There was plenty going on at the weekend as St Albans Striders took on races across the region.

First up was the Herts County Masters XC Championships held at Stanborough Lakes in Welwyn Garden City. Joe Dunn was 3rd MV40, and he with Gareth Parker, Derek Fowler and Jonathan Bird claimed team silver in the MV40 age category. Paul Greaves, Nigel Aston, Gary Warren and Steve Smith also picked up team silver medals in the MV50 category. The club’s female athletes fared even better with Kathryn Penfold achieving FV35 individual silver, Zoe Lowe doing the same in the FV45 age category, and the pair of them together with Rachel Aldridge winning the top team prize.

Not satisfied with running his 250th parkrun, at Seaton parkrun, on Saturday, Richard Vaughan on Sunday went onto run the 20-mile majority hilly and muddy Grizzly Trail Run along the Jurassic Coast in just under four hours.

Kate Tettmar and Richard Underwood also faced hills and mud at the Winter Green Man 30-mile Ultramarathon around the edges of Bristol. Jack Brooks continued his marathon habit by running the Enigma Trail Marathon near Milton Keynes in a time of 4:55:09; his 508th marathon to date.

Lehna Gardiner competed in the FV35 age group at the European Duathlon Championships (standard distance) in Punta Umbria, Spain. Martin Whitworth was 11th in the sprint distance MV45 race, and Richard Davis was 13th in the sprint race and 12th in the standard race in the MV50 category.

There were also healthy turnouts from the club at a couple of big road races in the area:

At the fast and flat Cambridge Half Marathon, Phillip Evans came in at 1:16:42, Matt Jane 1:32:31, Ben Thomas 1:33:54, Mike Dando 1:49:04, Ali Hills 1:55:48, Ruth Crowther 2:00:42, and Dave Saunders 2:04:44.

At the Hillingdon 20-mile race, Striders training for Spring marathons were out in force. Andrew McKillop 10th overall and 3rd in the MV40 age category with 2:04:50. Steve Hosty was 27th overall in 2:10:52, and Richard Harry also made it into the top-100 with 2:23:41. Alan Proudfoot finished in 2:31:38, Lucy Jones 2:51:45, Clair Drage 3:12:14 (5-minute PB), Ben Scott 3:29:30, and Jenna Pickering 3:29:33 (PB).

St Albans Striders is a friendly club for all types of runners, who meet at 7pm on Tuesdays and Thursday by the Westminster Lodge Athletics Track.

Report by Howard Bull

Photos of the female and MV60 Striders before the Masters XC race, plus one of Penfold and Aldridge holding the cup afterwards. Both supplied by Rachel Aldridge.

Photo of Vaughan on one of the few road sections of the Grizzly Trail Race as well an example of a coastal section. Both provided by Richard Vaughan.