Sunday was a very busy and productive day for the Striders. Matthew Cooper finished in an incredible 10th place overall at the Chester Marathon, an event that incorporated the England Athletics Age Group Masters Marathon Championships in which he secured 2nd place. His time of 2:31:07 also earned him the club record. Patrick Hayes also completed the course in a very respectable 2:53:56.

Not to be outdone Max Campbell also knocked 3 minutes off the M60 club record with his 1:23:31 performance in the Dorney Lake Half marathon where he finished in a fantastic 15th place overall and won his age category.

On Sunday 25 Striders where among the 600 runners who completed the Herts 10k event, creating a wonderful sea of yellow along the multi-terrain course in Harpenden. This is an amazing community event for runners of all abilities helping to raise money for Rennie Grove Hospice Care. The first male Strider home was Justin Phillipps who finished 4^th overall in a time of 38:33, followed by team mates Alex Johnston who was 8^th in 39:39, David Gregory 41:46, Drew Thomas-Jones 42:03 and Martin Healey 44:59. The ladies team performed very strongly with 4 athletes finishing in the top 10; Freya Weddell 3^rd female in 40:06, Laura Hicks 5^th in 42:42, Carrie Frazer 8^th in 45:54 and Helen Cartridge 9^th in 46:31. Adam Healey and Eva Dixon from sister club St Albans AC took top 3 positions in the junior category in 40:11 and 51:42 respectively.

A similar number opted to do the Ridgeway trail run near Tring which was a longer distance of 15k on footpaths and bridleways with stunning views of the Chilterns. The men’s team secured 1^st place made up of Steve Buckle (2^nd overall), Adam Yorwerth (4^th overall) and Paul Stack. Hannah Burkhardt was the 4^th female finisher.

Choosing to go much further afield, Magdalena Petrus, Jim King , Ian Hirth and Kai Wai Wong completed the Chicago marathon.

In other news round up, Ivan Ghouse ran a personal best Royal Parks Half Marathon in 1:35:33 and Emily Hickey-Baird finished 64th female in 1:37. Jenna and Ben Scott finished the Bournemouth half in 2.14.