Krzysztof doubles up with win and then runner-up for Striders

Matthew Smith, from Striders of Croydon, had an excellent run to finish 141st in a field of more than eleven thousand runners in the Bath Half-Marathon. Matthew’s time of exactly 80 minutes was his fastest half-marathon for five years.

At the British Masters Indoor Championships at Lee Valley on Saturday, Alan Dolton placed fourth in the M55 1500 metres in 5 minutes 42.07 seconds. At the Sidcup 10-mile road race on Sunday, which incorporated the British Masters 10-mile championship, Steve Smith placed eighth in the over-55 category in 73 minutes 46 seconds.

Striders placed third in an inter-club cross-country match organised by Croydon Harriers at Lloyd Park on Saturday. Striders were led by Krzysztof Klidzia, who had won the Roundshaw parkrun earlier in the day, and was still strong enough to finish second, covering the ten-kilometre course in 37 minutes 12 seconds. Justin Macenhill was fifth (38.37) with Andy Perks 12th (42.20) and Mick Turner completing the scoring team in 16th (45.16). Striders also had the first two women to finish with Debra Bourne placing 21st overall (48.39) and Katie McInnes 23rd (58.41). On the same day Josephine Thompson was the first woman to finish the Riddlesdown parkrun, placing seventh overall in 21 minutes 14.