Alastair Falconer second at Richmond Riverside Half Marathon

Alastair Falconer, from Striders of Croydon, had an excellent run to place second in a field of more than 300 runners in the Richmond Riverside Half-Marathon on Sunday, recording 78 minutes 37 seconds. This lifts him to 21st place in Striders’ all-time club half-marathon rankings. Club colleague Steve Massey was 48th overall and fifth in the over-50 category in 94 minutes 28. In the Marlow Half-Marathon on the same day, Darren Woods was 48th out of more than 900 runners, recording exactly 91 minutes.

On the previous day, Peter Mills ran well to be the first man home at the weekly parkrun in Lloyd Park, covering the five-kilometre course in 16 minutes 59 seconds. Tatsuya Okamoto was first in the Roundshaw parkrun (17.26), while Graeme Drysdale was second in the South Norwood parkrun (19.54). Striders had a total of 61 finishers in the various weekly parkruns (24 at Lloyd Park and 37 at other venues).

This Saturday (11th) Striders will be competing in the Surrey Cross-Country League matches. Their men, who are currently second in Division Two, are at Richmond Park, while their women are at Nonsuch Park.