Lee, Krzysztof and Serena lead Striders in mobmatch win

Lee Flanagan led Striders of Croydon to a convincing victory in their second cross-country mob match against Blackheath & Bromley Harriers, held in conjunction with the weekly parkrun at a muddy Lloyd Park on Saturday. Lee won the race in 18 minutes 31 seconds, and was followed home by club colleague Krzysztof Klidzia who placed second in 18 minutes 50. Damian Macenhill also ran well to place fifth (19.36) with Ernie Hann sixth (19.50) and Simon Ambrosi tenth (20.34). Team manager Chris Morton showed that he had recovered from running the Steyning Marathon six days earlier by placing 13th (21.13). Paul Finch was 17th (21.31) and Mick Turner 18th (21.35), while Dan Forrester was the first under-20 to finish, placing 20th overall (21.54). Striders also had the first woman to finish, with Serena Stracey finishing well clear of her female rivals in 22 minutes 36. Debra Bourne was third (24.34) and Becky Laurence seventh (26.20). Striders had an impressive total of 41 of the 138 finishers, and beat Blackheath by 425 points to 241 in the inter-club match (scoring 18-a-side).

On the following day, Krzysztof Klidzia ran well to finish tenth in the Sidcup 10-mile road race in 60 minutes 04 seconds. With support from Richard Lee-Smith and Chris Morton, he led Striders to victory in the team event.