Josephine’s return helps Striders to relay finish

Striders of Croydon fielded four teams in the Will Bolton Memorial Relay, organised by Blackheath & Bromley Harriers, at Sparrows Den on Saturday. Their A team finished 12th out of the 59 teams. Graeme Drysdale ran the first four-kilometre leg in 16 minutes 29 seconds, handing over to Colin Hann who improved the team’s position with 15 minutes 32. Justin Macenhill ran very well on the third leg, climbing to 13th place and recording 14 minutes 40, which was Striders’ fastest time of the day. On the final leg Ernie Hann was only slightly slower with 14 minutes 46, gaining a further place by overtaking Blackheath’s B team.
Striders’ women finished 12th out of 19 women’s teams. Josephine Thompson made an excellent return to Striders colours, running the first leg in 18 minutes 04. She was followed by Linda Daniel (21.55) and Debra Bourne (20.00). On the final leg Steph Upton gained four places, running 18 minutes 26.
On the same day Simon Ambrosi was second in the Bromley parkrun (18.01), while Serena Stracey was the first woman to finish the Southwark parkrun (20.55). Striders had a total of 42 finishers in the various local parkruns.