St Albans Striders recorded a hard-fought victory in the second round of this year’s Midweek Road Race League, hosted by the club at Highfield Park.

Heather Hann, Anna Ward and Rachel Brown were the 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th female finishers, setting Striders’ women on course to finish first place overall (on the night) and second place in the women’s vet category.

For the men, there were superb sub-35 minute performances from Phillip Evans and Jonathan Scott to secure 3^rd and 6^th place, respectively, which helped guide the men to second (overall) and third (vets) position in the overall race standings.

101 Striders took place in the race, 24 more than any other club. Many Striders also forewent the opportunity to run in order to marshal the event and cater for more than 400 hungry runners post-race, showing off the club’s strength in depth.

The results leave Striders second in the overall standings after two races, a single point behind Orion Harriers who hosted the league’s first meeting in Chingford a fortnight ago. The next race (the third of four) takes place at Trent Park on 7 June.

Striders were also out in force on Sunday to take part in The Vitality Westminster Mlle, the popular race that tackles the final iconic mile of the London Marathon, starting on The Mall and finishing in front of Buckingham Palace.

More than twenty Striders took part, with many completing the course in under 6 minutes – including Tim Searle (in a PB of 5:17) and Wendy Walsh (5:57). Wendy was the first finisher in the women’s V45 category.

Running the additional 25.2 miles that constitute a full marathon, a small cohort of Striders travelled north of the border to complete the Edinburgh Marathon. Ian Hirth (personal best of 3:3:31), Alex Astley (3:18:11), Jamie Ingles (PB of 3:35), Rose McGinness (3:57:56), Michael Jack (4:02:43), Katie Bunting (4:31:24), Carole Jack (4:54:51) and Tony Barr (5:24:28) all took part; Alex and Tony completing their first marathons.

Chris Barr, Jenny Maddocks and Errol Maginley also made the journey north, all running the Edinburgh Half Marathon, with Jenny and Errol both crossing the line in 1:29:24 to set new PBs.

And more than 400 miles further south, Jenni Johnston and Hannah Clark Prentice had the day’s toughest assignment, each conquering the multi-terrain and hilly Women Can Marathon in Devon.

Finally, nearly 30 Striders returned to London on Bank Holiday Monday for the Vitality 10k, with Blake Vivian setting the pace with a time of 34:41. There were also PBs for Nigel Ashton (40:14) and Jay A’Court (42:57).