Apparently it’s autumn, but you wouldn’t think it on this very warm weekend! Lots of Striders were racing this weekend, who were probably hoping for cooler weather when they signed up.
As ever, the weekend started with Saturday morning parkruns. Ashford parkrun saw the usual good turnout with a fair few running who were also racing on Sunday. Finishers were: Andrew Maund 22:16, Justin Burden 22:28, Dan Green 22:35, Terry Sellen 24:15, Ian McCutcheon 25:00, Daniel Schwartz 25:07, Richard Randle 25:39, Cherith Wright 27:24, Scott Hawkins 27:49, Simon Pharoah 29:19, Rachel Tomsett 30:31, David Gadsby 30:39, Jason Brice 31:24, Leigh Freeman 32:58, John Latter 33:31, Delia Millen 33:43, Siobhan Hagan 34:25, Lee Standen 34:33, Justine Wearn 35:30, Laura Clark 39:16, Julie Foster 41:03, Lynnette Whittingham who continues to improve with a new PB of 57:57, Martin Whittingham 57:59 and Graham Troman 57:59.
Striders volunteering at Ashford were: Darren Laker, Dermot Carr, Jason Caldwell, Jennifer Watts, Katie Exon, Lynnette Whittingham, Peter Broom, Peter Heckel, Rachel Oliver, Simon Jackson, Siobhan Hagan and Terry Sellen.
Five Striders visited a variety of parkruns in Kent: Pegwell Bay – Jamie Penfold 23:12, Folkestone – Kate Stroud 26:46, Sittingbourne – Lisa Fulcher 36:21 and Dover Waterfront – George Cromwell 26:34 and Nicola Crawley 27:36, who both scored new course PBs.
Further afield, Don Dewar was visiting Newcastle Under Lyme and ran The Wammy parkrun in 29:37. Norfolk was the destination for Mark Nikes who finished the woodland run at Sandringham parkrun in 22:22. Lydia Huntley ran Oxford’s University Parks parkrun in 25:03 and Stephen Cleaver was in Buxton and finished the Pavilion Gardens parkrun in 25:37. Across the pond, Lisa Gribbin was warming up for her marathon by completing the Chicago 5k in 29:22.
Also racing on Saturday was Jason Kennedy he was in East Sussex completing an exhausting Spartan Ultra, which consisted of a 50km run with 60 demanding obstacles to overcome on the way. His finishing time was 10:12:50, a massive well done Jason!
On Sunday the popular local race, the Givaudan Ashford 10k always sees a great turnout from the club – running, volunteering and supporting all around the town centre road race.
The finishers in red were: Keith Haynes 0:39:31, Steve Greatorex 0:46:20, Simon Pharoah 0:46:53, Nigel Hills 0:47:05, Justin Burden 0:47:45, Jack Farrant 0:48:52, Jamie Penfold 0:49:18, Brian Marsh 0:49:35, Graham Troman 0:49:42, Terry Sellen 0:49:52, Paul Dunning 0:50:13, Cherith Wright 0:50:40, Dermot Carr 0:51:32, Dave Winchester 0:52:04, Andy Found 0:52:07, Chris Wicks 0:52:47, Jen Davis 0:53:09, Jamie Bartlett 0:53:35, Rachel Phillips 0:54:37, Phil Lowe 0:55:31, Matt Elvy 0:56:03, Darren Laker 0:56:04, Josh Stephens 0:56:19, Dave Helme 0:56:37, Karen Lavender 0:56:52, Scott Hawkins 0:57:02, Siobhan Hagan 0:58:00, Rita Cooke 1:01:41, Michelle Bryant 1:02:18, David Gadsby 1:03:40, Michelle Brice 1:05:46, Jenny Watts 1:05:57, Martin Whittingham 1:10:07, Angie Craffey 1:10:19, Rachel Oliver 1:10:45, Julie Nicholson 1:17:15, Nicola Gwatkin 1:17:16, Julie Foster 1:22:04, and Sharon Meadows 1:23:45.
Despite the course not being as flat as the race organisers described the following all earned themselves new PBs: Keith, Steve, Brian, Graham, Cherith, Dermot, Andy, Phil, Matt, Rita, Michelle Brice, Jenny, Nicola and Sharon. Well done everyone, especially those getting a new personal best!
Many thanks also to everyone volunteering and supporting, there were lots of great photos on the Facebook group. Those that I know volunteered were: Lynette Whittingham, Sharon Gardner, Don Dewar and Sara Dewar.
Royal Parks Half
In the capital, several club members took on this popular and scenic half marathon around the parks of central London. Eleanor Weekes was first Strider with a PB of 2:16:31 then Nadine Golding 2:22:41, Jason Sanders 2:27:42 and Peter Broom 2:37:11
Last race of the day was the Chicago Marathon, the cooler temperatures in the Windy City were much more favourable for a race than conditions at home. Two Strider were racing this one and they both earned themselves shiny new personal bests! Aimee Donohue finished in a great time of 4:43:39 and close on her heels was Lisa Gribbin with 4:44:59, very well done ladies!
That brings to a close another awesome weekend of running, I hope you all are enjoying a well earned rest now!
Report by Lisa Fulcher.
