Dave Shaw sets new club over-55 marathon record

Dave Shaw, from Striders of Croydon, had an excellent run in the Chester Marathon, where he set a new club over-55 marathon record of 3 hours 08 minutes 01 second. He finished 223rd overall in a field of more than 2500 runners. His time was more than ten minutes faster than Striders’ previous over-55 record, which had been set by the late Tony Eve in 1990.

In the Surrey Masters Cross-Country Championships, held in strong winds at Richmond Park on Saturday, Alan Dolton was 20th in the M60 race, covering the six-kilometre course in 31 minutes 31 seconds. Club colleague David Hoben was 25th (35.51). On the same day, Debra Bourne was the second woman to finish the Betteshanger Marathon, recording 3 hours 55 minutes 28 seconds.

In the Great South Run, at Portsmouth on Sunday, Andy Perks placed 193rd in a large field, completing the ten0-mile course in 63 minutes 44 seconds, while Darren Woods was 352nd in 66 minutes 49. For Striders’ women, Susanna Lutman ran 85 minutes 19 while Lucinda Parsons ran 85 minutes 49.

Striders also had a total of 51 finishers in the various weekly parkruns on Saturday (23 at Lloyd Park and 28 at other venues). Their best performance came from Lee Flanagan who was second at Lloyd Park (19.00) with Simon Ambrosi third (19.25). Becky Laurence was the second woman to finish at Riddlesdown, placing 23rd overall (21.47), while Selena Wong was the third woman to finish at Lloyd Park, placing 46th overall (25.18).