Thankfully the 30+ degree weather from earlier in the week is behind us, but the weekend was still hotter than most people would prefer to run in! Despite that, plenty of hardy Striders put on their sunglasses and sunscreen and took to the dry, dusty roads and trails this weekend.
Parkrun
Ashford parkrun remains temporarily cancelled, so once again club members went far and wide for their weekly parkrun.
The largest group took a trip to the very scenic, and very hilly, Lullingstone parkrun, accompanied by the scent of lavender from the neighbouring farm. Justin Burden took his habitual place as first Strider with a time of 26:36, next was Tamsin Ritchie 27:30, then Simon Jackson 28:46, Nicola Crawley with a course PB of 29:02, Lisa Gribbin 33:26, Amanda Cooper 34:33, Peter Broom 35:53 and Siobhan Hagan 38:29.
Rachel Tomsett went for some sea air at Margate parkrun and finished in a time of 32:35
Lisa Fulcher opted for an undulating trail run around a vineyard at Squerryes Winery parkrun, finishing in 36:48.
Mark Niles made the shortest trip of everyone, and ran Mote Park parkrun in 24:11
This week’s prize for the furthest travelled Strider goes to Sharon Gardner, who went to Prudhoe Riverside parkrun which takes place by the River Tyne near Newcastle. It was her second run here and she ran it in a course PB of 31:48.
Sunday races
At this time of year, races tend to be the shorter distances, and most Striders racing this weekend chose 10k events. Two of our ladies opted for a flat road race and completed the Romney Marsh 10k in the following times: Julie Virani 1:13:00 and Danielle Moss 1:30:00
One of the most well-attended races by club members this year was the Gusbourne Run, I’m sure the free wine tasting around the course had nothing to do with that! This event is an undulating trail race, so most runners were content to take a little longer than usual to finish.
Completing the 5k course at Gusbourne was Karen Edwards with a time of 42:25.
As there were more wine stops on the 10k route, most opted for this distance and the finishers were: Adam Thomas 0:55:12, Nigel Hills 0:55:47, Jason Wearn 1:06:37, Gayle Bailey 1:13:44, Paul Dunning 1:14:20, Lisa Gribbin 1:14:24, Cathie Wall 1:15:37, Vicky Stevenson 1:15:39, Andy Found 1:17:24, Rita Cooke 1:19:02, Lisa Fulcher 1:23:20, Siobhan Hagan 1:24:05 and Rachel Tomsett 1:29:25.
Amazingly, given the conditions, Adam and Rita achieved new personal best times – very well done both of you! Thanks to Simon Jackson and Tamsin Ritchie for marshalling and providing lots of encouragement.
Well done everyone who ran and raced this weekend!
Report by Lisa Fulcher.
