Andrew Aitken first Strider at Richmond 10k

Striders of Croydon had an impressive total of 25 finishers in the Richmond 10-kilometre road race on Sunday, which incorporated the Surrey Championships. They were led by Andrew Aitken who ran well to place 42nd of the 547 finishers, recording 35 minutes 49 seconds. Iain Harrison was 75th (36:57) with Krzysztof Klidzia also running well for ninth in the over-50 category and 97th overall (38:11). Steve Massey (40:20), Andrew Pickering (40:56) and Darren Woods (40:58) also finished in the top 200.

Striders’ women were led by Joanne Campbell who ran well to finish 269th overall in 44 minutes 12. Niamh Vincent was not far behind in 275th (44:34) with Michelle O’Mahony completing the scoring trio in 321st (46:28). They were followed by Serena Stracey (46:44), Adele Boesinger (48:38), Amanda Hewett (48:54), Selena Wong (49:21), Susanna Lutman (49:28), Hannah Luffmann (50:16), Jessica Polya (51:24) and Lucy Kulp (52:03).

On Wednesday Striders had 18 teams in the annual Dinosaur Dash Relays at Crystal Palace. Their A team of Darren Woods (11:09), Lee Flanagan (10:28) and Krzysztof Klidzia (11:11) finished fifth. Their women’s A team of Steph Upton (13:35), Michelle O’Mahony (13:26) and Niamh Vincent (12:39) finished seventh in their category. On Saturday Striders had 76 finishers in the various weekly parkruns (31 at Lloyd Park and 45 at other venues). Peter Mills finished first at Lloyd Park (17:44) with Lee Flanagan second (18:17).

This Sunday (24th) some of Striders’ oldest athletes will be competing in the South of England Masters Championships, at Battersea Park.