Iain and Rosie lead Striders at Beckenham relay race

Striders of Croydon produced some good performances at the Beckenham Relays on Wednesday. Their A team did well to place seventh out of exactly 100 teams. They were led by Iain Harrison who ran the first leg of 2.6 miles in 14 minutes 16 seconds, which was Striders’ fastest time of the day. Veteran Krzysztof Klidzia ran the second leg in 14 minutes 58, while Andy Perks ran the final leg in 16 minutes 27. Striders’ B team placed 22nd, with veteran Graeme Drysdale running 15 minutes 55 on the second leg. Striders’ women were the eighth female team to finish. Alice Ewen ran 19 minutes 16 on the first leg, while newcomer Rosie McDermott made an impressive debut with 18 minutes 20 on the second leg. Becky Laurence ran 19 minutes 29 on the final leg. Striders fielded an impressive total of 11 teams in the event.

On Saturday Striders had the first two finishers in the weekly parkrun in Lloyd Park, with Simone Luciani gaining his second successive win, recording 17 minutes 18, while veteran Krzysztof Klidzia was second in 18 minutes 27. Zoe Williams, back from warm-weather training in Lanzarote, was the second woman to finish, placing 73rd overall in 25 minutes 06. Striders had an impressive total of 60 finishers at the various local parkruns (31 at Lloyd Park and 29 at other venues).

In the Halstead Marathon, veteran Nick Kyritsis ran very well to set a new club over-60 record of 3 hours 32 minutes 53 seconds.