HY Runners take part in Met Police run - and Frankfurt and Spain

The first run of the week saw club runner Darren Barlow compete in HY colours in the Met Police national 10k, finishing in a credible 107th place.

Jason Wright and Chris Shiperly both competed in the OCR Series in Frankfurt. The event attracts the best athletes from all over Europe, and it was 19k in length with 40 obstacles and one of the toughest OCR tests there are ahead of the European championships in Italy in June.

Hastings athletes speed to super times.

Chris finished 18th overall and second in his 35-39 age group and Jason finished 53rd overall and second in his 50+ age group.

Jason said: "Although I lost quite a bit of time and places on the long swim and had to work hard to gain some time back I was happy with my placing as it my third OCR race since my hip replacement. Chris was over the moon with his result, and it was very well earned.”

Andy Key took on the Ibero-americano Half Marathon in Torrevieja, Spain. In temperatures pushing the high 30s Andy completed his run in 1:45:55 for second place in the M60 category and followed up with the same result in the 5km race.

John Ralph completed his second half marathon in three weeks after being out injured for 13 weeks as he came ninth overall in the Whitstable half marathon with a fantastic time of 1:27:30.

Katie Turner took on the mammoth challenge of the 50k Run To The Sea ultra marathon in Brighton. She said: “I went out and actually stuck to the plan and finished in 5hr 7sec. I didn’t race it, and could have gone a little quicker but I have big events to come."

Head coach Terry Skelton praised HY Runners’ efforts.

"John Ralph is a bit of a freak of nature really. He's been out for 13 weeks injured, does two weeks training and smashes out two 1:27s in three weekends,” said Skelton.

On Saturday HY Runners were one of the sponsors of the Sandown School-hosted version of the world-renowned colour run.

The Colour Run is a unique event that celebrates healthiness, happiness, and individuality, and is now the largest running series in the world.

Skelton said: “Kids and parents from HY Runners contributed to this fabulous event, and all came away with beaming smiles and covered in paint.”