Race Reports

Striders of Croydon produced some good performances in Sunday’s Richmond Half-Marathon, which incorporated the Surrey Championships and was the first event in this year’s Surrey Road League. They were led by Alastair Falconer who ran very well to place 15th of the 517 finishers in a personal best 78 minutes 15 seconds. Club colleague Andrew

James Bennett, from Striders of Croydon, had an excellent run to finish first out of 520 competitors in the Olympic Park 10-kilometre road race on Sunday. His winning time of 32 minutes 54 seconds was less than half a minute outside his personal best, and was a new club over-35 record. On the previous day

Striders of Croydon had an impressive total of 22 finishers in the London Marathon on Sunday. In hot conditions, their first man home was Liam Redmond, who ran very well to complete the course in 3 hours 3 minutes 11 seconds. He was followed by Andy Perks (3.10:44), Dave Shaw (3.12:33) and Mike Stewart (3.23:14).

Striders of Croydon faced strong opposition in the East Surrey League’s annual road race at Ewell last Thursday. They had to settle for sixth place in the team competition. Striders’ best performance came from Sam Hansen who ran well to finish 16th, completing the four and a half mile course in 26 minutes 46 seconds.

Alastair Falconer, from Striders of Croydon, ran very well to finish third in the eighth annual Croydon Half-Marathon, held at Sandilands on Sunday. He completed the undulating course in 78 minutes 41 seconds, less than a minute behind the winner, Kieran Hayles of Sudbury. Striders’ second man home was Andrew Aitken who ran well to

Striders of Croydon had the first three finishers at the 400th Lloyd parkrun, which took place on Easter Saturday. They were led by Simone Luciani who completed the muddy five-kilometre course in 18 minutes 35 seconds. Alastair Falconer was second (18:43) and Simon Ambrosi third (20:19). Lee Flanagan was second in the South Norwood parkrun

Striders of Croydon ended the cross-country season on a winning note with a convincing victory in their inter-club match against local rivals at Croydon Harriers at Lloyd Park on Saturday. On a snow-covered six-mile course, Striders had the first four finishers. Phil Coales led them home with a comfortable individual win, while club colleague Lee

Sandra Francis, from Striders of Croydon, had an excellent day in the British Masters Indoor Championships, at Lee Valley on Saturday. She won bronze medals in both the W60 long jump (with a jump of 3.39 metres) and the W60 60 metre hurdles, recording 14.40 seconds. Sandra became only the second member of Striders to

James Bennett, from Striders of Croydon, had an excellent run to place 63rd in a large field in the Vitality Big Half-Marathon, at Tower Bridge on Sunday. His time of 72 minutes 05 seconds was only 30 seconds outside his own club record, set at Oxford two years ago. On the same day, Tatsuya Okamoto

Sandra Francis, from Striders of Croydon, did very well to win the over-60 women’s long jump at the South of England Masters Indoor Championships, at Lee Valley on Sunday. Her winning leap of 3 metres 42 was a new club age-group record, and she is the first female Strider to win a South of England