Hello Striders and congratulations to everyone that ran this weekend. Saturday as usual was Park Run day and Striders were out and about getting in their weekly 5K fix.
Ashford saw Adam Booth leading the Strider pack with a superb 18:40 finish with Keith Haynes taking second place in 20:48. Jason Caldwell stretched his legs in preparation for his Sunday race with 22:50 and Hazel Turner took the first Strider lady title with 24:50 followed by Emily Maund who celebrated a new PB with 26:39. Dan Shwartz completed in 27:16 just ahead of Josh Stephens in 27:59. Rob Harris and Andy Found completed in 28:04 and 28:32 respectively just ahead of David Gadsby in 28:35. Chris Lacey ran a new PB time of 29:03 and Amanda James took 29:09 with Steve Ramsey and Amanda Cooper completing the Sub 30 list with respective times of 29:31 and 29:35.
Catherine Wall finished in 31:42 whilst Sonette Shwartz and Jason Brice battled it out in 33:02 and 33:03. Leigh Freeman finished in 33:22 ahead of Martin Whittingham in 34:05 and Brian Forrester in 34:43. Jennifer Watts and Hazel Forrester completed the Strider lineup with 35:28 and 35:48 respectively.
A big thanks as usual to all of the volunteers which this week included Michelle Brice, Don Dewar, Peter Heckel, Simon Jackson, Terry Sellen and Carole Thomas.
Out of Ashford we had David and Sarah Martins at Maidstone Riverside and they completed in 31:06 and 33:31 whilst Lee Standen took on the Oakhill event and finished in 32:45. Kevin Strand was in London for the Gunnersbury event and finished in 25:18 whilst Tamsin Ritchie opted for the coast and completed Whitstable in 32:43. Great Lines in Medway welcomed Dee Millen and Richard Randle and they recorded times of 32:04 and 32:05 and Dermot Carr completed Tonbridge in 26:40. Mark Niles took 21:58 to complete the Hove Promenade event whilst at Chalkwell Beach we had Justin Burden, Laura Clark and Lisa Gribbin finishing in 24:37, 34:22 and 34:23. Lisa Fulcher completed Thames Path, Woolwich in 52:07 and finally down at Dover Waterfront Nicola Crawley finished in 24:55 and Justine Wearn in 29:33.
OK so now onto the main event of the weekend and plenty of Striders were among the 65,725 participants for the TCS London Marathon 2024. An estimated £67,000,000 was raised for charity and I know our competitors raised a fair sized chunk of that !!
Adrian Green was our first member to cross the line in an outstanding time and new marathon PB of 3:28:10 which may well get him a Good For Age place next year. Rumour has it he was so nervous he packed his kit bag 17 times the night before so that in itself is a record to be proud of. Well Done Adrian !!
Fabio Baiardo was next over the line with a superb 3:50:47 finish and a new marathon PB and he was followed by Jason Caldwell in 4:06:55. Well done to you both !!
Linda-Jean Delport ran as a Gel Feeder for a man called Andy Roberts who set a world record yesterday for completing the course wearing 20KG of Chainmail. He beat the current record by 28 Minutes so massive well done to him and to Linda for supporting him and still getting a cracking time of 4:22:22
Tara Graves had a fantastic day knocking over 20 minutes off her previous best with a finish time of 4:15:12. Absolutely brilliant run Tara !!
Vicky Stevenson took on her first London Marathon but third marathon in total and recorded an outstanding time of 4:41:31. Brilliant consistent running Vicky !! Not far behind Vicky was Lisa Gribbin who, despite running Brighton Marathon just two weeks ago managed a marathon PB time of 4:44:07, fantastic running Lisa !! Jamie Bartlett completed his first ever marathon after having to defer last year in an equally impressive time of 4:50:31.
Rachel Misson added another marathon to her already impressive list with a super time of 5:16:14 and Rachel Tomsett took on her first marathon completing the course in 5:33:44. Massive well done to both of you !!
Also taking on their first marathons were Lucie Shrubsole and Michelle Brice. These two ran the whole course together and supported each other throughout and were rewarded with an outstanding time of 5:37:37. Congratulations to you both !!
Melissa Dawkins also ran her debut marathon yesterday and got a time to be proud of in 5:56:33. Well done Melissa !!
Finally a big well done to Karen Edwards who completed the Virtual London Marathon by walking the route in reverse with her sister. Starting at midnight she completed in 7:43:25.
A fantastic day all round for runners and spectators in London yesterday and every one of you did yourselves and the club proud with your efforts in both fundraising and running. Well done to you all !! 😍
