It was a tale of two halves for running clubs this weeks - local and not so local.
The notoriously hilly Baldock Beast returned for another year and there was a good turnout from many clubs.
That included North Herts Road Runners who not only had 19 in the near 300 field, but also supplied many marshals and helpers.
Leading the club home was Richard Springall, finishing fifth in a time of on hour 22 minutes 52 seconds.
The first lady Squirrel, and third overall in that race, was Rachel Arnott with 1:35:14.
James Walsh said: "I was delighted to feel strong in my first half-marathon for some years and pushed on from halfway to finish in 1:43:54, quite a bit faster than I had expected."
Grace Cleary was also pleased with her result, thanking John Auld for pushing her to a quicker final two miles, finishing 1:51
The other half was at Brighton.
Nick Malpeli, who finished in 1:31:18, said: "It was slower than I'm used to racing, but the best I had after some months out.
"Luckily it finished before the rain came in."
Fellow squirrel Dervla Downing also ran, clocking 1:45:18.
Elsewhere, Dave Braybrook took part in the Cancer research Winter 10k in London, finishing in 46:49.
He was joined in the capital by Jane Morgan and Julie Taylor who both finished in 1:07:06.
There was a club record too at the Serpentine Last Friday of the Month 5k in Hyde Park.
Andrew Leach finished first in his V60 age category and in 16:55, beating the previous best by over two minutes.
Stevenage Phoenix were also at both Baldock and Brighton.
Sharon Franklin marked her return to regular running when she took on the south coast challenge, finishing in 2:18
Closer to home, Andrew Liddle (2:01:38) and Ashley Bates (2:08:39) completed the Baldock course.
Five Phoenicians travelled to join more than 17,700 other runners into the London Winter 10k race.
Father and son, Wayne and Mason Simmons, finished in 51:38 and 51:33 respectively while Denise Ricot (1:12:40), Eleanor Morgan (1:15:23) and Wendy Brewster (1:27:17) completing the quintet.
Kath Phoenix completed her 50th parkrun when she raced at Stevenage on Saturday.
Tuesday evening saw the club organised its fourth foodbank run.
Starting from Fairlands Valley, club members ran over to Knebworth foodbank where all of their donations had been taken.
Runners could see how the foodbank operated and heard first hand from its manager, Darren Gilbert, on how vital donations were.
Fairlands Valley Spartans had eight club members at the Beast with Adrian Busolini the best of them, finishing third in 1:20:20.
Thomas Sauka (1:51:12) and John Nelms (1:56:21) also beat two hours while Penny Schenkel ran her first half marathon in 22 years, finishing in 2:24:20.
Ann Tryssesoone was the one Spartan at Brighton, finishing in 2:02:33.
Yuko Gordon meanwhile took top honours in the FV70 group at the London Winter 10k in a time of 46:16.
Matthew Newton (43:53), Daniella Petrianni (56:44), Paul Shelley (57:49) and Alison Shelley (57:50) were also among the finishers.
In parkrun highlights, Michael O'Keefe ran his 200th parkrun at Stevenage where Mike Jeffs was third in a PB and Grant Ramsay seventh.
John Harris was seventh at Letchworth.
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