parkrun
This weekend there was no Ashford parkrun for Striders to grace their presence at so it meant a bit of tourism happened and we saw Striders here there and everywhere. I feel a little like this is a Where’s Wally, Where’s a Strider kind of run report this week!
Folkestone parkrun
Staying the closest to home were four striders who travelled a couple of junctions down the M20 to Folkestone parkrun taking on the flattish route along The Leas. Tamsin Ritchie was first home in a time of 27:14, followed by Mark Archer in 30:28, Lee Standen in 31:24 and completing the pack was Clare Maxlow in 33:49.
Bedgebury parkrun
Dee Millen, Richard Randle and Dermot Carr decided to take a trip to the forest Saturday morning – and what may you find in the forest, the Gruffelo! The 5k route is very hilly in places but the three of them completed the course in 28:00 (Dermot) , 28:08 (Richard) and 35.27 (Dee).
Maidstone parkrun
Going the other way up the M20 was Andrew Maund who travelled to Maidstone parkrun and finished the 5k course in an impressive 20:41.
Mote Park parkrun
Just across town to Andrew was Graham Troman who completed the picturesque 5k route round Mote Park with a PB in 25:52. Beautiful on a Winters morning.
Sittingbourne parkrun
Rachel Tomsett decided to travel to Sittingbourne parkrun which follows a route around Milton Creek Country Park and finished the course in 31:31. For those that are interested in visiting Sittingbourne parkrun there’s a Greggs right next to the park for end of run pastry goodness.
Tonbridge parkrun
Flying the Strider flag at Tonbridge parkrun Saturday morning was Sally Davidson-Daniel, crossing the finish line in 30:49.
Dartford Heath parkrun
Carrying on the Kent parkrun theme was Nicola Crawley, Justine Wearn and Andy Found who went along to Dartford Heath parkrun. The trio went round the woodland trail paths in 27.07, 32:53 and 33:34 respectively.
Pegwell Bay parkrun
Running on a mixture of gravel paths and offroad at Pegwell Bay Country Park, Victoria Shrubsole and Lucie Shrubsole found themselves crossing the finish line at exactly the same time of 38:02.
Southwark parkrun
Now we’ve moved out of Kent into the Capital and three striders took the train to Southwark parkrun. Justin Burden completed the 5k in 24:18, Siobhan Hagan crossed the line in 27:09 and Michelle Braynt finished in 30:13.
Worthing parkrun
Taking the Strider red to West Sussex was Danielle Moss, who got a refreshing start to the day at a cold Worthing parkrun finishing in 40:17.
Well done all for getting up that little bit earlier on a Saturday morning to still get your parkrun fix in. We had Strider presence at two races this weekend.
Brett Lydd Half Marathon and 20 Miler
Always a tough race due to the weather conditions that seems to come with the Lydd Half and Lydd 20mile, but we had a great bunch of Striders attend running and supporting doing us proud. The sun even came out to play at one point which not so sure that’s happened at the Lydd races before!
First for the half marathoners we had Simon Richter who finished in 2hrs 01min 14secs followed by Rachel Phillips who crossed the line with another Strider on board – Rachel and Bump finished in 2hrs 10mins 14secs. Emma Matthews who completed her first half marathon at Lydd (what a half to choose) finished in 2hrs 47mins 06secs.
Next the crazy lot who chose to endure the windy conditions of Lydd for a little longer were the 20milers. Jason Caldwell brought the 20milers home first in a time of 2hrs 37mins 35secs followed in by Kevan Strand who also kept it under the 3hr mark finishing in a time of 2hrs 48mins 45secs. Jason Kennedy finished the flat but gruelling route in 3hrs 14mins 22secs (PB), Gayle Bailey also got a PB and crossed the line in 3hrs 29mins 06secs, chairman Andy Found ended the race in 3hrs 31mins 57secs and finishing the Strider pack was Darren Laker who crossed the line in a PB of 3hrs 43mins 55secs.
A big well done guys, a tough run on the race calendar but you got it done!
Paddock Wood Half
Four striders took to the undulating Paddock Wood Half Marathon to get their well earned medal at the end.
Keith Haynes was the first Strider back in a time of 1hr 31mins 01secs (PB), followed by Richard Randle who got his fastest ever half in a time of 1hr 53mins 41secs, Dermott Carr got a PB and crossed the line in 2hrs 10mins 40secs and finally Ian Watson ended the Strider red in 2hrs 18mins.
Go Team Red for another fab weekend of running with only 3 weeks left until Brighton Marathon and London Landmarks Half, we also had some brilliant club LSR in double digits as well as some using the official races as training. Taper starts soon guys…keep it going!
Report by Kirsty Theobald.
