There was definitely a racing theme this weekend as the Striders spread themselves our across various half marathon events. For many this was preparation for the London marathon next month and clearly training plans are being followed meticulously as personal bests were plentiful.

As a nominated club championship race, the Berkhamsted Half proved the more popular with 46 Striders opting for the hilly but scenic route through the sunny Chilterns countryside. A further 37 Striders selected the fast and flatter route through the attractive streets of Cambridge and the grounds of 4 famous colleges and a smaller group choose to travel to stylish Paris to participate in the famous race which passed through many of the most beautiful spots in the capital.

At Berkhamsted, Heather Hann ran a superb race finishing first out of 300 other female runners in a time of 1:24:05. The Striders female team consisting of Flo Thwaites-Miles (6th female 1:31:53), Kate Dixon (15th and 4th in her age category 1:35:33) and Helen Cartlidge (16th and 5th in her age category 1:35:48) also claimed 1^st place in the team event. Nicky Laitner was 4th in her age category (1:45:30).

The men were also strongly represented with Ross May leading the team home (12th place 1:17:53), followed by Chris Dennell (16th 1:9:23), Jonathan Scott (17th 1:19:33) and Rob Smith (34th 1:24:06). Gavin Murrison also achieved a top 50 place out of 1,000 runners in 1:26:40 and Max Campbell was 2nd in his age category (1:29:23)

Those Striders who succeeded in knocking more than a few minutes off their personal best times included Peter Blackaller, Ann Coleman and Adam Williams.

Three younger athletes from sister club St Albans AC opted for the 5 mile event. Adam Healey was 9th overall out of 500 runners in an incredible time of 30:15 and Eliza Nightingale and Eva Dixon were 10th and 11th females respectively crossing the line together in a highly respectable 37:52.

At the popular Cambridge Half which fielded 13,000 participants, leading the men home was Phillip Evans (1:13:32), followed by Patrick Hawker (1:14:00), Jon Hall (1:16:35), Barnaby Walker (1:16:44) Jonathon Yeates (1:17:18) and James Chasen (1:18:50). Fantastic performances were also recorded by the females with Mehan Walker (1:19:29), Lucy Waterlow (1:22:41), Alexandra Kett (1:33:48), Emily Hickey-Baird (1:34:30), Nathalie Richards (1:34:55) and Carla Moseley (1:36:27). Evans, Megan Walker and Waterlow also achieved top 10 positions in their age category. Ivan Ghouse was also delighted to take 4 minutes off his pb to finish in 1:31:43 as was Carole-Anne Upton who achieved a pb with 1:43:48.

In Paris, Rachel Dixon achieved a pb in 1:32:30, crossing the line with Stacey Harris (1:32:31) who finished a very impressive 3rd place in her age category. Completing the quartet was Jennifer Finlay (1:46:49) and Judy Willits (1:48:41).

Jim King proved to the exception completing twice the distance of his team mates at the Tokyo marathon in a terrific time of 2:57:10.