There was a wonderful mixture of serious running and fun running over the weekend from St Albans Striders.

In preparation for the Manchester Marathon next month Rose McGinness and Laura Astley completed the Milton Keynes 20 miler finishing 5^th and 6^th respectively in their age category. Leanne McGinness also successfully completed the half marathon option offered at the same event. Earlier on in the week Jack Brooks completed his first marathon since reaching his milestone birthday of 70 in a time of 5:28:05. This was at the Enigma Weak in the Knees Trail Marathon which involved 9 laps of Willen Lake in Milton Keynes, taking Jack’s tally of marathons/ultra-events to an incredibly impressive 530!

On the more fun side, there was good representation from the Striders at the Jersey Farm Parkrun on Saturday with many running in fancy dress to celebrate the 100th event at this location. Later on that morning, the Striders were also out in full force at the inaugural St Albans Sixer. This was a running event with a difference, with six pubs interspersed across a six-mile route and a choice of running individually or as part of a team of six. A group of female Striders managed to maintain their focus and not settle themselves for too long in any of the pubs to secure the first team home prize. This is definitely an event to look out for next year. Feedback from the runners was hugely positive on the amount of enjoyment they had and Cottonmill & Sopwell Hub and Save St Albans Pubs benefited from charitable donations.