This week’s report is by Jon-Jo Doherty.
Striders Cross Country Success.
The St Helens Striders travelled to Beacon Park in vast numbers for the second cross country event on the calendar. The Striders unparalleled togetherness and team camaraderie made many other clubs watch on in amazement. Kelly Hamilton led from the front finishing 1st lady overall and to the delight of her fellow teammates.
Not far behind her, her good friend and teammate Rachael Fairclough, cutting herself through the pack like butter, deservedly made second lady and a one two for the girls. Hannah Whittaker dug deep to finish 7th. There were some serious debuts for Anthony Ellis, Zoe Fillingham, Elizabeth Phillipson, and the fastest signing to date Chris ‘Curly’ Hazeldine, who crossed the line as first male finisher for the Striders and 17th overall.
In the 13 Arches Half Marathon, the utterly indefatigable Kevin Brennan finished 1st Strider home in 36th place in 1:34:24. Claire Scott, having mercilessly exerted all of her energies, successfully banked 1st V45 in 1:45. Ann Johnson, Sharon OConnell, Karl Bowles, Vera Langley and their greatly esteemed navigator David Brisco, made for a closely guarded cluster of support which paid dividends with them all finishing strongly.
In the Conwy Half Marathon, Danny Fegan treated family and friends to yet more heroics finishing with a fantastic spurt of energy in 1:38:00. Katie Taggart meanwhile with her longstanding teammate ‘Pistol’ Pete Medlicott, proved yet again a successful partnership. Katie when asked about her thoughts on the race stated, ‘The beautiful scenery took my mind off the pain when I was running up the Orme’. Elsewhere in the Preston Harriers 10 miler Brian Davies secured a PB in 1:31:21. And in the Republic of Ireland at the Buncrana ParkRun, Co. Donegal; Jon-Jo Doherty broke the course record in a time of 16:48.
More about St Helens Striders Running Club
The St Helens Striders Train on a Monday and Wednesday Evening from the Windlehurst Sports Club on Windleshaw Road. The warm up starts at 6:50pm and the prearranged training plans start from 7pm. All Abilities Welcome!
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