Chester's Chums
Chester and the team at the Royal Parks Foundation just want to say a huge THANK YOU to all our Team Squirrel alumni – you know who you are!
2014 Team Squirrel
Half Marathon
- Scampering Champ: John Mcgrane (1hr 26mins 17secs)
- Scampering Champ-ess: Catherine Wilding, our reigning Squirrel champion (1hr 28mins 16secs) who came 3rd in her age category. Read about her experience here.
- Our fabulous Chester Squirrel (aka Allan Millington) with his running bodyguards Helen and Andrew scampered home in 2hr16mins52secs - not far off the record!
Ultra
- Scampering Champ: Tiago Dionisio (4hr 38mins 37secs)
- Scampering Champ-ess: Jana Harrison scurried home in a marvellous time of 04:12:08, coming 2nd female overall!
- Robert Eriksson ran on his 40th birthday in an impressive time of 5hr 09 mins 07 secs. Read about his experience here.
2013 Team Squirrel
- Stashiest Squirrel: Gail Crawford who raised a staggering £1995 (inc Gift Aid)
Half Marathon
- Scampering Champ: Will Cockerell who came 9th overall (1hr 15mins 14secs)
- Scampering Champ-ess: Catherine Wilding, our reigning Squirrel champion (1hr 29mins 35secs)
- Our fabulous Chester Squirrel (aka Andrew Scheer) with his running bodyguards Mark and Paul ran home with a storming time of 2hr33mins09secs, bravo Chester!
Ultra
- Scampering Champ: Graham Hedger who won the entire race (3hr 30mins 54secs)
- Scampering Champ-ess: Sofia Walker (4hr 53mins 34secs)
2012 Team Squirrel
- Scampering Champ: Gabriel Heyd (1hr 21mins 48secs)
- Scampering Champ-ess: Catherine Wilding (1hr 27mins 50secs) Catherine also won the V50 age category of the entire Half Marathon!
- Fastest Running Buddies: Catherine Wilding & Nicholas Hill (2hrs 59mins 3 secs)
- Stashiest Squirrel: Tom Moore
- Chester Squirrel raced home in 2hr 13mins 16secs – a new Squirrel world record, well done Tim Heming! Read his blog to find out how Tim 'embraced his inner squirrel'.
Tim Heming, our Squirrel stuntman in 2012, says:
l've run quite a few half marathons, but the 2012 Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon was certainly one of the most memorable - and by a stretch the most surreal! The race, taking in London's iconic landmarks and the wonderful Hyde Park, is a treasure with a wonderful friendly atmosphere amongst runners, fantastic crowd support, and it seems to be charmed with spectacular Autumn sunshine. Simply my No 1 choice for any nervous soul making their half-marathon debut and as Chester I was even allowed race No 1. I said never again, but I might upgrade to the Ultra for 2013... Keep an eye out for a dishevelled rodent finishing in Bushy (Tail?) Park.
2011 Team Squirrel
- Scampering Champ: Nicolas Besson (1hr 21mins 52secs)
- Scampering Champ-ess: Lucy Eccles (1hr 39mins 34secs)
- Stashiest Squirrel: Frankie John
- Chester Squirrel romped home in 2hrs 31mins 19secs, stupendous Danny Coyle!
Caroline Gourri, Team Squirrel 2011, says:
Team Squirrel were just fantastic. All the pre-run support was amazing and the facilities provided on the day were brilliant. The t-shirt was really nice and I loved the goodie bag too – the tree is a lasting memory. I also feel really passionate about supporting our Royal Parks in London so I couldn’t have thought of a better charity to raise money for. It is so important to protect our green spaces in London. They are what makes London, London. I would thoroughly recommend that every runner do this half marathon at least once in their lifetime!
2010 Team Squirrel
- Scampering Champ: Anthony De Silva (1hr 28mins 18secs)
- Scampering Champ-ess: Melanie Crump (1hr 37mins 34secs)
- Stashiest Squirrel: Peter Tahany
Tom Moore, Team Squirrel 2010, says:
I had a terrific time running with Chester and the rest of Team Squirrel. The Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon is a great race – what a feeling to run past Parliament and through Hyde Park with 12,000 people! And knowing it was in aid of children’s education in the Parks made the effort well worth a few sore muscles. I’m already looking forward to next year.”