Well. THAT was a busy one wasn’t it! I was considering just summarising and writing, loads of us ran and did incredibly well. Once running the weather was fine and actually perfect for us. The end!
But, I guess you all want to know the details! So here goes…
Saturday as we all know is Parkrun day and as is customary, we shall start at home in Ashford’s Victoria Park where Andrew Maund was leader of the Striders pack, striding home in a fabulous 20:26! Adam Booth was next in at 21:10 then Jamie Penfold, breaking in his new Striders shirt, followed in an impressive time of 24:52. Not far behind we had David Gadsby at 27:30 and then Don Dewar at 30:06. First home for lady-Striders was Aimee Donohue at 30:22 and just a second later was Hazel Turner with a time of 30:23! Then we have the lovely Rita Cooke who bagged herself a wonderful PB of 31:14, well done Rita, thoroughly well deserved! (Andy tried to take credit for this but we all know who really deserves the credit!) Anyway, I digress, a mere 2 seconds behind Rita at 31:16 was Rachel Forrester, then Kevan Strand, 32:39; Peter Broom, 32:45; Lisa Fulcher, 32:47; Delia Millen finished in 33:24, then Hazel and Brian Forrester a second behind with 33:25! Amanda Cooper was next with a time of 33:27, Vicky Shrubsole bagged another parkrun towards her 50 before 50 goal and did so in a time of 33:43! Siobhan Hagan completed the 5k in 35:36, Lisa Gribbin in 35:38; Rachel Misson in 35:39 and then neck and neck at 35:40 were Michelle Bryant and Sara Dewar. Leigh Freeman finished in 35:45, Julie Foster 43:25 and finally, the lovely Dani Moss rounded it all off and came in at 57:35!
Massive thanks to Parkrun Volunteers; Jason Caldwell, Dermot Carr, Sharni Copham, Lisa Fulcher, Katie Iggulden Exon, Richard Randle and Lee Standen, as always, if you can volunteer, please do. It’s a lovely thing to do and hundreds of fellow runners will be extremely grateful, as will Parkrun organisers! Thank you!
Parkrun Tourism
We had Striders all over the place! Rachel Tomsett was in Eastbourne and completed their course in 50:47. Nicola Crawley travelled to Margate and did their 5k course in 27:54. Malling was graced with the presence of Justin Burden who crossed the finish in 25:09. Justine and Jason Wearn were at Minster Parkrun and finished in times of 32:01 and 32:06 respectively, and finally, this week’s most travelled Strider was Sally Davidson-Daniel who completed Trentham Garden’s tough course in a wonderful sub 30 time of 29:36!
Ok, Parkrun done, are you all still paying attention?
Sunday Runday! We had races galore and will start furthest away at Southampton Marathon where Claire Green completed the 26 miles in an excellent time of 4:20:33, well done Claire!
Back over this way to Brighton where there was a choice of 10k or Marathon distances to run, we shall start with the 10k-ers! Keith Haynes flew the distance in 42:35, next in was Jason Sanders with 51:13 followed closely by Tamsin Ritchie who had a PB at 51:49! Nicola Crawley was next in at 52:57, Vicky Stevenson at 54:38, Tammy Brooks at 55:14 and then Dermot Carr got a 10k PB with a time of 56:16! Next back was Ian Watson with a time of 56:53, Jo Mason 1:00:19 and just behind was Jayne Hatton at 1:00:57. Michelle Bryant was next with 1:01:21, Nadine Golding with a time of 1:01:50 and finally Justine Wearn crossed the line in 1:02:20.
Brighton Marathon We had 14 runners at the event and lots of PB’s. First Strider over the line was Jason Caldwell with a time of 3:45:44, Jason Wearn was not far behind and completed in 3:52:01, then Kevan Strand at 3:56:08. Next was Rob Wood with the first Brighton Marathon PB, 4:04:02, Paul Dunning, with a PB of 4:12:49, Richard Randle with a PB of 4:29:18 and Jason Kennedy with a PB of 4:36:07! Next up was Andy Found finishing the course in 4:42:02. Just behind Andy and first for the females was Mandy Cooper with a lovely number of 4:43:00! We then have another flurry of PB’s starting with Kay Hunt, who crossed the line with Adam Thomas both with the exact same (PB) time of 4:43:11! Chloe Darling was next in at 4:47, Gayle Bailey finished in 4:48:58 (PB), Siobhan completed her first marathon and did so in an impressive time of 4:54:14 (PB). Lisa Gribbin was next in at 4:58:42 (PB), Rachel Misson at 5:09:24(PB), Dave Helme finished in 5:16:50 and last but definitely not least was Darren Laker who completed the 26 miles in 5:17:06 (PB) Massive well done to you all, this is a huge achievement!
Finally to round off the weekend was London Landmarks Half Marathon, as with Brighton, it was freezing to start but perfect for running and there was even a bit of beautiful blue sky and sunshine! Nigel Hills was the first Strider to finish this half and he did so in a time of 2:01:59, next was Stephen Cleaver, 2:04:24, and then Leanne Clarke got a shiny new PB with a time of 2:17:37! Sharon Gardner (feels weird writing in the third person) got a PB with 2:18:07, Lucie Shrubsole was next to finish with a time of 2:20:07, Scott Hawkins also managed a PB and a time of 2:26:39. Melissa Bowles was next over 2:40:33, Vicky Shrubsole and Caroline Miller crossed the finish line togevva in 2:41:02, Mike Mason, 2:47:24; Gemma Coulstock, 2:47:36; Kirsty Theobald; 2:54:09 and Dani Moss rounded off the race with a time of 3:26:33!
Phew! I left the report as late as possible but if I’ve missed anyone, please message me.
As always, massive thanks to all the runners for giving me something to write about but mostly, a huge thanks to the Striders supporters who just make running a race that little bit more bearable. As has been said by many people before, this club is great! The help, encouragement and support from everyone, for everyone, is second to none. So many of us wouldn’t attempt these races without the club behind us, giving us these crazy ideas!
Have a wonderful week everyone
Report by Sharon Gardner
