Striders v Harriers mob match 2026
The twelfth annual ‘mob match’ between Croydon Harriers and Striders of Croydon took place on Saturday morning, in conjunction with the South Norwood parkrun. Phil Symonds of Harriers was the first man home out of 311 finishers, covering the wet and muddy five-kilometre course in 17:42. Ernesto Kelly of Harriers was second overall and first in the under-18 age-group (17:55). Marc Burrows of Striders was third (18:47), while Daniel Finch of Striders was fourth overall and second in the under-18 age-group (18:48). David Brown of Harriers was fifth (18:51), James Rhodes of Striders sixth (18:53), Phil Coales of Striders seventh (19:12) and Lukas Barkauskas of Harriers eighth (19:22). Pietro Kelly of Harriers was the first under-15 to finish, placing ninth overall (19:27). Henry Butt of Harriers was first in the M40 age-group and tenth overall (19:47). Charlie Weller of Harriers was eleventh (19:57), Freddie Harding of Harriers 13th (20:01), Paul Thomas of Striders 14th (20:05), Will Stainsby of Harriers 15th (20:28) and Thomas Finch of Striders 17th (20:36). Marcos Palomares-Conde of Harriers was first in the M50 age-group and 18th overall (20:37), while Tom Gillespie of Striders was first in the M55 age-group and 19th overall (20:39).
Striders had the first two female finishers with Niamh Vincent placing first in the W40 age-group and 25th overall (21:28), and Ally Whitlock placing first in the W45 age-group and 29th overall (21:52). The third female finisher was Malaika Trim of Harriers, who was the first under-15 girl to finish, placing 34th overall (22:11). Kara Boaks of Striders was the fourth female finisher, placing 35th overall (22:15). Leonie Hondeborg of Striders was the sixth female finisher, placing 67th overall (24:09), while Cindy Siu of Striders was the eighth female finisher, placing 80th overall (24:41).
Martin Lee of Harriers was first in the M60 age-group, placing 27th overall (21:33). Colin Oxlade of Harriers was first in the M65 age-group, placing 59th overall (23:49). George Williams of Harriers was the first under-11 to finish, placing 61st overall (23:51). Selena Wong of Striders was first in the W50 age-group, placing 84th overall (24:56). Debra Bourne of Striders was first in the W55 age-group, placing 105th overall (26:05). Hazel Siu of Striders was the first under-11 girl to finish, placing 162nd overall (29:12). Keith Simpson of Striders was first in the M75 age-group, placing 218th overall (32:19). Robert McCann of Striders was first in the M80 age-group, placing 284th overall (39:24).
In total, Striders had 82 finishers, while Harriers had 63. This was the highest ever total number of finishers for each of the clubs. Harriers had 31 runners finishing in under 25 minutes, while Striders had 30. Under the ‘Thornbury’ method, whereby all 145 finishers score, Striders won by 5345 points to 5234. Scoring 63-a-side, Harriers won by 4085 points to 3916. Under the ‘Thornbury’ method, Striders now lead the series by nine wins to three; under the ‘equal numbers’ method, they lead by eight wins to four.
