There was a strong turnout of over 20 Striders at the Hertfordshire Half Marathon & 10k on Sunday which started and finished in front of the iconic Knebworth House. The first Strider home in the half marathon event was Ben Pattison who was 8th overall and 1st in his age category in a time of 1:20:25. Freya Weddell was 2nd female overall in an impressive time of 1:26:55. Other Striders managing to break the esteemed 1½ hour time were Simon Myall (1:27:59), Alex Free (1:28:15) and Joe McCormick (1:28:44). Richard Hayes used the race as a warm up for the Athens marathon that he is set to tackle next week. In the 10k race Laura Hicks finished in a very respectable 6^th female place in 46:43 taking into account the added challenge of pushing a buggy along the way. Jethro Offemaria was also delighted to complete the distance in 1:36:01.

Around twice this number of Striders decided to opt for the muddy fields and woodland of Trent Park for the 3^rd of the 5 race Sunday league series. Making his debut for the Striders, Telfer Gray finished in an incredible 2^nd place overall, followed by Steve Buckle (4^th) and Patrick Hawker (9^th). Despite having competed in the National Cross Country Relays the day before Lilly Seach had enough strength in her legs to lead the female team home, followed by Penny Habrick and Kate Dixon. It was wonderful to see ladies captain Ellie Morris return to racing after injury.

Some Striders choose to travel much further afield. Andrew Mckillop and Richard Evans completed the New York marathon in 2:29:15 and 3:55:28 respectively and Rachel Dixon and Stacey Harris ran the Nice to Cannes marathon as a duo relay event securing 3^rd place in a time of 3:15:33. Jen Conway and Andrew took part in the Abbott Dash 5k the day before the New York marathon along with 10,000 other runners in a race that started at the United Nations and ended at the marathon finish line in Central Park.

In other news round up Justin Phillipps completed the Marlow Half Marathon in 1:31:20 on a tough, hilly course.