Tyler, Krzysztof and Rachel reach marathon heights for Stirders

Striders of Croydon had an impressive total of 27 finishers in the London Marathon on Sunday. Six of them finished in under three hours. They were led by triathlete Tyler O’Callaghan who finished in a personal best 2 hours 44 minutes 50 seconds, lifting him to seventh place in Striders’ all-time club rankings. Veteran Krzysztof Klidzia ran very well to finish 13th in the over-50 category, setting a new club age-group record of 2 hours 45 minutes 45 seconds. Both Lee Flanagan (2.46.25) and Matt Smith (2.55.51) set personal bests, while Bill Makuwa, running his second marathon in successive weeks, did well to record 2.57.42. Graeme Drysdale broke three hours for the first time (2.58.27) and was followed by Andy Perks (3.05.30), Mike Stewart (3.08.05), Dave Shaw (3.08.12) and Darren Jackson (3.13.14). Striders’ women were led by Carolyn Storey who finished in a personal best 3 hours 53 minutes 20 seconds. Charlotte Letchford, in her marathon debut, also ran well to record 3 hours 55 minutes 25. She was followed by Elanor Lim (4.01.19), Alison Whitlock (4.18.47) and Laura Walters (4.26.48).

Meanwhile Rachel Lindley had an excellent run in the Boston Marathon, recording a personal best of 3 hours 11 minutes 25 seconds, which lifted her to third place in Striders’ all-time women’s rankings. Club colleague Simone Luciani finished in 2 hours 59 minutes 54 seconds, while Nicole Woods ran 4.20.11.