Peter and Steph first Striders in Surrey XC Champs

Striders of Croydon faced strong opposition in the Surrey Cross-Country Championships at Lloyd Park on Saturday. Their best performance came from Peter Mills who ran very well to place 23rd out of 209 finishers in the senior men’s race, covering the muddy 12-kilometre course in 43 minutes 13 seconds. Team manager Krzysztof Klidzia also ran well to place 75th (47.37). Phil Coales was close behind him in 77th (47.39) with Lee Flanagan 80th (47.47), Alistair Falconer 92nd (49.20) and Matt Stone completing the scoring team in 95th (49.28). The team finished ninth, and Striders also had an impressive total of 12 non-scorers.

Striders’ women were led by Steph Upton who ran well to place 58th of the 129 finishers, covering the eight-kilometre course in 37 minutes 47 seconds. Becky Laurence also ran well to place 73rd (39.24) with Joanne Campbell not far behind her in 77th (39.53).

Striders’ youngest competitor, Matthew Ostrowski, finished 34th in the under-17 race, covering the six-kilometre course in 22 minutes 54 seconds.

Earlier in the day, Robert Lines was the first man home in the weekly parkrun in Lloyd Park (18.47), while Debra Bourne was the first woman to finish, placing 59th overall (25.51). Striders had a total of 55 finishers in the various weekly parkruns (22 at Lloyd Park and 33 at other venues).