Rye Summer Series
This week we start with the final race in the Rye Summer Series, this time the distance was 5k. Finishing this Friday evening race were Justin Burden, who was first Strider with a time of 22:33, next was Josh Stephens scoring a personal best time of 26:31. Dermot Carr finished in 26:46 then Dee Millen 32:47 and Danielle Moss 39:34. Great racing everyone!
Ashford parkrun.
The weather turned warmer and more humid on Saturday but despite that there was a good attendance and several personal bests at Ashford parkrun.
Keith Haynes headed the Strider field with 20:05, followed by Andrew Maund with a time of 21:16. Justin Burden raced the previous evening but still managed a parkrun PB of 22:02. Jamie Penfold and Simon Pharoah both got personal bests with times of 23:06 and 25:02 respectively. Hazel Turner was first Strider lady with 25:37, followed by Aimee Donohue 26:53, Jason Kennedy 27:04, David Gadsby 27:43, Darren Laker 27:48, Don Dewar 27:58, Jason Brice 28:39, Jo Mason 28:41 and David Helme 29:27. Katie Fox ran her first ever parkrun in 29:29, Rita Cooke achieved her aim of a sub-30 finish with a PB of 29:46. Dermot Carr finished his 25th parkrun in 29:46, next was Martin Whittingham 31:53, Michelle Brice 32:58, Sharni Copham 33:25, Brian Forrester 33:40, Rachel Theobald 34:07, Kevin York 34:07, Delia Millen 35:29, Nadine Golding 36:51, Sharon Meadows 37:50, Siobhan Hagan 38:22, Lisa Gribbin 38:22, Julie Foster 41:27, Danielle Moss 42:10 and Hazel Forrester 42:11.
Club members volunteering at Ashford this week were: Peter Broom, Michelle Bryant, Jason Caldwell, Peter Heckel, Terry Sellen and Kevan Strand. Thanks all of you for your efforts this week!
parkrun tourism
Several Striders were on tour this week. Staying in Kent was Mark Niles completing the run around the lake at Tonbridge in a time of 21:38. In West London, Justine Wearn and Nicola Crawley finished Northala Fields parkrun in 30:43 and 30:46 respectively.
Further afield, Daniel and Sonette Schwartz were at Sizewell on the Suffolk coast, finishing in 26:18 and 30:47 respectively. It was their second time at this parkrun and Daniel achieved a PB for that event. Furthest travelled was Richard Randall, who was up north for his triathlon so he attended Clumber Park parkrun in Nottinghamshire and finished in 26:49
Also on Saturday was the Folkestone Downs Challenge in aid of Pilgrims Hospice. This is a hilly trail event that starts with a climb of around 160m up from Folkestone Harbour but finishes more gently with a flat section alongside the canal and seafront. This is an untimed event and the Striders completing the challenge were Tamsin Ritchie, Rachel Tomsett, Rachel Misson, Claire Green and Lisa Fulcher. Well done ladies!
Sunday was very warm and sticky, providing tough conditions for the large number of Striders racing that day. A new race this year was the Dover Seafront 10k. The event had timing issues and the results could be subject to correction! Jamie Penfold did really well considering the weather, achieving a 10k personal best of 49:35. Hazel Turner was next Strider with 54:02, Kay Hunt finished in 1:00:08 and Michelle Brice 1:06:20. Well done all of you!
London Big Half
A large group of Striders travelled to the capital for the Big Half, a well supported race taking in sights such as Tower Bridge and the Cutty Sark. Racing were Adam Thomas, who was first Strider home in 1:53:59, Siobhan Hagan 2:15:25, Lisa Gribbin 2:15:41, Scott Hawkins 2:31:21, Michelle Bryant, 2:38:16, Dave Helme 2:23:47, Jack Farrant 2:08:09, Josh Stephens 2:32:15, Simon Pharoah 2:01:56, Leanne Howard 2:50:04, Angie Craffey 2:57:31 and Sarah George 3:01:01. Well done to all of you racing in the heat but particularly Jack, Josh, Michelle and Leanne for running new personal best times!
Thanks go to Martin and Lynnette Whittingham, and Dermot Carr (once again in his Squid hat) for volunteering at the Big Half and encouraging all the runners on.
Triathlon
Last, but definitely not least, were our triathletes taking part in the Outlaw X half-distance event. This is a gruelling challenge of a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile cycle, followed by a 13.1 mile run. Richard Randle completed the course in 6:51:35 and Lorna Dewell finished in 7.00.45. Sarah Martins also competed, but narrowly missed the cut-off to start the run section, but completing the swim and bike sections was still an amazing achievement! Well done all of you awesome triathletes!
Report by Lisa Fulcher.
