Lottie Nusca first female Strider at South of England-Cross Country Champs in XC debut for the club

Striders of Croydon faced strong opposition in the South of England Cross-Country Championships, at Parliament Hill Fields on Saturday. Lottie Nusca, making her cross-country debut for Striders, ran very well to  place 244th out of 703 finishers in the senior women’s race, completing the eight-kilometre course in 36 minutes 27 seconds. Jenny Rowe was 276th (37:08), Steph Upton 338th (38:24) and Nikki Javan 388th (39:20). Striders’ women placed 45th out of 71 clubs in the team event.

Striders’ men were led by Andrew Aitken who ran well to place 350th out of 1154 finishers, completing the 15-kilometre course in 57 minutes 21 seconds. Team manager Krzysztof Klidzia was 412th (58:37), Lee Flanagan 475th (59:37), Andy Perks 595th (61:34), Andrew Pickering 680th (63:11), Simon Pannell 845th (66:31) and Simon Webster 1009th (71:29). They placed 56th in the team event.

Striders’ youngest competitor, Christopher Finch, ran well to place 193rd out of 330 finishers in the under-13 boys’ race. His older sister Lucy Finch was 234th in the under-15 girls’ race.

Earlier in the day, Striders also had a total of 70 finishers in the various weekly parkruns. Their best performance came from Robert Lines, who finished first at Lloyd Park, recording 19 minutes 07 seconds.