Nikki Javan first W35 at Olympic Park 10k with personal best
Striders of Croydon did well to place 11th out of 40 teams in the South of the Thames Cross-Country Association’s annual inter-club race, at Morden Park on Saturday. They were led by Phil Coales who ran very well to place 24th of the 182 finishers, covering the five-mile course in 28 minutes 45 seconds. Andrew Aitken was 50th (30:25), Lee Flanagan 61st (30:51), and Matt Stone completed the A team in 71st (31:11). Striders’ B team also did well to place 25th, ahead of several clubs’ A teams. Liam Redmond was 85th (32:11), Steve Corfield 94th (32:46), Mick Turner 103rd (33:15) and Simon Pannell 116th (34:03).
Earlier, Alastair Falconer had run well to place 72nd out of 461 finishers in the London Cross-Country Championships at Parliament Hill Fields, covering the 10-kilometre course in 40 minutes 14 seconds. On Wednesday, Nikki Javan was the first woman to finish the Olympic Park 10-kilometre race in Stratford. She placed 47th overall in a personal best of 43 minutes 15 seconds, placing her sixteenth in Striders’ all-time women’s rankings. Club colleague Susanna Lutman ran a personal best 47 minutes 13. Striders also had a total of 66 finishers in the various weekly parkruns (24 at Lloyd Park and 42 at other venues). Their best placing came from Graeme Drysdale who was second at South Norwood (19:40), while Steph Upton was the second woman to finish at Riddlesdown, placing 13th overall (22:24).
