As far as I’m aware, the only race this week is the one to your mobile phone to read what will undoubtedly be the highlight of your week! (This report obvs!)
It’s been that difficult first week of the year and we have new members galore! Welcome, I hope that you’ve all had a great week!
Thursday was Strider’s first official club meet of the year and also saw the biggest ever attendance; groups 1-6 all filled with smiley happy people, chomping at the bit, eager to blow away the Christmas cobwebs and tick off another day in their RED January challenge!
This weekend was Parkrun-tastic! We’ll start with Ashford Parkrun, first across the line was Adam Booth with an impressive time of 20:29, just on his tail was Keith Haynes at 20:37, Mark Niles came in at 21:37, and Terry Sellen at 24:51. Ian McCutcheon was Ashford Parkrun’s 9000th runner through the funnel with an impressive time of 25:28, Justin Burden came in at 25:41 and then with a PB and a time of 26 minutes on the nose was Nigel Hills!
Tamsin Ritchie was our first lady strider to finish in a time of 26:28, Dermot Carr wasn’t far behind at 28:09 and just behind him, and still smiling, was Jo Mason in at 28:21. Jason Brice came through the funnel at 29:05, Jim Wealands at 29:15 and Disco Dave Helme followed him at 29:44. Paul Baker was a first time Ashford Parkrunner and finished with a time of 30:31, followed by Rachel Tomsett with 31:05, Richard Randle with 31:06, Dave Warner with 31:35 and Catherine Wall with 32:01. Rachel Theobald and Kevin York crossed the line with times of 32:21 and 32:22 respectively, Brian Forrester came through at 33:00, Justine Wearn finished at 33:22, Martin Whittingham at 33:49, Lisa Fulcher at 34:41 and last but definitely not least was Emma Matthews who finished at 37:59 earning herself a well deserved PB!
Volunteers included Rita Cooke, Jason Caldwell, Terry Sellen, and Kevan Strand, thanks so much to you all!
On we go to a bit of tourism; Dartford saw 5 of our lovely Striders in attendance! First to finish was Hazel Turner in at 25:28, Siobhan Hagan completed her 60th Parkrun in 29:02, Michelle Bryant came in at 30:11, Lisa Gribbin was 31:28 and Rachel Misson came in at 32:01.
Several Striders ventured to various Parkruns along our blustery coastlines in search of a very refreshing 5k!
Mandy Cooper was flying solo in Folkestone and completed the 5K in a time of 28:31.
Nicola Crawley and Lorna Dewell ventured out to the Walmer and Deal Seafront Parkrun and came in with times of 29:07 and 30:59 respectively.
Last and most definitely not least, in search of the perfect sausage, Peter and Danielle travelled down to Hastings to run the 5k along a very windy seafront! Peter, on his 99th parkrun, came in with a fantastic time of 29:50, Dani finished at 40:51 and as you can see from the image, mission was most definitely accomplished! Well done to all of you Parkrunners!
Finally, many thank yous and well dones to the run leaders and members who ran the unofficial runs this weekend, extra special mention to Richard Randle who seemingly has mastered the very impressive art of walking on water!!
Have a great week everyone!
Report by Sharon Gardner
