St Albans Striders were in action across the globe this weekend as Marathons, Half Marathons, Cross Country and Trail racing was on the menu for the clubs’ runners.

In midweek the Hatfield 5k series ended with several Striders picking up awards. Lily Seach claimed 3^rd female across the series with Max Cambell 1^st V60 and Kate Dixon 3^rd W45. Strider’s women were 2^nd overall in the series with the trio of Lily Seach, Kate Dixon and Helen Cartlidge securing the silver for the club.

Further south in Battersea Matt Cooper was in action on the track at the Veterans Athletics Club 10k Track Championships. Matthew finished in a season’s best time of 33:31:27 to secure first place on the night and a new V40 club record for the 10000-track distance. Mark Stevens came 7^th in Race 2 of the event finishing in 39:51.36 (PB). This was a huge milestone as Mark dipped under the coveted 40-minute mark and a staggering 3-minute improvement from 12 months ago.

On Saturday 3 Striders made the trip to Weston Park for the rescheduled English National XC championships. Catherine O’Conner finished 41^st/266 with captain Louise Bentham 92^nd. In the men’s Mark Stevens finished 369/529.

In the evening (UK time) Steve Buckle was in action down under as he took on the Sydney Marathon which was the host city for the Age Grade World Marathon Championship. Finishing 57^th overall in a time of 2:34:57 Steve was 5^th v40 on a tricky hilly course.

Sunday morning saw the Striders descend on masse to Sandridge for the local 10k. Patrick Hawker and Freya Weddell taking wins and some hefty silverware home following their efforts on the trails. James Bryden (2^nd), Jonathan Scott (3^rd) and Rob Smith (5^th) made it a striders wipeout at the finish.

Anna Silkstone and Jack Brooks rounded out the weekend with more achievements in the HM distance. Anna completed the Copenhagen half marathon in 1:51:24 in build up to the Chicago Marathon in a months’ time. Jack Brooks was 2^nd vet male at the Abersoch Half Marathon.