Amsterdam calling for Hastings AC athletes!

A group of Hastings AC athletes enjoyed a memorable weekend in Amsterdam, taking on both the full and half marathon distances, with some fantastic performances and personal bests along the way!

After catching the Eurostar from London St Pancras, the group of 15 athletes kicked off their weekend on Friday with an easy run around the famous Vondelpark, followed by a well-earned group dinner.

Saturday saw the team head to the race expo to collect their race numbers, browse the stalls and check out the merchandise, before enjoying a relaxing afternoon and dinner back at the hotel ahead of race day.

The majority of HAC athletes were competing in the Mizuno Half Marathon, where the in-form Grace Baker produced another sensational performance. Fresh from a fantastic marathon PB in Berlin, Grace led the team home in an incredible new personal best of 1:13:21, finishing second female overall! Her outstanding time also ranks her as the 12th-fastest female in the UK this year!

There were plenty of other impressive performances across the team, including brilliant new personal bests for Sophie Packer, Tibbie Soan and Lindsey Hunt.

Amsterdam Mizuno Half Marathon Results:

Grace Baker – 1:13:21 (PB), Michael Maxwell – 1:17:31, Jack Madden – 1:27:29, Tom Hilder – 1:27:38, Tim Archer – 1:27:47, Ross Horsman – 1:29:31, Sophie Packer – 1:33:03 (PB), Grace Gurr – 1:48:06, Tibbie Soan – 1:48:06 (PB), Martyn Cooper – 1:53:38, Lindsey Hunt – 2:00:15 (PB), Jack Mabon – 2:00:16, Holly Horsman – 2:01:21, Georgina Pike – 2:01:22

Flying the HAC flag in the full marathon was Finlay Garlick, the club's sole entrant over the 26.2-mile distance. And what a run he produced, knocking an impressive 13 minutes off his previous best, crossing the finish line in a superb new PB of 3:06:49.

With the hard work done, the team enjoyed a well-deserved Sunday evening exploring the sights and sounds of Amsterdam, before catching the Eurostar home on Monday afternoon.

Another fantastic weekend away for Team HAC, with great performances, plenty of laughs and memories made along the way!

The international action didn't stop there, with an impressive four club members flying the club colours across the Atlantic at the Brooklyn Bridge parkrun in New York, USA!

A big shout-out to Colin White (17:35), Toby White (23:13), Henry Fryzer (23:46) and Freddie White (26:12) for their efforts Stateside.

Completing HAC's international adventures for the week was club chairman Rhys Boorman, who headed to Spain to tackle the Carreira Pedestre Popular de Santiago, a 12km road race through the historic streets of Santiago de Compostela.

With a spectacular finish through the old town and a memorable run-in towards the city's famous cathedral, Rhys produced an excellent performance to finish 22nd overall in exactly 40:00 minutes.

Back on home soil, HAC athletes were also busy putting in some super performances across a range of events.

At the Great South Run, Ben McCallion clocked a superb 55:04 to set a new course best, while Alfie Johnstone produced a brilliant run of 57:56, securing a fantastic new 10-mile personal best!

Meanwhile, Claire Walsh tackled the challenging Beachy Head Marathon, completing the tough course in 6:17:58.

At the Bedgebury 10K, Jessica Hills also put in a strong performance, finishing second senior female in an excellent time of 51:35.

From Amsterdam to New York and Spain, and plenty of racing closer to home, it's been another fantastic few weeks of running for Hastings AC.