London Marathon Weekend!

Striders of Croydon had 14 finishers in the Virgin London Marathon on Sunday. They were led by Graeme Drysdale who ran very well to finish in 3 hours 00 minutes 47 seconds. Striders’ oldest finisher, Steve Corfield, also ran well to finish in 3 hours 16 minutes 47. Striders’ women were led by Rachel Lindley who finished in 3 hours 26 minutes 32. Club colleague Andy Perks finished just over a minute behind her (3:27:57). Striders’ second woman to finish was Nikki Javan, who recorded a personal best of 3 hours 31 minutes 21, lifting her to 18th place in Striders’ all-time women’s rankings. Club secretary Michael Smaldon finished less than a minute behind her (3:32:17). Striders’ third woman to finish was Lottie Nusca (3:38:41). She was followed by Channing Lynch (3:41:55), John O’Mahony (3:54:18), Maria Gabriel (4:03:30), Michelle O’Mahony (4:32:29), Alex Legge (4:43:02), Jadwiga Brzask-Makiela (5:06:56) and Vanessa Wheeler (5:15:51).

 On Saturday Striders’ men placed fourth out of seven clubs in the East Surrey League cross-country race in Lloyd Park, held in unpleasantly wet conditions. They were led by Tatsuya Okamoto who ran well to place eleventh of the 86 finishers, completing the five-mile course in 31 minutes 04. James Rhodes was 14th (31:18) with Andrew Aitken 16th (31:23) and Robert Lines completing the scoring team in 20th (32:15). Jon Dean also ran well to place third in the over-60 age-group and 42nd overall (36:52). Striders’ women were led by Steph Upton who was the eighth woman to finish (39:40), with Amanda Hewett 13th (41:51). Striders had a total of 18 finishers. They also had 81 finishers in the various weekly parkruns.