Green and black colours dominate at Out Of The Blue

After the Junior Run, competitors set off at 6.30pm for the 10th anniversary running of the twilight race, following a challenging route through the grounds of the 220-acre Ashburnham Place estate – their entry fees and personal sponsorship raising funds for four charities: Winston’s Wish, Dragonflies, CALM and The Beachy Head Chaplaincy Team.

The two lap 10k event attracted 159 runners – and green-and-black clad Hastings Runners occupied three of the top four places behind winner Graeme McIntosh of Wadhurst Runners.

HR’s Louis Dargan came in second, first Senior Male to cross the line, in a time of 40 and 11 seconds. Immediately behind him were his clubmates Lewis Parsons (third in 41:28) and Adam Weller (fourth in 42:00).

The club’s first female finisher was Sue Alabaster, placed first in her FV65 age category in a time of 1:05:55, with Su Sparkes (1:12:43) and Louise Moor (1:12:44) following her home.

Well done, also, to Gary Saunters (49:17), Adrian Barratt (55:47), Simon Weatherley (55:59), Leigh Yates (58:54), Keith Goodsell (1:01:18) and David Fletcher (1:07:21).

In the Out Of The Blue 5k, Kieran Price finished seventh in a field of 252 runners, first in the MV50 age category, with a time of 22:07. Meanwhile, Lindsey Jones was the first woman, crossing the line in 24:47, placing her 12th overall and first in her FV35 age category.

There were strong runs, too, by Dave Morrow (26:19), Andy Knight (31:34), Scott Hilton (33:06), Andy Alabaster (33:30), Esmee Russell (33:30), and Catherine Southgate (52:42).

Over a similar distance the night before – but on a much flatter course –three Hastings Runners tackled Race 2 of the Bexhill 5k Series. Lewis Parsons was fastest, placed 16th in a speedy time of 18:04 (a new PB, clipping two seconds off his previous time set in the first of the series in May), followed by Michael Norris (21:54) and Klare Beecroft (26:09).

Sunday saw Claire Thomas continue her fine recent form by being third woman in the Heritage Trail Series 10k at Leonardslee Gardens near Horsham. Her HR clubmate Andy Knight proved himself indefatigable by completing the race distance despite two falls!

Further afield, the club’s Alice Tigwell completed the Peak District Ultra Challenge 25k as part of her self-imposed 100k target to raise money for MND, in memory of her Uncle Martin.

Finally, Kelly DeRosa, Nick Attwood and Lucie Smitalova all took part in the Spartan Deka Strong challenge – a series of 10 activities, including Strength, Endurance, Speed and Time trials, proving Hastings Runners do more than just run!

Hastings Runners welcome new members of all abilities aged 12 and over for fun, training and competitive running. Visit https://hastingsrunners.co.uk