This week was the first race in the St Albans Club Championships calendar and therefore there was a big turnout of 76 runners turning out on a cold and windy morning in Watford ready to run a relatively hilly and certainly demanding half marathon course.

The 76 were more than up to the challenge however with Paul Adams finishing 1^st for the club in 8^th position with a time of 1:13:17. First lady Strider home was Heather Hann who was 91^st overall and 5^th lady finisher with a time of 1:24:10.

Heather’s performance also contributed to the ladies team taking first prize with Wendy Walsh and Anna Ward.

The course did suit a number of runners however with personal best times for Hannah Prentice, Jane Harrison, Rachel Elizabeth, Jo Tang, Jay A’Court, Robin Newby, Magadelena Petrus, Richard Vaughan, Nigel Aston, Emma Jardine, Richard Olney and Ruth Kent.

More runners a bit further afield than Watford included Blake Vivian who finished 6^th in the London Winter 10k Run.  A little further out in Milton Keynes, Mark Travis took part in the Enigma Quadzilla event which is four marathons in 4 days on the 1st, 2nd , 3rd and 4th February. A truly magnificent set of runs : (Day 1 - 04:51:15) (day 2 - 05:00:54) (Day 3 - 05:02:20) (Day 4 - 04:40:09).

Lastly on the otherside of the world in Albert Park in Melbourne (home of the F1 1^st race of the year) saw Tom Crouch take part in parkrun and finish 1^st in a spectacular time of 15:27.

St Albans Striders are always keen to greet new members and they meet on a Tuesday and Thursday for track and distance runs. Check the St Albans Striders website for details.