by Michael Escolme
on Wednesday 15th June 2016
A hot week, interspersed with thundery storms, didn’t stop Striders getting out and about to take part in 3 fell races, 3 triathlons, a ‘alf marathon and 4 different parkruns.
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| Liz O'Keeffe and Daren Varley at Shutlingsloe Fell Race |
On Thursday, 2 Striders headed to Wildboarclough for the Shutlingsloe Fell Race, one of the races making up the Staffordshire Moorland Summer Series. In short, the race is 3 ½ miles up to the top of Shutlingslow and 3 1.2 miles back down, with some running, some climbing and some free falling thrown in! Darren finished in 21st place in 31.06 and Liz in 48.51.
Saturday dawned muggy and humid but that didn’t stop Striders heading out to various parkruns. At this week's Congleton parkrun Steve Barton, Tony Taylor, Jan Peake and Amy Norman were in place as paces for the runners at 20, 23, 25 and 30 minutes respectively. The full results were:
19.16 Rick Kelso-Davies19.53 Steven Barton23.07 Tony Taylor25.09 Jan Peake25.59 Helen Child28.00 Tom Mayell29.38 Amy Norman30.28 Jennifer Timson31.31 Julia Dunlop31.32 Catherine Winders34.02 James Boon37.09 John Wright38.24 Amy Mayell
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| Striders at Congleton parkrun |
Paul Barnett continued his parkrun tourism at Pennington Flash, near Leigh, finishing in 21.45.
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| Paul Barnett at the Pennington Flash parkrun |
Lynsey Astles was over in Wrexham for the Erddig parkrun. A one lap course in beautiful grounds, and with mixture of shale, stone, mud & woodland tracks with a stint of tarmac and some ducking under branches, Lynsey finished in 29.46.
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| Lynsey Astles at Erddig parkrun |
Matt Simister and Tracey Surridge completed Delamere parkrun in 25.34 and 32.09 respectively.
Also on Saturday Lou Hayward took part in one of the Dysynni Trail Fest races. She opted for the 15k race which started and finished in the walled garden of Ynysymaengwyn Woodland Park, before running along the tranquil banks of the river Dysynni, and the surrounding Dysynni valley. Lou completed the course in 1.32.
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| Lou Hayward at Dysynni Trail Fest race |
Three Striders headed north to take part in the inaugural Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon in Leeds, providing more than 5,000 recreational triathletes with a unique opportunity to compete on the same course as the world’s best. Mick Hutchins and Nigel Fishwick took part in the standard distance event and Steve Fallows in the sprint event. The full results were:
1.23.13 Steve Fallows 2.39.10 Mick Hutchins 2.39.44 Nigel Fishwick
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| Mick Hutchins, Steve Fallows and Nigel Fishwick at the Leeds Triathlon |
On Sunday, two Striders took part in the Passing Cloud Fell Race, a 10 mile course beginning at Tittesworth Reservoir, Leek. Martin Coleman finished in 1:32:55 and Craig Edwards in 1:49:45.
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| Martin Coleman and Craig Edwards at Passing Cloud |
Also on Sunday was the Potters ‘Arf Marathon. The race begins outside Marks and Spencers and takes in Shelton, Fenton and Bucknall before hitting ‘heartbreak hill’ in Milton. The full results were:
1.35.39 Heather Carter1.48.48 Scott Portman 1.49.23 Jane Pyatt1.56.09 James Boon2.24.37 Steve Farnell2.38.11 Karen Lovatt
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| Striders at the Potters ‘alf |
Cheryl and Gordon Hutchins headed over to Chester for the Olympic Triathlon. The swim takes places in the River Dee. The bike route was a single lap into Wales via Eccleston, Rossett and Borras and back into Chester via Alford and Boughton. Transition took place in the fabulous Grosvenor Park. The run route incorporated running over the Old Dee Bridge as well as the suspension bridge, along the Groves and in the meadows with the finish being at the Bandstand. Results were not available at the time of print.
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| Gordon and Cheryl Hutchins at The Chester Olympic Triathlon |
Finally, Alice Bober managed to knock 3 minutes of her personal best in the Cockermouth Triathlon, finishing the sprint distance event in 1.18.10.
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| Alice Bober returning from Cockermouth Triathlon |
