Justin first Strider at Helen Furze Memorial Match
Striders of Croydon produced a good team performance to win the third annual Helen Furze Memorial Match, held in conjunction with the weekly parkrun in Nonsuch Park on Saturday. Striders were led by Justin Macenhill who ran very well to place fourth out of the 512 runners, and first in the mobmatch, in 18 minutes 02 seconds. His elder brother Damian also ran well to finish sixth overall in 18 minutes 22. Andy Perks was 15th (19.16), Steve Massey 21st (19.38) and Peter Laurence 32nd (20.15). Striders’ women were led by Katie Chadd who was the fifth woman to finish, recording 21 minutes 52. Steph Upton was eighth (22.17) while Striders’ youngest competitor, Lucy Finch, ran very well to place eleventh (22.45). Michelle Campbell was 14th (23.20) and Selena Wong 19th (24.06). Striders had an impressive total of 36 finishers.
Later on the same day, Striders placed 12th in the South of the Thames Cross-Country Association’s inter-club race for the Brent Shield at Polesden Lacey. They were led by Peter Mills who finished 21st, covering the five-mile course in 28 minutes 45 seconds. Team manager Krzysztof Klidzia also ran well to place second in the over-50 category, finishing 48th overall (30.30). Andy Perks was 101st (33.51) with Matthew Ostrowski 116th (34.27), Simon Pannell 117th (34.29), Simon Webster 127th (35.02), Darren Woods 153rd (35.58) and Sam O’Dongo completing the scoring team in 159th (36.05). Striders’ women were led by Steph Upton who placed 48th (38.33), while Katie Chadd was 51st (39.13) and Victoria Legge 107th (70.18). All three women had also run at Nonsuch Park a few hours earlier.
On the following day, James Bennett ran well to place second in the Kingston 10-kilometre road race, recording 32 minutes 50 seconds, which was only 18 seconds outside his personal best.
