What a fantastic event this is turning into; it is niche but fun and I cannot thank the contenders enough for taking it in the spirit that is intended. A beautiful sunny day once again at the superb Top Field; which looked in tip top condition thank you to our tireless ground staff. This year we decided to run 3 races, The Lemonade Mile, Men and Women’s’ Race, this made it slightly more exciting and condensed. In previous years we have let people race in smaller groups.

We had an absolutely wonderful turnout from the Ampthill and Flitwick Flyers; a very active running club of 300+ members who run the hugely successful Flitwick 10K, Marston Forest 5K and Ampthill Trophy. There were a couple of Hitchin Hares, a club (Hitchin Running Club) run from Hitchin Town Rugby Club who also organise successful events locally, namely Hitchin Triathlon and Hitchin 10k. We were also pleased to welcome North Herts Runners who you will all know run the very successful Standalone 10K. It was really splendid to welcome these athletes this year and their support was so appreciated. They were fit, fast and very friendly; it made the races an absolute pleasure to run, we look forward to welcoming them back again next year. The Flitwick Flyers certainly promised to; cheers guys!

The first race to take place was the lemonade mile and this year everyone ran or walked the mile. Thank you all so much to the contenders whose ages ranged between 10 to 76; well done each and every one of you for the great effort and the support. The Children’s winner I am pleased to announce was Gracie Deller who completed 4 laps of Top Field in 11.40 minutes Pictured here coming through the finish line. Our own Colin Ridgway had a fabulous run in 12.04 minutes, well done Colin!

Next came the Men’s Beer Mile, the anticipation was great, knowing that we had athletes here from 3 separate running clubs, 2 vastly outnumbered by the Flitwick Flyers I might add. It was an outstanding effort by all runners. Slightly more difficult this year as in keeping with the Official Beer Mile Rules, they had to drink from cans rather than a wide pint glass. Much gassier and definitely a handicap! A huge well done to the Winner Darren Matussa (NHRR) with an outstanding time of 7.38 minutes.

The Women’s race which was made up of Flitwick Flyers totally, so some in club competition! Some of the women had their lemonade mile and some beer. It is a fun race after all. Well done to the adult Lemonade Mile Winner Denise Browning in a time of 7.00 minutes The Beer Mile winner Rebecca Fleckney in a time of 8.20 minutes (she graciously shared the trophy with her two team mates who drank less beer Caroline Mahoney and Kerri Withers).

Really look forward to next year and would love to welcome back the Flitwick Flyers, Hitchin Hares and North Herts Runners, they really were good fun and so supportive of this very small and unusual event. They helped us to raise £321 Which will go into the Top Field Regeneration Fund. Thank you All.

More information on the running clubs who attended can be found here:
http://www.affrunningclub.org.uk/
http://www.hitchinrunningclub.co.uk/
http://www.nhrr.org.uk/