Iain and Lee take Striders to 7th in county championships

Striders of Croydon produced a good team performance to place seventh out of 15 clubs in the Surrey Cross-Country Championships, held on Saturday at Lloyd Park. Belgrave won the senior men’s event from Hercules-Wimbledon, Herne Hill, SLH, Reigate and Clapham. However Striders’ total of 407 points placed them ahead of Guildford, Croydon Harriers, Tadworth, Sutton, Serpentine, Dulwich, Epsom and Ranelagh.

Striders were led by marathon specialist Iain Harrison who ran very well to place 38th of the 173 finishers, covering the muddy 12-kilometre course in 48 minutes 08 seconds. He was closely followed by Lee Flanagan who was 39th in 48 minutes 14. Krzysztof Klidzia was 52nd (50.02) and veteran John Foster also ran well to place 72nd (51.33). Taylor Huggins was 98th (53.46) and team manager Chris Morton completed the scoring team in 108th (54.54). Striders also had five non-scorers.

Earlier, Striders’ women were led by Josephine Thompson who ran well to place 60th of the 115 finishers, covering the eight-kilometre course in 40 minutes 14. Debra Bourne was 78th (42.18) and club stalwart Linda Daniel was 100th (48.07).