St Albans Striders kicked off the year with a strong showing in the Herts Cross Country Championships last Sunday. While the senior men were unable to defend the title they won this time last year, a team of six turned in a medal winning performance to claim second place in the senior men’s race.

Around thirty Striders completed the 12km race, with nineteen finishing in the top 100 at Watford’s Cassiobury Park. Paul Adams was the first Strider to cross the line, finishing 7^th in a time of 41:41. He was joined in the silver medal team by Jonathan Scott (13^th), Phillip Evans (17^th), George Withers (32^nd), Gary Warren (36^th), and Douglas Hobson (45^th).

Fifteen Striders completed the senior women’s 8km course, led home by 11^th placed Rachel Brown (32:30). A team comprising Rachel, Jenny Maddocks (19^th), Zoe Lowe (27^th) and Nicky Laitner (29^th) secured 4^th place overall – matching the women’s performance last year. Elizabeth Walls, Mandy Attree, Claire Hobson, Ruth Kent and Deirdre Heydecker all finished in the top 50.

Earlier in the weekend, more than fifty Striders took part in the St Albans parkrun, contributing to a record turnout of 543. Heather Hann was the first overall female finisher, recording a time of 20:11. Strider Blake Vivian also placed first in the Rickmansworth parkrun. All told, 87 Striders participated across nineteen different parkruns.

Striders return to Cassiobury Park this weekend for the penultimate race in the Herts Sunday League XC season, with both the men’s and women’s team battling to secure a top-three finish.