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Buckle up people, this was a super strider weekend of running.
Ashford Parkrun
With many races on Sunday, a reasonably quiet Ashford Parkrun saw 12 Ashford Striders taking on the local 5k distance.
Terry Sellen was the first man in red to cross the line in an impressive 25:55, followed by David Gadsby 28:19, Justine Wearn 29:25 and Jason Wearn 29:26 all coming in under the 30 minute mark. Jason Brice was next 30:25, Rachel Theobald 31:16, Kevin York 31:17, Brian Forrester 32:07, Lisa Fulcher 32:35, Adam Thomas 35:40 and helping out the tail walkers today was Siobhan Hagan and Graham Troman, finishing together in 54:15 this completed the Ashford Parkrun Strider representatives.
Thanks also as always to all volunteers at Ashford; especially a number of our lovely Striders. Amanda Mandy Cooper, Don Dewer, Kevan Strand, Lisa Fulcher, Rita Cooke and Terry Sellen.
Canterbury Parkrun
Tamsin Ritchie completed Canterbury Parkrun in an impressive time of 27:16. Well done Tamsin.
Kingsbury Water Parkrun
Martin Whittingham continued his love of park run bingo running a ‘K’ finishing in a time of 32:55.
Squerryes Winery Parkrun
Not sure why I haven’t completed this parkrun yet ? Any run that has the word ‘wine’ in the name sounds my kind of run. Justin Burden continued his love of tourism finishing In 25:43.
Iford Mill Parkrun
Another park run ‘nerd’ Nicola Crawley ticked off her ’I’ completing Iford parkrun in an impressive 25:48.
Well done everyone on Saturday.
Out of Time Relay – reported by Mandy Cooper
During the night a small group of Striders took part in the Out of Time relay. Sadly the organisers had a runner drop out for the previous leg. Thankfully for them Greg Johnson stepped up to the mark to receive the baton (actually a bunch of sticks!) from the previous runner to run the leg solo from Lenham to Westwell to meet team mates Jason Caldwell, Gayle Bailey, Tamsin Ritchie and Mandy Cooper So, at 2am the group set off on a 10km route to finish at Julie Rose Stadium. Thankfully on this leg they had support drivers. Nadine Golding and Ian Watson who provided lights and shelter. Lucky as one of the group hates running in the dark! They arrived at Julie Rose stadium by 3am to hand the “baton” over to a small group of runners to continue the relay, allowing our Strider team mates to get back to bed!
Thank you for this report Mandy and absolutely well done to you all (especially Greg who completed his half marathon in 2:21)
Givaudan 10k
A beautiful sunny Sunday morning saw numerous amount of Striders out on our home turf for the local Givaudan 10k. The atmosphere before the run in the Strider camp was a mix of nerves and excitement. Pre-race advice was given, professional warm ups complete and we were off; results are:-
Keith Haynes 42:56
Adam Thomas. 47:37. PB
Justin Burden. 48:29
Simon Jackson. 48:41. PB
Nigel Hills. 49:36
Terry Sellen. 50:00
Paul Dunning. 50:37
Aimee Donohue. 52:45. PB
Darren Laker. 54:06. PB
Graham Troman. 55:48
Katie Stroud. 56:24
Claire Hall-Dawson. 56:37. PB
Siobhan Hagan 57:55. PB
Michelle Bryant. 58:55. PB
Kevin Miller. 59:26. PB
Jayne Hatton. 1:00:30 PB
Aisha Booth. 1:00:58. PB
Becky Somerford 1:01:39
Sharon Gardner. 1:02:36. PB
Angie Craffey. 1:02:57. PB
Rebecca James. 1:04:16
Rita Cooke. 1:05:48. PB
Dermot Carr. 1:06:02. PB
Jenny Watts. 1:07:18. PB
Rachel Oliver. 1:08:03.
Clare Maxlow. 1:08:22. PB
Emma Matthews. 1:14:45. PB
Kirsty Theobald. 1:15:57.
Julie Nicholson. 1:15:24. PB
Danielle Moss. 1:22:39
An absolutely amazing Strider effort today. Massive well done to every single one of you. An extra well done to everyone achieving a personal best Also a huge thank you to all Strider Marshalls today.
The support in general around the streets of Ashford for this race was amazing today. Once again, Ashford Striders, really did display what an outstanding, inclusive and supportive club we really are.
I know the runners appreciated the Strider support along the route and especially at the finish line; when people had finished their race they made sure they stayed behind to cheer ALL of our runners home. Well done Team Striders we did ourselves proud, both runners and supporters.
Royal Parks Half Marathon
Some Striders took to the streets and beautiful parks of London today running the Royal Parks Half Marathon.
Simon Richter was first home in 1:58:16, with Chloe Darling achieving a half marathon PB of 2:03:21. Rachel Phillips was next to finish in 2:04:16 and Hazel Forester coming in in 2:57:54. Well done everyone.
A mega busy weekend of brilliant running. Absolutely congrats to everyone Have a great week of running A bit of a long report this weekend, so If you notice an error, please do not hesitate to tell me and I will amend. I am however off to have a very large glass of wine so any amendments may be made tomorrow before I send it off to the paper.

Report by Justine Wearn

Ashford Parkrun
This week’s Ashford Parkrun was taken over by members of Ashford & District Road Running Club. Thanks to everyone who volunteered to make this week’s event happen.
15 members of Ashford Striders turned out on Saturday morning to run the 5km event around Victoria Park. First Strider to cross the line was Keith Haynes with a super quick time of 20:54. Well done Keith. Adam Thomas was next with 25:36, just behind him was Hazel Turner and Terry Sellen with times of 25:54 and 25:57 respectively.
Next was Richard Randle, 26:36, Graham Troman, 27:50, Siobhan Hagan, 29:06 and Amanda James, 29:19.
Sonette Schwartz achieved a time of 30:40 just ahead of Lisa Gribbin who finished in 30:45. Jayne Hatton was next at 31:42, followed by Michelle Bryant, 32:02, Lisa Fulcher, 32:13, Rita Cooke, 33:28 and Jenny Watts, 33:46.
Well done to you all!
Strider Tourism
This October marks the 18th anniversary of Parkrun. To commemorate this, Parkrun are dedicating the whole of October to Parkwalk at Parkrun. The lovely Tamsin Ritchie decided to travel to Whitstable Parkrun and had a fabulous time Parkwalking along the promenade in a time of 48:11.
Rachel Tomsett also Parkwalked whilst away in South Wales, completing Pontypool Parkrun in 43:12.
Two Striders ventured to Sittingbourne Parkrun, running 5km around Milton Creek Country Park. Justin Burden achieved a time of 24:29 and Nicola Crawley finishing in 26:25.
Colchester Stampede Half Marathon
Aimee Donohue went to Essex on Sunday to run the Colchester Stampede Half marathon which starts in the centre of Colchester Zoo.
Aimee achieved a brilliant new half marathon PB with a time of 2:04:30. She even ran her fastest ever 10k (57:25) within the run. She said that there were a few nasty hills on the route, but starting and finishing running past elephants and rhinos made up for it!
Congratulations Aimee!
London Marathon
Our capital city was host to the 42nd London Marathon on Sunday. 42,000 runners gathered at Greenwich Park to run the 26.2-mile route to the Mall.
Six brave Striders took park. Andy Found was raising money for Muscular Dystrophy UK, and had a brilliant run, coming across the line with a time of 4:50:32. Justine Wearn got herself noticed by the cameras with her union jack running gear and her beaming smile. She finished in 5:07:02 just ahead of Richard Barnes, who was running for King’s Health Partners and finished in 5:07:29.
David Helme completed the course with a time of 5:10:35 followed by Angie Craffey & Julie Moore, who both ran a time of 5:37:29 for Whizz-Kidz. Next came Clare Maxlow, who finished in 6:17:15.
Huge thanks to the Ashford Strider members who made their way to the event to volunteer and cheer on the runners.
London Virtual Marathon
Two Striders completed 26.2 miles in the London Virtual Marathon. Lisa Gribbin completed her marathon route in 5:02:30 and Simon Richter finished in 5:13:55.
Well done to you all for training so hard and battling to complete this awesome achievement. You should all be very proud!

Report by Paul Dunning.

Ashford Parkrun
A great turnout of 24 Striders ran in this week’s Ashford 5km event at Victoria Park. Keith Haynes was first Strider over the line with a time of 20:52. Next was Justin Burden, 23:35, Terry Sellen, 25:15 and Ian McCutcheon, 26:18.
Graham Troman crossed the line in 27:32 with Jason Sanders hard on his heels with a time of 27:39 just ahead of Mark Niles, 27:41.
After a superb PB last week at Victoria Dock Parkrun, Siobhan Hagan continues to grow in confidence and ran an impressive time of 27:50, a 1 minute 35 second improvement on her previous PB at Ashford. Great running Siobhan!
Vicky Stevenson was next with a time of 28:06 followed by Claire Hall-Dawson who ran a personal best time of 28:21. Next was Don Dewar, 29:16, Michelle Bryant, 29:45, Adam Thomas, 30:12 and Sonette Schwartz, 30:39.
Peter Broom finished in 30:46 closely followed by Tamsin Ritchie, 30:54 and Cathie Wall, 31:06. Next was Brian Forrester, 32:48, Lisa Fulcher, 33:44, Jenny Watts, 34:04 and Martin Whittingham, 34:05.
Next to finish was Rita Cooke who finished with a time of 34:19, then Rachel Tomsett, 41:10 and Danielle Moss, 42:37.
As always, we are grateful to Ashford Strider members who put themselves forward to volunteer at their home Parkrun. The event wouldn’t happen without you. Thanks to Jamie Bartlett, James Booth, Jason Caldwell, Simon Jackson, Darren Laker, Kevan Strand and Hazel Turner.

Striders on Tour
Maidstone Parkrun
Three Striders made their way to Maidstone to take part in the scenic riverside Parkrun along the banks of the river Medway. Andy Found was first to finish with a time of 29:34, Nicola Crawley and Justine Wearn finished in 30:29 and 30:34.
Clair Parkrun
Richard Randle travelled to Haywards Heath in West Sussex to run four laps of this parkland course. He crossed the line in a time of 36:44.
Folkestone Parkrun
Amanda Cooper went to the Leas in Folkestone, running a great time of 27:56.
Haga Parkrun
Our most intrepid Strider this week as Lee Standen, who while visiting Sweden made his way to the Haga Parkrun, running in a time of 31:47.

Folkestone Rotary Half
We had three Striders at this seafront event which takes runners from Folkestone to Hythe and back. It’s mostly flat, except for a cheeky (or downright cruel) hill climb just before the finish. Adam Thomas ran a cracking race, earning himself a PB with his time of 1:49:21. Tamsin Ritchie was just behind him, coming in at 1:59:45. Daren Laker has been training well for his first half, and can be very proud of his time of 2:08:15.

Four Castles Challenge
This hilly half marathon along the coastline in East Kent was well attended by Strider runners, with eight members doing us proud. The route starts at Deal Pier and passes Sandown Castle, Deal Castle and Walmer Castle before finishing at the iconic Dover Castle.
Simon Richter was first Strider to cross the line with a time of 1:59:39. Hazel Turner was on his tail coming in at 2:00:46. Rachel Phillips finished in 2:05:40, Kay Hunt, 2:19:20, Nicola Crawley, 2:24:22 followed by Jason Sanders, 2:29:04, Sharni Copham, 2:58:40 and Vicky Shrubsole, 2:58:59.
Well done Striders. Fantastic running all!
Report by Paul Dunning

With only a couple of races this weekend the majority of Striders opted for a Parkrun as their race fix of choice and Ashford Parkrun obviously saw most of them in action.

Ashford Parkrun
The first Red over the line this week was Keith Haynes who finished in an impressive 21:07 and he was followed by Paul Dunning in 24:27. Terry Sellen proudly donned his Striders vest and it inspired him to finish in 24:57 and Darren Laker narrowly missed out on a PB with a time of 25:25. Jack Farrant went one better and ran a new PB time of 25:53 well done Jack.
Jason Sanders came through next with 27:10 with Graham Truman close behind in 27:53. The evergreen David Gadsby secured a 28:40 finish and Lorna Dewell claimed first Strider lady spot with 28:48 in her first ever Parkrun with Amanda James close behind with 29:02. Rachel Tomsett was next with 29:50 and then Nicola Crawley celebrated her 100th Parkrun milestone with a time of 29:54. Aimee Donohue combined her Parkrun with a longer run and managed a time of 30:18 and she was followed in by Justine Wearn and Andy Found who both finished in 30:41. Peter Broom and Sharon Gardner were the next Striders over the finish line with times of 31:37 and 32:03 respectively and then Rita Cooke followed with 32:31. Brian Forrester finished in 33:28 and then Kevan Strand, running with some family members, crossed in 34:01. Hazel Forrester, Richard Randle and Danielle Moss completed the Strider line up at Ashford this week with respective times of 34:03, 35:59 and 41:43.
Of course Parkrun can’t go ahead without the help of the volunteers and this week they included Jason Caldwell, Simon Jackson, Terry Sellen, Rachel Tomsett and Strider newcomer Jennifer Watts. A big thanks to all of them for giving up their time so that others can run.

Parkrun tourism
Martin Whittingham visiting the Nonsuch event and completing it in 31:36 and Justin Burden recording a 26:27 at Tunbridge Wells. Tamsin Ritchie graced Malling Parkrun and finished in 25:44 and finally Siobhan Hagan continued her impressive form with a 27:31 result at Victoria Dock.
Well done to all Strider Parkrun competitors and volunteers.

Other races were few and far between this weekend but we did have Strider representation at Reigate and Faversham.
Run Reigate 10k
Lucie and Vicky Shrubsole both completing in 1:09:53.
Faversham 10k
Simon Richter and Rachel Phillips recorded times of 46:38 and 54:50 respectively.
Some very impressive running again this weekend.
Report by Andy Found.

Thursday 8th September 2022. As members gathered for their usual Thursday night club run, the official announcement of HRH Queen Elizabeth’s II passing spread amongst us. Prior to our run we respectfully observed a minute’s silence, reflecting on an unwavering dutiful lady that served our great country for over 70 year of her 96 years. R.I.P. ma’am.

Ashford Parkrun
I was able to support you all this morning as ATC hosted a take over of the Parkrun; I witnessed some superb Strider running – as always. First Strider over the line (in from what I could make out was a group 1 showdown) Kevan Strand 21:07, next was Keith Haynes 21:23, Jason Caldwell 21:49 and Neil wood 22:21(PB). Hazel Turner gave an impressive performance 24:16, Darren Laker & Jack Farrent bagging themselves PBs 25:17 & 26:23 respectively. Kevin York (minus buggy) 26:25, Graham Troman 27:14(shiny PB), David Helme 27:50, Mandy Cooper 28:03, Steve Rumsey 28:16, David Gadsby 28:50, Siobhan Hagan 29:25(another Strider smashing a PB this week), another Strider smashing their PB and getting her long awaited sub 30 was Lisa Gribbin coming in at 29:26 Amanda James also coming in at sub 30 at 29:41. Peter Broom was next through in 31:23, Rachel Oliver 32:40, Martin Whittingham 32:16, Brian forrester and Hazel Forrester came next 33:43 and 34:33. Rachel Tomsett 41:33, Don Dewer 43:05 and Garath Huyton 54:36.

Parkrun tourism
Moors Valley
Tamsin Ritchie completed Moors Valley in an impressive 25:12.
Folkestone
Richard Randall nipped down the road to our neighbours and completed Folkestone in 36:28.
Guernsey
Sonette Schwartz travelled further afield to Guernsey and completed in 32:54.
Swanley
Justin Burden was on his travels yet again this time completing Swanley 25:12.

Larkfield 10k
Two striders made the trip to run Larkfield. Vicky Stevenson was pleased with her time of 56:29, and Danielle Moss 1:30:05. Well done to both of you.

Rye Ancient Trail 30k
30km of hills, trails, fields, stiles and more hills ! Yuk ! However, some crazy Ashford Striders Members decided this was the best way to spend their Sunday morning ! Richard Randle was first strider home in 3:57:16, closely followed by Justine Bushell in 3:59:25. Adam Thomas and David Helme earned themselves PBs on this hard run recording times of 4:14 and 4:15:38 respectively with Amanda Cooper was just one minute behind David coming over the line in 4:16:53. Kay Hunt & Chloe Darling also completed this crazy course and came across the line in 4:24:20 & 4:23:37. Absolutely brilliant running.

Great North Run
The GNR is the largest half marathon in the world with 60,000 runners. The route begins in the middle of Newcastle, crossing over the Tyne Bridge and finishing in South Shields. A few Striders made the pilgrimage up North.
Simon Jackson came in at 1:57:50, followed by Nicola Crawley 2:18:46. Jayne Hatton crossed the line in 2:29:30, Sharon Gardner 2:33:03 and Nadine Golding 2:36:34. Well done everyone.
So we end this emotional and historic week with some fantastic running achievements. Well done everyone. Have another great week of running.

Report by Justine Wearn.

Rye Summer Series
Once again, Ashford Striders’ running weekend started early with a club member racing on the Friday night. Having run the first two 10k races in the series at Rye Harbour nature reserve, Justin Burden switched to the 5k option for the 3rd event of the series and finished in a time of 22:48

Ashford parkrun
Fewer club members were running at our home parkrun this week, partly due to a number of races taking place this weekend.
Keith Haynes 21:57 was this week’s fastest Strider at Ashford parkrun, followed by Terry Sellen in 26:21, David Gadsby 28:42, Stephen Rumsey 28:49, Amanda James 31:03, Catherine Wall 31:41, Sonette Schwartz 32:08, Martin Whittingham 32:30, Rachel Forrester 32:31, Rita Cooke 33:37, Graham Troman 35:09, Brian Forrester 35:21, Hazel Forrester 36:26 and finally Siobhan Hagan who was volunteering as tail walker and finished in 46:59
Our awesome volunteers at Ashford parkrun were Darren Laker, Don Dewar, Jason Caldwell, Lee Standen, Kevan Strand, Rebecca Somerford, Sara Dewar, Simon Jackson and Siobhan Hagan.

Parkrun tourism Justin Burden ran his second 5k in two days, completing his 150th parkrun at the lakeside course in Eastbourne in 25:02 Travelling across the Thames to Basildon parkrun were Rachel Theobald, who finished in 30:32, and Kevin York who ran 30:33
Also going north of the river was perennial parkrun tourist Nicola Crawley, completing Mile End parkrun in East London in 25:28
Closer to home, Jamie Bartlett ran Mote Park parkrun in 28:48.

Dock 2 Dock
Also on Saturday, two Striders were in swimming, instead of running, action this weekend. Both swam the gruelling 5km distance at this open water event at London’s Royal Docks. Richard Randall swam a personal best of 2:02:06 and Amanda Cooper finished in a time of 2:15:57.

Badlesmere 10k
On Sunday, Martin Whittingham was the sole strider at this race around the country lanes not far from Ashford. He finished in a time of 1:11:18.

The Big Half
Also on Sunday, several club members travelled up to London to run this half marathon on a similar route to part of the London Marathon, but in the opposite direction. The race started not far from the Tower of London and finished by the iconic Cutty Sark in Greenwich.
Completing the race were: Simon Jackson 1:56:55, Siobhan Hagan with a terrific personal best of 2:20:50, Karen Edwards 2:21:03, Lisa Gribbin and Rachel Misson ran together and both finished in 2:26:09, Lisa Fulcher 2:33:34, Vicky Shrubsole 2:37:40, Sharni Copham 2:37:47 and Sarah George who also earned herself a shiny new half marathon PB of 2:59:40. And lastly, an honourable mention goes to Nicola Crawley, supporting instead of running at the Big Half, who displayed superb selfie taking skills by managing to grab a photo with Sir Mo Farah,
Well done everyone!
Report by Lisa Fulcher.

This bank holiday report departs from the usual format as it doesn’t start with Saturday’s parkruns.
On Friday evening, two teams of Strider ladies took part in a women’s softball cricket tournament organised by Mersham Sports Club. The decision to take part was not influenced in any way by the free bottle of Prosecco for each team.
As most members of the Strider teams were complete novices at cricket, neither team won a prize but everyone played with enthusiasm and had a fun evening.
Ashford Parkrun
Back to parkrun, there was a good turnout once again at Ashford’s Victoria Park. Leading the Strider finishers was Keith Haynes with a time of 21:41, followed by Kevan Strand 21:51, Greg Johnson 24:49, Darren Laker 25:48 and Jason Brice with a new personal best of 26:50. Next was Jamie Bartlett 27:03, then Graham Troman 28:11 which was also a PB.
They were followed by Claire Hall-Dawson 28:26, Stephen Rumsey 28:36, David Gadsby 29:21, Amanda James 29:45, Siobhan Hagan 30:16, Lisa Gribbin 31:00, Peter Broom 31:13, Martin Whittingham 32:07, Rita Cooke 32:58, Rachel Theobald 33:00, Kevin York 33:02, Lisa Fulcher 33:56, Rachel Forrester 34:27, Brian Forrester 34:31, Michelle Brice 34:34, Don Dewar 35:16 and Hazel Forrester 36:28
Striders Volunteers at Ashford were: Jason Caldwell, Lee Standen, Rebecca Somerford, Sara Dewar and Simon Jackson. Thank you for giving up your time all of you!
Parkrun tourism
Three Striders visited the trail parkrun at Bedgebury Pinetum. Lucie Shrubsole ran a course PB of 34:08, closely followed by Sharon Gardner with 34:10 and Victoria Shrubsole who also run a course PB of 34:25
Visiting other Kent parkruns were: Justin Burden who completed Mote Park parkrun in a course PB of 23:53, Rachel Tomsett who ran at Royal Tunbridge Wells in 47:32, and Amanda Cooper who found Great Lines parkrun tougher than expected but finished in an excellent time of 28:14
This week’s furthest travelled parkrunner was Vicky Stevenson who went almost to the Welsh border to run the Forest of Dean parkrun in a time of 28:27
Canterbury Half
No Striders were in action on Sunday, but on Bank Holiday Monday Justin Burden was the sole club member racing the Canterbury Half Marathon. The race takes place on a challenging route through country lanes south of the city and Justin finished a time of 2:04:24
Well done to everyone running or taking part in other sporting activities this weekend!
Report by Lisa Fulcher

Ashford parkrun
Keith Haynes ran an impressive time of 21:59 to be the first Strider home on Saturday. Tamsin Ritchie followed with a time of 26:32. Jason Brice put in a storming performance, earning himself a shiny new personal best of 27:21. Well done Jason!
Next was Jamie Bartlett with a time of 28:01 and Steve Rumsey, 28:49. Martin Whittingham ran in a time of 30:47 for his 75th Ashford parkrun. Rachel Theobald crossed the line with a strong performance. Her time of 30:59 was her fastest since March 2020. Kevin York finished in 31:00, followed by Peter Broom with a time of 31:39, Gareth Huyton, 32:19 and Kevan Strand, 33:10. Danielle Mackenzie, completing her 25th parkrun finished with a time 35:22 followed by Danielle Moss, who ran in a time of 42:50.
Thank you to our volunteers this week. Jason Caldwell, Don Dewar, Sara Dewar, Lisa Gribbin, Danielle Moss, Terry Sellen and Lee Standen.

Striders on tour
Lisa Fulcher travelled to Lydiard parkrun in Swindon, running the two-lap course in a time of 34:49.
Nicola Crawley travelled to Central Park, home to Dartford parkrun, and finished with a strong time of 26:44.
Eight members of Striders made the journey to The Leas parkrun in Minster-on-Sea on the Isle of Sheppey. Justin Burden claimed 5th place with a time of 22:36, his best time this year. Great job Justin! Hazel Turner was next with an impressive time of 24:51. Graham Troman finished in 28:26 with Michelle Bryant hard on his heels coming across the line in 28:36. Rebecca Somerford was next with a time of 30:33, then Siobhan Hagan, 31:08, Julie Nicholson, 36:31 and Rachel Tomsett, 37:56.
Well done and congratulations to you all for achieving great results and for representing Ashford Striders so brilliantly.
Report by Paul Dunning.

Another scorching weekend saw Ashford Striders out and about doing crazy things in crazy temperatures.

To kick off this report, you may recall that on the 1st July, Justin Burden completed the first of the Rye Summer series in a time of 48:23 the 2nd of the races was on Friday evening and in blistering conditions he managed a fantastic time of 50:52. Super well done Justin.

Ashford Parkrun
Our hometown parkrun was well attended this week, with a large number of Striders running the new course. Some crazy people even tagged the 3.1 HOT miles onto their long slow runs, Madness!
Keith Haynes made it across the line first in 22:54, followed by Justin Burden 23:11, Terry Sellen 26:14, Adam Thomas 28:17, Jamie Bartlett 29:09 and Amanda James 29:59 all coming in under the 30 minute mark. Steve Rumsey was next with a time of 30:38, David Gadsby 31:28, Rachel Theobald 31:33, Kevin York 31:34, Jason Wearn 31:44, Nicola Crawley 31:51, Michelle Bryant 31:53, Leigh Freeman 31:56, Catherine Wall 32:02, Siobhan Hagan 32:23, Don Dewar 32:28, Vicky Stevenson 33:45, Rita Cooke 34:08, Rachel Oliver 35:12, Justine Wearn 37:25 an injured Sara Dewar came hobbling over the line in 39:14.
As always thanks to our Strider parkrun volunteers Jason Caldwell and Lisa Fulcher, please remember to do your bit and volunteer when you can.

Parkrun Tourism
Kate Stroud took the short trip to sunny Folkestone and completed the course in 29:08, whilst Martin Whittingham also decided a trip to the seaside was in order and ran Hastings in 31:09. Peter Broom completed a pretty, 100% trail parkrun at Rushmore Country Park near Leighton Buzzard in 35:43, even managing to, as a tourist, ‘bang the gong’ !!
Mark Niles parkrun of choice was at Prospect Park in Reading and completed it 22:38. Rachel Tomsett was in the Peak District this week and ran Bakewell parkrun along the Monsal Trail. This trail was once a railway line, an out and back flat route she completed in 39:20. Well done to all of you tourists out and about this week.

Superhero Striders (KAB)
Leigh Freeman & Sara Dewer travelled down to sunny Margate to complete the Kent Association for the Blind Superhero Run. Leigh took on the 10k course and in blistering conditions came across the finishing line in an impressive 1:11:31. Leigh didn’t just run this for the kudos and the bling, she also raised, at time of print, a whopping £500 for KAB in the process. Absolutely fantastic Leigh, well done.
Following on from Sara’s parkrun whilst injured exploits, she threw on her Superhero cape once again and ran as a guide runner with her friend Rick Newman to complete the 5k option of the race in 45:54. Fantastic.
I’m sure you will agree our two Strider members were true superheroes. Well done girls marvellous.
As far as I’m aware there wasn’t any Striders that actually ran the Mount Ephraim 10k this year, however a number of kind hearted Strider souls gave up their time and marshalled for this race. Thank you and well done to Amanda & Rebecca James, David Helme, Jason Caldwell, Lucie & Vicky Shrubsole Sharon Gardner and Tamsin Ritchie.

Jolly well done to everyone that got out and about this week. The weather has certainly been challenging to run in. Not wanting to wish our British Summer away, but I for one am looking forward to running in cooler conditions next week. Have a good one everybody.
Report by Justine Wearn.

Another hot weekend largely dominated again by Parkrun enthusiasts but despite the high temperatures some excellent times were recorded by our club members both at home and across the UK and Europe.

Parkrun
Normal service resumed at Ashford with a slightly amended route and Keith Haynes headed the Strider field this week with a superb time of 22.52. Darren Laker returned from his holidays and celebrated his position as a new club RL with a 25.31 finish missing out on PB by just 5 seconds (must try harder Darren !!). Following Darren was Adam Thomas in 25.45. First Strider lady across the line in 26.41 was Nicola Crawley, Andy Found was next with 27.32. Gayle Bailey was fastest lady in her age group (she claims its 21 – 25 but no one believed her) with a great time and new PB of 27.39 and she was followed by Mandy Cooper with 27.54. Vicky Stevenson and Amanda James both ran great times with 28.23 and 29.06 respectively and David Gadsby followed them though the line with 31.08.
Martin Whittingham ran a very respectable 31.24 with Rachel Theobold and Kevin York hot on his heels with times of 32.04 and 32.06. Rita Cooke came close to a new PB with 32.51 and Clare Maxlow added her Parkrun to her marathon training run and finished in 35.55.
Well done to all the Strider runners and to all the volunteers who were very vocal around the course and kept us all smiling. These included Jamie Bartlett, Peter Broom, Don Dewar, Katie Exon, Simon Jackson, Terry Sellen, Lee Standen and Ian Watson.

On now to the Strider tourists and we start with the Bushy event where Michelle Bryant and Siobhan Hagan both ran their fastest runs to date to earn shiny new PBs with times of 28.38 and 28.50 respectively…..Great running ladies. Mark Niles fancied some sea air and Whitstable provided that and he ran a great race to finish in 23.06.
Justin Burden headed the Strider contingent at the Shorne Woods event with a time of 24.01 with Hazel Turner also recording a great time with 26.51. Tyree Spicer and Lisa Gribbin also ran the same event and finished neck and neck in 38.55
Jason Caldwell went off in search of Robin Hood but failed to find him so opted to run the Sherwood Pines parkrun instead and considering his recent injury recorded a great time of 22.57. (We still await a famous Caldwell selfie) and Kevan Strand kept up the forest theme by travelling to the picturesque Bedgebury Pinetum run and smashing that out in 22.47.
Rachel Tomsett went to Scotland and visited the Torvean event and completed the course in 35.37 and the Strider competing furthest afield this week was Jayne Hatton who took advantage of her holiday in Cyprus to fly the Strider flag at the Paphos Parkrun and finished with an impressive time of 34.54. Last but not least for our tourists was Tamsin Ritchie who whipped round the Rendlesham Forest course in 27.49.

Triathlon
Two of our female members were in Triathlon action today at Bewl Water. Both competed in the tough Sprint event which consisted of an open water swim of 750m followed by a tough 20k cycle ride and then a 5k run. Lorna Dewell notched up a PB with a time of 1hr 40m 39s and Nicola Crawley completed the three events in 1hr 53m 30s. Well done both of you.

That wraps up this weeks edition so all of you that ran or gave up your time to volunteer give yourselves a big round of applause.
Report by Andy Found.