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!"

Monday 11 January 2016

Race Report: Cheshire Cross Country Championships 09/01/2016

The 'Cheshire Cross Country Championships is an event which is held in different locations every year, this year they were held at Reasheath College on the outskirts of Nantwich. 

It's an open event, providing you live in Cheshire you can take part, I should also add you have to be a member of a club, and you have to wear your club vest, so I wore my Striders vest with pride. It's an event which also draws in the region's best runners from the local running clubs, clubs represented included Vale Royal, Macclesfield, Wilmslow, Congleton and South Cheshire.


With the incessant rain we've had throughout the winter, a sodden course was going to be a problem. As a result, they changed the course midweek,  reducing it to 9.5k and changing the configuration to a slightly less muddy course.

I arrived with an hour and half spare and joined up with the Congleton Harriers crowd whom I've got to know over recent years, they also also offered me 'tea and cake' so I was more than happy to join them. Before my race started there were lots of other junior races both male and female, with the final races of the day being senior women and men.

With half an hour to spare, I changed kit and had a warm up run, and made my way to the start line, with the other 200 or so runners, and were sent on our way. I tried to just run my own race and settle into a pace I was comfortable with, and as the race went on pick my way through the field hopefully. I found it hard going and was being overtaken by more runners than I'd like. Not wishing to make excuses, but I also had a stinking cold and felt weaker than normal. The course was a 3 lap course, which zig zagged through various fields with varying degrees of muddy-ness, sometimes ankle deep! As the race went on I was able to start overtaking a few runners and move up the field a little which gave me some confidence. With the final few hundred metres left I tried to raise my pace, and make a run for home, I crossed the line exhausted and relieved. Coming 88th out of 158, I was a little disappointed not making the top half.

The Cheshire Cross Country Championships for me was a great experience and I'm glad I did it, but it was a bit of a rude awakening, and much tougher than I thought it would be. I'm sure with practice I could get better, but I don't think I have the patience! I'll stick to road and trail running for the time being. 

Tony