With only 15 sleeps until the big day, festive races have been hotting up this week, with many a Strider dressing up in festive gear to complete races of varying distances.
Taking on a midweek run this week was Martin Whittingham, who took on Chase the Moon 5k at QE Olympic Park, completing it in 34:44.
On a very wet Saturday morning, Ashford Striders took charge of Ashford parkrun helping support our fabulous Introduction to Running graduates and covering all the volunteer positions. 32 striders completed the wet and soggy puddle ridden course. 50 parkrun milestones were completed by Andy Found and Dee Millen, Rick Newman completed his 10th parkrun being guided around by Leigh Freeman. Our Introduction to Running graduates who completed their first ever parkrun were Josephine Levett 30:44, Luke Saunders 31:17, Sam Saunders 32:52, Cara Linin 35:48, Gary Linin 36:08, Amy Campbell 47:45 and continuing their parkrun journeys were Katie Gates 35:37 and Laura Clark 44:13. Fantastic running.
You can see the full parkrun results here https://www.parkrun.org.uk/ashford/results/latestresults/
STRIDERS ON TOUR – PARKRUN TOURISM
East End parkrun, New Zealand
Travelling the furthest this week was Adam Booth who took part at East End – New Plymouth parkrun in New Zealand, finishing in an impressive 19:25, let’s see if he can improve on that next week Down Under at Dunedin!
Rheinpark parkrun, Germany
Mandy Cooper combined a festive trip to Koln with an essential bit of parkrun tourism and completed Rheinpark parkrun in 28:51
Oxford parkrun
Rachel Tomsett travelled to Oxford parkrun and finished in 39:53
Folkestone parkrun
Finally, closer to home, Hazel Turner and Siobhan Hagen ran Folkestone parkrun in 24:40 and 28:32 respectively.
RACES
Maidstone Harriers Turkey Run
Travelling the short distance to Maidstone, we had a small selection of Striders taking on the 7.5 mile Turkey run, many dressed for the occasion. Richard Randle 1:09:44, Sharon Gardener 1:24:29, Nicola Crawley 1:26:06, Nadine Golding 1:26:06, David Holland 1:30:49, Andrew Cornwell 1:31:38. Pulling a PB out the bag were Charlotte Housden 1:21:22, Alison North 1:30:49 and Dee Millen 1:36:30. Well done to everyone, your outfits looked amazing.
Chatham Maritime Christmas Dash 5k
Taking on their first ever race were our Introduction to Running graduates Andrea Marsh and Bex Schweizer completing the 5k course in 36:06 supporting each other all the way and achieving Andrea a PB. Great running ladies.
Pilgrims Hospice Santa Run
In an event that sees everyone dress up as Santa, we had a selection of striders running 3 different distances along Herne Bay Seafront. Amanda James completed the 10k in 1:05:41. Andy Found, Vicky Stevenson and Martin Whittingham completed the 5k in 34:55, 35:22 and 39:00 respectively.
In her first ever event, Lynette Whittingham completed the 3k run, supported by fellow Striders in 32:36, gaining herself a PB. Well done all.
It’s been a great week to be a Strider. Well done to everyone who helped in our final parkrun takeover of 2023. Keep on running and don’t forget…..those who run together, have fun together! 🏃🏼♀️😂
