Alastair Falconer first Strider at Dorking 10

Three of the oldest members of Striders of Croydon won medals at the Surrey Masters Track & Field Championships, at Kingsmeadow on Sunday. Sandra Francis did very well to win gold in the W60 200 metres (37.85) and long jump (3.35), and also took silver in the 100 metres (17.31). Striders’ oldest competitor, 79-year-old Kevin Burnett, won three gold medals in the M75 shot, hammer and discus, while Alan Dolton took silver in the M60 800 metres (3:02.89) and 1500 metres (6:25.23).

On the same day, Striders had 22 finishers in the Dorking 10-mile road race, which incorporated the Surrey Championships. In warm conditions, they were led by Alastair Falconer who ran well to place 41st of the 514 finishers, recording 61 minutes 51 seconds. Martin Filer was next home in 61st (63:46), while Steve Corfield had an excellent run to set a new club over-55 record of 65 minutes 53, placing 86th overall. Graeme Drysdale completed the scoring quartet in 98th place (67:02). Striders’ women were led by Rachel Lindley who was the 13th woman to finish, recording 67 minutes 55. Jemma Zakariyyau also ran well to be the 27th woman to finish (70:59), while Sophia Sachedina was 82nd (85:57), Gemma Halliday 84th (86:23) and Jessica Polya 89th (87:01).

On the previous day, Lee Flanagan placed first out of 210 finishers in the weekly parkrun in Lloyd Park, recording 18 minutes 23 seconds. Graham Hansen was third in the Bethlem Royal Hospital parkrun (19:13). Striders had an impressive total of 82 finishers in the various weekly parkruns.