Great results from Striders on trails & track as we return to racing!

Kara Boaks, from Striders of Croydon, had an excellent run to be the first woman to finish the Vanguard Way Marathon, starting and finishing in Lloyd Park. She placed 13th overall, completing the hilly course in 4 hours 33 minutes 03 seconds. Her club colleague Rachel Lindley was the second woman to finish, placing 19th overall (4:45:03). Belinda Carroll was the 15th woman to finish (6:40:12) with Michelle Klein 16th (6:40:14) and Jadwiga Brzask-Makiela 17th (7:02:07). Striders’ men were led by Michael Davis who finished ninth (4:23:58), while Martin Filer was 18th (4:38:57).

Striders dominated the Vanguard Way Half-Marathon, which was held in conjunction with the longer event. They had the first man, the first woman, and seven of the first nine finishers. Alastair Falconer gained an outstanding win, finishing more than sixteen minutes ahead of his nearest rival in 91 minutes 05 seconds. Club colleague Niamh Vincent was the first woman to finish, producing an excellent run to place third overall in 1 hour 47 minutes 13. Conor O’Hara-Barrett was fourth (1:47:52) with John O’Mahony fifth (1:52:57), Darren Woods sixth (1:53:37) and Rotimi Oyegunle eighth (1:59:01). Steve Massey was the first over-50 to finish, placing ninth overall (1:59:30), while Claire Mitchell was the seventh woman to finish, placing 27th overall (2:25:07).

In the North Downs Way 100-mile race on Saturday, from Farnham in Surrey to Ashford in Kent, Debra Bourne had an excellent run to be the fourth woman to finish, winning the W50 category and finishing 22nd overall in 24 hours 43 minutes 22 seconds. Ally Whitlock was the sixth woman to finish, placing 48th overall (26:45:09), while Tatsuya Okamoto was 43rd (26:34:29).

At Utrecht on Friday, James Rhodes placed 14th in the 5000 metres in a lifetime best of 16 minutes 50.91 seconds.