Jemma Zakariyyau first female Strider at Richmond 10k

Striders of Croydon had 19 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 41st of the 575 finishers, recording 36 minutes 12 seconds. Graeme Drysdale was 89th overall and 12th in the over-50 category, recording 38 minutes 24. John Summers was 124th (39:35) and Steve Massey completed the men’s Road League team in 180th (41:51). Striders’ women were led by Jemma Zakariyyau, who had an excellent run to be the 18th woman to finish, recording a personal best of 40 minutes 39 seconds, which lifts her to seventh place in Striders’ all-time women’s rankings. Niamh Vincent was 57th (46:19) with Alex Legge 108th (51:36), Michelle Carr 128th (52:46) and Jo Riches 135th (54:16).

Striders’ men placed third out of 28 teams in the Dino Dash Relays at Crystal Palace on Wednesday. The team comprised Martin Filer (10:57), Luke Burden (10:41) and Lee Flanagan (10:39). Their women’s team of Jenny Rowe (12:55), Lottie Nusca (12:50) and Marianne Chua (12:45) also ran well to place fourth out of 23 teams.

At the Lloyd parkrun on Saturday, Simone Luciani was first out of 270 finishers (18:17). Steve Starvis was first out of 139 finishers at the South Norwood parkrun (19:06), while Niamh Vincent was the first woman to finish, placing 16th overall (23:44). Rachel Lindley was the first woman to finish the Cambridge parkrun, placing 14th overall (19:15). Striders had a total of 81 finishers in the various weekly parkruns.