Darren posts fast time at Hastings Half

Darren Bird, from Striders of Croydon, ran well to finish 41st out of more than 3000 finishers in the Hastings Half-Marathon on Sunday, recording 82 minutes 41 seconds. Striders’ first woman to finish was Tina Macenhill who ran 1 hour 40 minutes 34 seconds.

On the same day Matthew Chapman placed 50th out of 560 finishers in the Cranleigh 21-mile road race, recording 2 hours 32 minutes 13 seconds. Darren Jackson was 61st (2.34.54) while Striders’ first woman to finish was Sandie Fay who ran 3 hours 13 minutes 41.

Striders had four of the first eight finishers at the weekly parkrun in Lloyd Park on Saturday. In difficult conditions, with snow falling during the race, Damian Macenhill ran steadily to finish second in 20 minutes 11 seconds. Ernie Hann was fourth (21.27), Chris Morton seventh (22.23) and Greg Williams eighth (22.40). Meanwhile Russell Harmsworth was tenth in the Bromley parkrun (20.55). Striders had a total of 20 finishers in the various local parkruns.