Sandra Francis wins W60 long jump at South of England Masters Indoor Champs and sets new club record

Sandra Francis, from Striders of Croydon, did very well to win the over-60 women’s long jump at the South of England Masters Indoor Championships, at Lee Valley on Sunday. Her winning leap of 3 metres 42 was a new club age-group record, and she is the first female Strider to win a South of England championship. She later placed fourth in the W60 200 metres (37.83), while club colleague Alan Dolton was third in the M60 800 metres (2.58.92).

On the previous day, Striders faced strong opposition in the National Cross-Country Championships, at Parliament Hill. Their senior women’s team placed 78th, while their senior men’s team placed 93rd out of the 162 clubs to field a complete six-man team. Striders’ women were led by Steph Upton who placed 551st of the 1113 finishers, covering the eight-kilometre course in 41 minutes 15. Nikki Javan was 576th (41.39) with Marianne Chua 643rd (42.38), Susanna Lutman 669th (43.09), Selena Wong 696th (43.43) and Lucy Kulp 767th (44.55). Striders’ men were led by Peter Mills who placed 322nd of the 2328 finishers, covering the 12-kilometre course in 46 minutes 54 seconds. Andrew Aitken was 789th (51.54) with Andy Perks 1119th (55.10), Darren Woods 1139th (55.20), Mick Turner 1311th (57.00) and Luke Burden 1317th (57.04).

Earlier on Saturday, Striders also had 60 finishers in the various weekly parkruns (23 at Lloyd Park and 37 at other venues). Their best placings came from Tatsuya Okamoto who was first at Roundshaw (18.54) and Lee Flanagan who was first at Lloyd Park (18.57).