage Striders at the Fairlands Valley Challenge. Picture: STEVENAGE STRIDERS (Image: Stevenage Striders)
Elsewhere, two Striders competed in the St Albans Summer 10k, Helder Soares (38:58) and Jennifer Graham (1:15:12) while Lily Robinson tackled the Wye Valley Tunnel Half Marathon.
This was ran over two laps, predominantly along the old railway line including a 4k tunnel stretch.
She finished in 2:42:59.
Steve and Sarah Kinsella took on a sprint triathlon at Box End, culminating with a 5k run where the pair finished with times of 31:17 and Sarah in 29:55.
Striders also had 64 at parkruns with Paula Heyes clocking up her century and David Phillips getting his 50th.
Stevenage Phoenix at the Doug Anderson 5k. Picture: STEVENAGE PHOENIX (Image: Stevenage Phoenix)
Among the other runs for Stevenage Phoenix was the Doug Anderson 5k, a popular midweek event in Bedford that attracted more than 400 this year.
Held in Bedford Park, Ian Harvey was first home in a new club age category record of 19:39.
Jodie Kantas also set a club record with 22:29 while Conor O’Neill was in between the two, timed at 21:29.
Jess Clarke (24:39), Phil Gover (25:24), Katka Laughton (25:54), Mel Tanti (26:16), Caitlin Evans (26:33), Jon Boe (28:18), Neil Homewood (28:53), Simona Leadbetter (28:56), Zoe Shreeve (29:03), David Poulter (29:45), Jacky Murphy (29:50), Jo Heasman (30:08), Sue Leigh (30:09), Amy Whitby (33:15), Wendy Summerbee (35:12) and Charlie Day (37:14) were the others.
There were PBs at the St Albans 10k for Katie Mitham and Martin Harris.
Both were aiming for sub-55 runs but almost went under 50 minutes, Harris finishing one second in front of Mitham in a time of 50:06.
Away for running, Phoenix also held an emergency general meeting to adopt a constitution and elect a management committee.
Phil Gover is the new chairman and will be supported by others such as Stella Toresse as secretary and Jon Boe as treasurer.
Emma Mead is on the committee as coach with Conor O'Neill and Caitlin Evans named as men's and ladies' captain.
David Bowker leads Yuko Gordon and Jim Brown at the county 10k. Picture: KEITH FENWICK (Image: Keith Fenwick)
Fairlands Valley Spartans also had successes away from their home events.
They got three golds in the County 10K track championships - Yuko Gordon in the FV70 group, clocking 47:24.70, David Bowker in MV65 category, his time being 48:09, and Jim Brown.
He won gold in the MV70 group in a time of 53:50.
Jay Papa (19:21), Charlie Arnold (22:52), Matt Tutton (24:49) and Paul Holgate (32:20) were all at the Doug Anderson 5k while Jim Brown ran the St Albans Summer 10k in 56:00.
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