There seems to be an inkling of spring time erupting as we head into the middle of March, and this helps us all to get up and out of bed early on the weekend to attend a parkrun or a race day. That being said there were many Striders pounding the pavements and trails this week/weekend reaching the peak of their marathon training before taper. The support we give to each other is phenomenal, and I wouldn’t want to be part of any other club.
A total of 52 Striders attended a Parkrun on 16/03/24 , 32 at Ashford, and 20 on tour. Spring had sprung and the sun was shining.
Keith Haynes was first Strider across the line at Ashford with a time of 20:18, followed by Simon Pharoah with a time of 20:19, and Jack Farrant third Strider, with a time of 22:29. They were followed by:
Dan Green 23:03, Terry Sellen 23:37, Mark Niles 23:40, Daniel Schwartz 24:34, Josh Stephens 24:43, Scott Hawkins 25:57, Darren Laker 26:17, Don Dewar 27:35, David Gadsby 28:34, Andy Found 29:16, Rachel Tomsett 30:13, Hazel Turner 30:28, Amanda James 31:00, Jo Mason 31:07, Michelle Brice 32:26, Lee Standen 33:00, Cara Linin 33:04, Jayne Hatton 33:36, Brian Forrester 34:32, Rachel York 34:45, Kevin York 34:46, Robert Harris 35:29, Jason Brice 35:30, Jennifer Watts 36:43, Hazel Forrester 37:16, Julie Foster 40:22, Sara Dewar 42:38, Leigh Freeman 42:38, Dave Warner 43:55
Parkrun Tourism
We had 14 Striders staying in Kent – Harry Lockhart completed the Bexley parkrun in 27:34 and Tamsin Ritchie completed Canterbury parkrun in 32:11
Still proving popular as a relatively new event in Kent, Dover Waterfront was completed by Lisa Fulcher in 31:33, Rachel Misson in 32:04, Lisa Gribbin in 32:04, Martin Whittingham in 33:56 and Rick Newman in 46:16.
Down on the Kent Coast, Jamie Penfold and Aimee Donohue completed Margate parkrun in 24:51 & 27:23 respectively. Richard Randle completed the Pegwell Bay parkrun in 25:02, Nicola Crawley in 25:44, Sarah Martins in 30:25 and Dee Millen in 32:11.
Amanda Cooper completed the Walmer and Deal Seafront parkrun in 27:48
Travelling further afield, we had 6 Striders out and about at:
Justin Burden and Laura Clark completed the Burgess parkrun in 24:51 & 36:44, respectively. Cherith Wright completed the Ecos parkrun, Ballymena in 23:26 Justine and Jason Wearn completed the Sutcliffe parkrun in London in 30:05 and 30:07. Lydia Huntley completed the University Parks parkrun in Oxford 29:40.
Sunday Races
It started out as a rainy Sunday morning and Striders were heading to different parts of the county to complete races.
Canterbury Riverside 10k
Stephen Cartwright achieved his 10k PB in the Chartham to Canterbury course of 59:08, Daniel Schwartz achieved a course PB in 55:00 and Charlotte Housden completed the race in 1:01:25
Smugglers 10k & 5k
Richard Randle achieved his 10k PB of 50:27, next stop sub 50, and Andrew Cornwell ran a time of 1:10:18 which was a PB on this course.
Kirsty Theobald took on the 5k race and completed it in 37:48
Kingston Break-fest
Lisa Gribbin took on this 20 mile race and completed it in 3:39:15.
Leith Hill Half
Jason Kennedy ran the Leith Hill half in 2:11:00.
Well done to everyone running and racing this weekend. Here’s to brighter evenings and sunnier days!!
