Over 80 members of St Albans Striders and AC completed the St Albans Half marathon on Sunday in soaring temperatures which reached upwards of 30 degrees. Starting and finishing in Verulamium Park, the route followed the stunning country lanes of St Albans with a number of hill challenges thrown in. Paul Adams took the overall victory from a field of 1,700 runners in a time of 1:15:44. Others finishing in the top 10 were Patrick Hawker (6^th in 1:22:20), Jonathan Scott (9^th in 1:23:25) and Callum Bond (10^th in 1:23:32). Freya Weddell and Sophie French also finished in the top 10 in the female race in 6^th and 7^th respectively in 1:38:06 and 1:39:20. Top 5 age category positions were secured by Max Campbell (1:30:44), Nigel Aston (1:32:25), Andy Jordan (1:34:51), Colin Braybrook (1:57:52) and Judy Willits (2:02:15).

The sweltering conditions were certainly not ideal for such a lengthy race and will have certainly dampened the number of personal bests being recorded. At one point Tim Llewellyn wondered if the heat was going to his head when he looked over to see a teddy bear running alongside him. The free ice lollies at the finish line certainly couldn’t have come at a better time for participants.

Special recognition goes to Charlotte Laitner who successfully completed the half marathon distance, spurred on by her quest to raise money for DS Achieve (a local charity which helps people with Downs Syndrome fulfil their potential) and Special Olympics St Albans. She has greatly surpassed her target by raising over £2,500.

Notable performances in the 5k event came from Matthew Cooper who was the race winner in 17:31 and Jemima Samols, one of this year’s participants in the Run with Striders 6 week introductory course, who was the first female home in 23:46.

Deciding to push himself that bit further, Andrew Maher completed the Centurion South Downs Way 100 mile race in 29 hours and 25 minutes. The distance alone is impressive enough but taking into account the heat and the hills this was an amazing accomplishment.

During the week, there was another strong turnout of Striders at the Midweek 10k road race league series held at Trent Park in Enfield. The first male was Jonny Pennell in 8th place closely followed by Matthew Cooper, Stephen Buckle, and Paul Adams in the following 3 places. Lucy Waterlow led the female striders home finishing in 7th place followed by Hollie Ryder ( 8^th), Hannah Burkhardt (11^th) and Penny Habbick (12^th). The cumulative position after 3 races shows both the men’s and women’s team leading.