Andy Perks places fourth in M45 race at Surrey Masters XC Champs
Striders of Croydon faced strong opposition in the Surrey Masters Cross-Country Championships at Richmond Park on Saturday. Their best placing came from Andy Perks who ran very well to finish fourth in the M45 race, covering the nine-kilometre course in 36 minutes 50. Simon Pannell was seventh in the M55 race (38:07) while Paul Stanford was 34th in the M50 race (42:30). In the M60 race, over six kilometres, Jon Dean ran well to finish eighth (25:53) with Robert Zietz 11th (26:33) and Alan Dolton 26th (32:41). They placed sixth in the team event. For Striders’ women, Debra Bourne was tenth in the W50 race (29:18).
Earlier that day, Striders had 53 finishers in the various weekly parkruns. Simon Ambrosi was the first runner home at Lloyd Park (18:49) while Phil Coales was second at Brockwell Park (17:12). Nikki Javan was the second woman to finish the Richmond parkrun in British Columbia, placing 11th overall (22:28).
On Sunday, Striders had several runners in the Croydon 10K road race. Alastair Falconer was sixth (35:14), while Tatsuya Okamoto was first in the over-35 category and seventh overall (36:06). Lee Flanagan was first in the over-45 category and ninth overall (36:56), while Krzysztof Klidzia was first in the over-50 category and tenth overall (37:26). Steve Corfield was first in the over-55 category and 24th overall (39:54). Striders’ women were led by Laura Fell who was the tenth woman to finish, placing second in the W35 category (46:36). Selena Wong was second in the W40 category (50:42) while Katherine Selby was first in the W50 category (52:08).