THE WEEKEND of March 5 and 6 was the height of activity among the Haslemere Border Runners with athletes competing in all parts of the country – from Woking to Cambridge, Warminster to Shoreham-by-Sea.

Dean Kellaway was back in his happy place, taking part in yet another gruelling ultra run, this time along the Imber Ultra which is approximately 33 miles, taking in 3,251ft across parts of the Wiltshire historic countryside, starting and finishing at Leighton Recreation Centre in Westbury.

The route then takes the runners through the north-west side of the Imber Ranges and on to the Salisbury Plain, following the Imber Range perimeter path in an anti-clockwise direction.

After around ten miles the runners then arrive at Warminster, passing a number of historic iron forts along the footpaths continuing along some of the metalled roads, bridleways and tracks east then north passing through some to the most remote parts of southern England, as well as a German village around the halfway mark! Dean ran a brilliant race, in a time of 5:20.26.

A little closer to home, another small but perfectly formed group of Haslemere Borders were also hitting the trails by taking part in the 20th anniversary of the Steyning Stinger race, which runs through the South Downs and Shoreham-by-Sea.

The course is a multi-terrain route offering two race options of either a half or full marathon.

Sarah Smith, who has been running superbly, opted for the half marathon and completed her fantastic run in a time of 1:54.24 and was first V40 lady and the second lady overall.

Luke Shearring, Tom Millns, Colin Butfield and Katy Ward ran the marathon and finished in superb times – Luke 3.44, Tom in 3:47.11, followed by Colin 3.55 closely followed by Katy in 3:57.07 who was second lady overall.

All four were also treated to a free breakfast at the end of their race so what better incentive than to take up the challenge next year!

The popular Mercer half marathon attracted several runners from Haslemere Borders AC.

The single-loop course starts in central Woking before heading out to the countryside. It is known as being a fast, flat course and boasts one of the fastest finishing times for a half marathon of 62 minutes.

Bringing home the Borders team was James Turner achieving a PB in an excellent time of 1:20.50. Club coach Daniel Allaway, in his first race since returning from injury, secured first place in his age category and his third-fastest half marathon time.

Tom Bampton (1:51.38), Claire Pearson (1:58.04) and Andy Wise (2:22:51) also competed.

Having completed the Brighton half marathon the previous weekend, Helen Crainey travelled to Cambridge to take part in the city’s half marathon. With fewer hills than Brighton, the flat course runs through the city, passing many historic landmarks and two of the iconic colleges of the University of Cambridge.

With her legs feeling just a little weary, Helen finished in 2:37:48. Time for a rest now before the next race!

Meanwhile at Ley Valley, the British Masters indoor track and field championships were taking place over the weekend.

Club member John William Dickinson – who normally prefers to compete in the multi- events championships– saw the Ley Valley championships as an ideal practise event for the world multi-event championships.

John chose to compete in a number of events including 200m, 800m and the pole vault, and finished seventh in the 800m.

In the 200m, John had the dreaded lane one draw. Despite this, he finished in fifth place in the B final and for John – knowing lanes one and two are not used in the world championships – gave him hope of a better finish at Mirimas.

In the pole vault, John knew he could compete against the best in his age group and possibly gain a medal, if he was vaulting up to his ability.

However, having not vaulted for three years, John realised it would be a difficult ask and, swallowing his pride, entered the affray at a height much lower than he would normally of done, clearing a height of 2m 20cm.

This was a wise move by John as at the end of the competition, his vault of 2.20 was enough to win the competition.

The following weekend got off to its traditional start with many taking part in the popular parkruns.

At Alice Holt, Paul Fleming had hoped to keep it quiet that he was about to complete his 50th park run, but word had got out and there were many members on hand to cheer him on – while others asked what had taken him so long!

Paul joined other club members who have recently reached a ‘milestone’ at parkrun, including Dave Bateman at 200 and Ann and Peter Varnes with 100 – just a little way to go yet, Paul, to catch them up!

At Hogmoor Inclosure, a trio of club runners were the first home, seeing Dave Jarrett achieve a PB of 17:43, followed by Jon Fairs and Luke Shearring.

Across the pond, former club member Andrew Steele was taking part in his local parkrun at Peace Valley, Doylestown, Pennsylvania.

The parkrun there has been going for only seven months, and Andrew has seen its popularity increase each week, starting initially with only 15 runners and now frequently has double that number.

On March 12, Rob Webb pumped up the tyres on his road bike and dusted off his trainers and set off to the iconic surroundings of Dorney Lake on the cusp of Windsor Great Park to take part in the ever popular Eton & Windsor Super Sprint Duathlon.

The race is made up of cycling and running and the course is a flat, fast-paced circuit around the perimeter of the lake, surrounded by 450 acres of parkland including an area of outstanding natural beauty and conservation.

The first leg was a 2.5km run, followed by a 10km bike ride and then the final 2.5km sprint home. Rob completed the race in a fantastic time of 42.37 and took first place overall.