Apologies for the delay. It’s been a hectic weekend.
Ashford Striders Members were out and about in force again this weekend representing the club across the south East and South Coast and Europe and doing it in style with some truly magnificent performances.
As usual the Parkrunners kicked the weekend off as they headed off to various destinations in Strider Red for their 5k fix, we will start at Ashford where the promise of Cake attracted most Striders. Martin Whittingham celebrated his 100 PR milestone on home turf, Keith Haynes headed the Strider field once again with an impressive 21.15 finish with Kevan Strand taking silver as he returned from injury and ‘eased’ his way back in with 22.54. Mark Niles achieved 23.37 as he too looks to recover from a troublesome Achilles and Terry Sellen followed him to record an impressive 24.23. Strider newcomer Dave Winchester celebrated his first race in red with 25.09 followed by Ian McCutcheon with 25.21. Darren Laker put in another good shift with 26.21 hotly pursued by Jason Brice, Kevin York, Jamie Bartlett and Steve Rumsey who all got sub 30s with 27.38, 28.31, 28.57 and 29.51 respectively.
Rachel Tomsett took the first Strider lady honours this week with a time of 30.40 and Rita Cooke narrowly missed out on a PB with 32.22. Jennifer Watts did manage a new PB as she crossed the line in 32.50 well done Jennifer. Man of the morning was Martin Whittingham who celebrated his milestone run with a 33.45 finish, he was followed over the line by Michelle Brice 37.27 and Danielle Moss 40.56. As always thanks to the Strider volunteers who this week included Lisa Fulcher, Clare Maxlow, Simon Jackson and Nicola Crawley.
Ok then, on to the tourists for this week. Maidstone Parkrun welcomed Tamsin Ritchie who completed the run along the River Medway in 58.45 whilst just across town at Mote Park, Andy Found, Justine Wearn and Jason Wearn warmed up for the Sunday action with times of 29.21, 30.25 and 30.28 respectively. Julie Nicholson took in the sea air at Whitstable and recorded a 38.06 finish whilst Siobhan Hagan recorded a new 5k PB at Raphael Parkrun in Essex with 26.26, Well done Siobhan. Justin Burden and Hazel Turner jumped on the train and headed to Orpington and both recorded excellent times of 25.06 and 25.33 respectively which completes the tourist line up for this weekend and well done to you all.
Right then, Down in the South of England we had a lot of Striders in action and Saturday saw five of them undertake the Run to the Sea Ulta-Marathon, a gruelling 50k run across tough terrain from Ringwood in Hampshire to Bournemouth. These guys put in a lot of training for this epic run and it paid off so huge congratulations to them all. First to see the seaside was Tammy Brooks who completed in 6:26:54. Next through was Kay Hunt with 6:32:28 and then Chloe Darling and Adam Thomas had a near photo finish with 6:42:32 and 6:42:34 respectively and finally Disco David Helme with 6:57:59. Also a big thanks to Tammy’s husband Trevor for being their chaperone for the weekend. Well done all of you and hope you recover quickly from your aches and pains.
Sunday, saw a big Strider contingent converge on Portsmouth for the Great South Run. A fantastic well supported 10 mile event involving over 20,000 runners and some epic performances from some of the Strider Speedsters as they went head to head after a week or so of wind ups and teasing from their devious club mates. At the end of the day it was Kevan Strand who took Striders Gold as he set a new PB with an outstanding finish time 1:15:44 and his rival Jason Caldwell took Silver with an equally impressive 1:17:18. You may now see Jason wandering the streets of Ashford with his suitcase as his wife said don’t come home unless you win. The Striders Bronze went to Jason Wearn with 1:20:27, he kept the front two in his sights for the whole race but just not quite enough in the tank to pip them to the post but more than enough to earn himself a new 10 mile PB There was some equally impressive performances from the rest of the Striders on the day too with Rob Wood taking 4th place with an outstanding 1:25:32 finish and Gayle Bailey taking ladies Gold and a new PB with a brilliant time of 1:31:05. Just 32 seconds behind Gayle was Nicola Crawley who took 5th place with 1:31:37 and then Vicky Stevenson followed with 1:37:31. Andy Found huffed and puffed to a finish time of 1:41:32 and the ever improving Jayne Hatton earned herself a shiny new PB with a fantastic 1:42:45. Justine Wearn crossed the line in 1:44:42 and Dani Moss showed real grit and determination to cross the line to the sound of huge Strider cheers and applause which is of course the Strider way….No one leaves until we are all back safe and sound. Well done to all involved and of course we all enjoyed a Strider after party in the Jolly Sailor before heading home.
Furthest afield this weekend was Simon Jackson who chose Amsterdam for his Autumn Marathon, massive congratulations to him for completing it in an impressive 4:23:44.
Back in the UK and closer to home we had five Striders competing in the Port Lympne 5k and 10k races. Both are tough courses so PBs were hard to come by. The 5k was completed by Vicky Shrubsole and Sharon Gardner who finished neck and neck in 37:49 and Karen Edwards who ran with her daughter finished in 40:00. The 10k route was tackled by Nigel Hills who just managed a sub 60 mins with 59:47. Jack Farrant recorded an impressive 1:00:41 finish and Kate Stroud who also ran with her son and crossed the line 1:02:27.
Finally to round up another busy Strider Weekend we had two representatives and two impressive performances at the Maidstone Half Marathon. Tamsin Ritchie completed it in 2:00:54 and Mandy Cooper crossed the finish line in 2:14:02.
Another brilliant weekend of running for the club and each and every one of you did yourselves and the club proud.
Report by Andy Found.
