About us

Sandbach Striders was born back in 2003. Since the early days, membership has grown with a firm ethos of the club being not just about running but social activities as well. The club is affiliated to UK AAA and has its own qualified coaches. Many other special events take place on various nights too.

The club meets on Wednesdays at 18:30 and Sundays at 09:00 at Elworth Cricket Club.

Whilst many members compete in races from 5k to Marathons, the emphasis remains purely on keeping people motivated and having fun. Why not scan through our race reports to see what we’ve been up to? Having read them, you’re sure to see why Sandbach Striders has developed the motto of being

"No Ordinary Running Club!"

Saturday 12 July 2014

Race Report: The Wizard 5 10/07/2014

One of the best things about an evening race is that you don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to head off to the event. 
Heather just passing the first mile
You don't have to calculate exactly how early you have to heave yourself out of bed in order to eat exactly 3 hours before the race starts - or is it just me who does that?  The Wizard 5 is a smallish race, so plenty of room to park and no queue for the toilets
Working her way up the field, now past mile 2.
Paul N, George, Megan, Tony T, Karen and I headed up to Alderley Edge for the Wizard 5 mile.  It's never good to start a race on top of a hill, or edge in this case, and the Wizard is a challenging race for those of us more used to the Cheshire plains.  But it was a beautiful evening, if a bit warm for running, and the countryside there is lovely.  ]
At mile 4
The race starts on the level, following a track though the woods and looping back through the start, giving spectators an opportunity to see the runners again, it then heads down through fields and onto a quiet road which also winds down.  In fact there is quiet a lot of 'down'. Whilst enjoying the descent, because its the only easy bit, I couldn't stop thinking with every step that shortly we would be running back up that selfsame hill!  Sure enough, the later half of the race involved running over fields back up the hill, part of which was steep enough that I confess I walked a bit. The race finished on the same track through the woods, which was nice as you knew exactly how far you had left to go.
Mile 4 and a bit
This is a great race, quite low key, no water stops, no goody bags, no chip timing, but well marshalled and friendly - which is really all you need.  I personally really enjoyed the race and I think that once the hard running is just a memory the others will say the same!
At the finish - second in her category!
For more information about the Wizard visit the Wilmslow running club website.

There are loads more photos and videos of the race available on Bryan Dale's fantastic website.

Heather