Ernie leads Striders to second place at Lloyd Park

Striders of Croydon produced an excellent team performance to place second in the East Surrey League’s annual cross-country race at Lloyd Park on Saturday. They showed their strength in depth by having 16 of the first 37 finishers. Hercules-Wimbledon won the match with 20 points, with Striders second (26) and Croydon Harriers third (47). Striders B team placed fourth, ahead of the A teams from Herne Hill and Collingwood.

Striders were again led by Ernie Hann who ran well to finish second, covering the undulating five-mile course in 30 minutes 04 seconds. Krzysztof Klidzia made a welcome return after injury and finished seventh in 31 minutes 25. Tyler O’Callaghan was eighth (31.51) while Matt Stone was the first over-50 to finish, placing ninth overall in 32 minutes 06. Striders’ B team were led by another over-50, Simon Pannell, who placed 13th in 32 minutes 46. Damian Macenhill was 14th (32.56), Greg Williams 21st (32.56) and team manager Chris Morton 23rd (34.26).

Striders’ women were led by Josephine Thompson who was the third woman to finish, placing 32nd overall in 37 minutes 33. Zoe Williams was 37th (38.55) with Becky Laurence 41st (39.19) and Debra Bourne 48th (40.21). Striders’ youngest competitor, Matthew Ostrowski, placed 13th in the under-15 race (20.28). On the same day Striders also had seven finishers in the Beachy Head Marathon.