The focus for St Albans Striders at the weekend was the fifth and final fixture in the Chiltern Cross Country League taking place in Campbell Park, Milton Keynes.

On the day, Jenny Maddocks, Caroline Bailes, Zoe Lowe and Wendy Walsh got 2nd vet ladies team. Walsh finished the series with the 1st FV45 individual trophy. Other notable accomplishments from the team at the end of the five races were Liz Walls 2nd FV55, Martin Halling 2nd MV60, and Jonathan Scott 3rd MV40.

At the end of the series, the senior women came 6th, and the senior men came 8th. Together with the AC, St Albans came 5th overall.

On Sunday, four Striders took part in the 'Love' Welwyn 10K. Richard Witter finished in 41:11, Clair Drage achieved a new Personal Best of 49:28, Nicki Francis ran in 58:33, and Jessica MacGregor also got a new PB of 1:00:43.

With spring marathons coming up in the not-too-distant future, five Striders ran the Bramley 20-mile race in preparation. Ian Hirth recorded a new four-minute PB with 2:32:34. Deirdre Heydecker came first in the FV60 age category with 2:42:42, whilst Shanti Johnson, Laura Astley and Rose McGuinness ran together, each finishing in 2:59:02.

At parkrun events across Hertfordshire, Mike Lancaster successfully conquered the hills of Tring to finish first, while Tim Searle achieved a similar feat at Westmill, near Ware. Paul Adams and Heather Hann were the first male and female finishers at St Albans parkrun. Adams' achievement was more notable for the fact he was pushing a buggy as he ran. Michael Donovan ran his 50th parkrun, in Gadebridge, Hemel Hempstead.

St Albans Striders is a friendly local club catering for all types of runners, meeting at 7pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays by the Westminster Lodge athletics track building.

More information can be found at www.stalbansstriders.com.

Report by Howard Bull

Photos of Nigel Aston and Errol Maginley at Campbell Park by Laura Hicks 

Photo of Jenny Maddocks at Campbell Park by Richard Vaughan