News from Sandbach Striders 22/06/2015

Members of Sandbach Striders Running Club once again travelled the length and breadth of the country to participate in a wide variety of running events. 

Striders at their annual club 10k

It all started closest to home with the annual running of the club 10k, a version of the ever-popular Sandbach 10k but run three months earlier and just for members of the club. 

It is traditionally both a time for club members to try that little bit harder thanks to the competition from their club mates and for new members to make the step-up to the 10k distance and this year was no different. In total, 56 Striders completed the event. There were impressive debut performances from nine members who completed their first ever 10k and six other Striders ran a new personal best time. Congratulations to Barbara Evans, Emma Hassall, Sarah Newton, Lisa Roberts, Laura Stockdale, Jane Trevett, Tracey Surridge, Lee Chadwick and Lisa Reynolds for completing their first ever 10k event and to Rick Kelso-Davies, Steve Farnell, Amy Norman, Lindsay Beech,  Denise Dowling and Alex Bramhill who all ran new personal best times.

The first over the line were:

Male

Darren Varley and Michael Escolme at the Sandbach Striders Club 10k

1. Darren Varley
2. Tim Morris
3. Tony Taylor

Nichola Hodson and Michael Escolme at the Sandbach Striders Club 10k

Female

1. Nichola Hodson
2. Alice Bober
3. Rachel Green

At the free weekly 5k parkrun in Congleton, 18 Striders completed the three laps of Astbury Mere. There were excellent performances from Martin Gunther, Nichola Hodson, Denise Dowling and Lynsey Astles who all ran new personal best times and also from the Striders of the future Ben Collett, Molly Pheasey and Nathan Lee. Heather Carter and Nichola Hodson also ran well and were 1st and 3rd females across the line respectively.

Striders at Congleton parkrun

The full results were as follows:

00:19:09 Tony Taylor 
00:19:53 Rick Kelso-Davies
00:19:57 Heather Carter
00:20:21 Nick Hogan
00:20:25 Martin Gunther
00:21:11 Nichola Hodson
00:24:55 Rachel Green
00:26:09 Denise Dowling
00:26:15 Ben Collett
00:26:35 Denis Culloty
00:26:54 Lynsey Astles
00:27:24 Molly Pheasey
00:27:24 Catherine Greaves
00:27:25 Terry Coppenhall
00:27:39 Wendy Barnes
00:27:46 Helen Child
00:31:06 Nathan Lee
00:31:07 Lucy Lee

In Shropshire, Michael Escolme ran the Shrewsbury parkrun in the scenic Quarry Park which is sandwiched in-between the historic city centre and the River Severn. Michael finished in 32:01.

Michael Escolme and Mary Chadwick at the Shrewsbury parkrun

Also in action in Shrewsbury the day after was Fran Gilchrist, who ran the Shrewsbury Half-marathon.  Fran ran a new personal best time of 1:35:44 although there is currently some controversy over whether the event organisers, a commercial race company rather than a running club, had managed to measure the race distance accurately.

Fran Gilchrist at the Shrewsbury Half-marathon

Three Striders were in action at Freckleton in Lancashire to take part in the UK’s oldest half-marathon race and the second oldest in the world. Husband and wife team Matt and Elaine Wood finished in 01:58:36 and 2:19:42 respectively whilst Wendy Barnes crossed the line in 02:11:46.

Matt and Elaine Wood at the Freckleton Half-marathon

Wendy Barnes and Diane Whitfield at Freckleton Half-marathon

Claire Dalton ran the Stone 10k, a popular two lap course around the County of Stafford’s historic town. Claire improved upon her recent club 10k success with a new personal best time of 1:00:19.

Claire Dalton at the Stone 10k

Also in 10k action was Elaine Tatham who travelled down to the Chew Valley in Somerset to run the third Bishop Sutton 10k. Elaine and husband Jon had an unconventional pre-race warm-up by providing a live music set to the assembled runners. Elaine finished in a time of 51:09 narrowly behind Jon.

Steve Treweeks returned to his native Wales to run the Trail Marathon Wales. The route consists of trails and tracks of the world-renowned Coed y Brenin forest in the Snowdonia National Park. Steve finished the course in 5:08:27.

Finally, new member of Sandbach Striders but established ultra-runner Kate Jayden ran the Hadrian’s Wall Ultra. A 69 mile event starting at Carlisle Castle on the west coast and following the historic route of Hadrian’s Wall towards the Baltic seafront in Newcastle-upon-Tyne on the east coast. Kate finished the challenging event in a time of 14:40:39 coming ninth female overall.

Kate Jayden at the Hadrian's Wall Ultra

Sandbach, Middlewich, Alsager, Holmes Chapel and beyond for over ten years. As well as a varied running programme the club has an excellent social calendar and for those runners looking to improve, Sandbach Striders have a number of fully-qualified running coaches to offer advice on training and ensure the safety and well-being of its members. They also organise the Sandbach 10k, a popular local running event which this year in its tenth anniversary promises to be the most fun and family friendly running event in the North-west. Entry details can be found at www.sandbachstriders.co.uk 

MRE