Lee reaches season’s best to help Striders at Mitcham Common

Striders of Croydon faced strong opposition in their penultimate Surrey Cross-Country League Division Two match of the season, at Mitcham Common on Saturday. They finished sixth of the nine clubs in the match, and remain fifth in the overall Division Two table with one match remaining. Striders were led by Lee Flanagan, who produced his best run of the season to place eleventh of the 167 finishers, covering the five-mile course in 31 minutes 33 seconds. Krzysztof Klidzia also ran well to place 30th (32.47), while new member Matthew Smith made an impressive debut to finish 49th (33.45). He was closely followed by Damian Macenhill in 53rd (33.51) and Simon Ambrosi in 56th (34.00). John Foster ran well to win the over-50 category and place 59th overall (34.05). Darren Bird was 64th (34.28) with Taylor Huggins 66th (34.31), Steve Starvis 72nd (35.00) and Lee Wadsworth completing the scoring team in 79th (35.16). Striders also had eleven non-scorers.

Earlier in the day, Striders’ women finished sixth in their Division Two match on the same course, and are currently eighth in the overall Division Two table. Striders were led by Steph Upton who placed 80th of the 320 finishers, recording 39 minutes 40. Josephine Thompson was 104th (41.10) with Debra Bourne 140th (43.13), Alice Ewen 159th (44.03) and Stephanie Moss completing the A team in 183rd (45.18). Linda Daniel led the B team in 234th (48.14) with Sarah Fisher 244th (48.40), Amanda Sloyan 282nd (52.52) and Eve Collins 292nd (53.54).