Final Surrey Womens Cross-Country League

Ally Whitlock, from Striders of Croydon, had an excellent run in the Phoenix Running 12-hour track race at Elmbridge on Friday. She set a new Striders’ women’s 50-mile record of 7 hours 55 minutes 52 seconds, becoming the first female Strider to run the distance in less than eight hours.

On Saturday Striders faced strong opposition in the final Surrey Womens Cross-Country League Division Two match of the season, at Lloyd Park. They placed eleventh in the team event. The team was led by Cindy Siu who ran well to place 36th of the 95 finishers, covering the muddy five-mile course in 44 minutes 08. Debra Bourne was 51st (46:22) with Grace Rehman 65th (49:29), Jadwiga Brzask-Makiela 76th (52:52), Ruth Pearson 87th (58:16) and Michelle Klein 92nd (61:17).

Also at Lloyd Park, Striders had three runners in the Surrey League young athletes’ races. Christopher Finch was 42nd in the under-17 race, covering the four-kilometre course in exactly 17 minutes, while his younger brother Daniel Finch was 46th (17:14). Thomas Finch was 13th in the under-13 race, covering the two-mile course in 15 minutes 13. Later in the day, with Lloyd Park even muddier than usual, Striders had nine runners in the East Surrey League senior men’s race, which was the final cross-country race of the season.

In the Castellon International Marathon in Spain, Simone Luciani placed 35th in 2 hours 41 minutes 23, lifting him to fourth place in Striders’ all-time club rankings. At the British Masters Indoor Championships at Lee Valley, Alan Dolton was fourth in the M65 800 metres (3:33.87). In the Surrey Half-Marathon at Woking, Andrew Aitken placed 30th in 77 minutes 17. In the Brighton Half-Marathon, Kara Boaks ran 1 hour 40 minutes 44.