Karen joins Striders elite with speedy marathon

Karen Stretch, from Striders of Croydon, had an excellent run to record a personal best of exactly 3 hours 16 minutes in Sunday’s London Marathon. This lifts Karen to equal third place in Striders’ all-time women’s rankings. Striders’ men were led by Danny Jewell who ran a personal best of 2 hours 55 minutes 12 seconds, lifting him to 19th place in Striders’ all-time club rankings. Tyler O’Callaghan ran a personal best of 2 hours 58 minutes 36, followed by Matthew Chapman who ran 3 hours 03 minutes 33. Greg Williams, in his first marathon, ran 3 hours 25 minutes 41. Striders’ oldest finisher was 69-year-old Margaret Faherty who ran a very creditable 4 hours 57 minutes 14 seconds.

On the previous day, Rachel Lindley showed that she had recovered from her good run in the Paris Marathon a week earlier by being the first woman to finish in the weekly parkrun in Lloyd Park, placing ninth overall in 20 minutes 18. Striders’ men were led by Krzysztof Klidzia who placed fourth in 18 minutes 45. Paul Stanford was seventh in the Roundshaw parkrun (20.53). Striders had a total of 41 finishers in the various local parkruns.