From parkrun to marathons!

Rachel Lindley, from Striders of Croydon, produced another very good run to be the first woman to finish the Coldham’s Common parkrun in Cambridge on Saturday morning. She placed eleventh overall out of 347 finishers, completing the five-kilometre course in 19 minutes 08 seconds. Ellyw Evans was the second woman to finish the South Norwood parkrun, placing 23rd overall (22:33). Christopher Finch placed fifth in the Riddlesdown parkrun (18:05), while Matthew Stone was sixth in the Peckham Rye parkrun (18:10). Selena Wong was the seventh woman to finish the Roundshaw parkrun (24:49), while Lauren Cotton-Walkington was the seventh woman to finish the Lloyd parkrun (25:28). Striders had a total of 87 finishers in the various weekly parkruns.

Later on Saturday, two Striders ran well to complete the Eden Valley Ultra Trail 50-kilometre race, starting and finishing at Hever in Kent. Joanna Collins was the 14th woman to finish, recording 6 hours 23 minutes 24, while Micky Wheeler placed 35th in 5 hours 38 minutes 12.

Steve Smith ran well to finish first in the M60 age-group, and 80th overall out of 186 finishers, in the RunThrough Chase the Sun 10-kilometre road race at the Olympic Park in Stratford on Wednesday evening. He completed the distance in 49 minutes 18 seconds.

On Sunday morning Samuel Hansen ran very well to place 159th in a very large field in the Great North Run, recording 79 minutes 42 seconds. Marc Burrows completed the Brighton Marathon in 3 hours 54 minutes 23, while Kara Boaks ran 4 hours 03 minutes 50. Keith Murkin completed the Thames Path Challenge, covering 100 kilometres from Putney to Henley, in 23 hours 10 minutes 01.