This week the world famous London Marathon was ran, but members from Sandbach Striders were out running distances from between 5k to 26.2 miles. Three of the clubs’ runners crossed their first marathon finishing lines, with one slightly further afield in a very unconventional location.
On Thursday 20th April it was the second event in the Stone Masters Marathon club Spring Treble, the Milford Murder. Tony Taylor was joined by Darren Varley, and Liz O’Keeffe, and all gave great efforts, with Darren finishing in 10th place overall.
| Runner | Time |
|---|---|
| Darren Varley | 00:37:14 |
| Tony Taylor | 00:38:22 |
| Liz O'Keeffe | 00:59:24 |
Most runners would choose to start their marathon career somewhere close to home. This was not the case for Lynsey Astles, who thought a Spring Marathon in Iceland was the place to start. Now in it’s 18th year the Reykjavik Spring Marathon advertises itself as a small friendly race, and takes in some stunning scenery. The run whilst flat, saw Lynsey experience “blistering snow, rain, wind and sun in a not so tropical 0 degrees”. She survived the conditions, and loved the scenery, finishing in an impressive time of 4:43.
Also on Saturday the parkrun tourism continued. Stephen Mclean and Lisa Highfield travelled to Wilmslow to complete the two lap course around Carrs Park. Their times were 20:23, and 24:07 respectively.
Tony Taylor travelled a little further afield to Conwy North Wales for his first Conwy parkrun. The course is an out and back on the Conwy estuary, with a quick detour to Conwy Castle. Tony came in with a time of 19:31 finishing in an impressive 4th place.
The Mayells’ continue to show their family commitment to the parkrun event staying a little closer to home at Delamere forest. Adam again came in just before his dad, Tom, setting a personal best of 26:52, with mum, Amy, also setting a personal best in a time 35:56.
Sandbach Striders are always well represented at the Congleton parkrun, and this week was no exception. The three lap course of Astbury Mere gave three of the club new personal best times
| Runner | Time | |
|---|---|---|
| Andy Thomas | 00:19:43 | |
| Mick Hutchins | 00:20:03 | Personal Best |
| Heather Carter | 00:20:28 | |
| Steven Fallows | 00:23:34 | |
| Gillian Fallows | 00:25:36 | Personal Best |
| Catherine Winders | 00:25:52 | |
| Tim Wilson | 00:25:59 | Personal Best |
| Robert Kettle | 00:26:59 | |
| Liz O'Keeffe | 00:27:26 | |
| John Wright | 00:30:24 |
Triathlons are getting more and more popular throughout the country, and it’s the time of year when the outdoor season starts, once the water starts to warm a little. Steve Fallows and Cheryl Hutchins competed in the Standard distance event at Boundary Park, Holmes Chapel. The standard distance starts with a 1km swim, 58km bike and finishes with a 10km run. Cheryl completed the swim in 24:00, the bike in 2:03:00, and finished with 10km in 51:40. Steve who is returning from time away from the sport finished with a 19:16 swim, 1:48:47 on the bike, and finishing with an impressive 48:06 run.
Also on Sunday, four Striders took part in the Whitley 10k, which takes part each year on some beautiful Cheshire country lanes. The event is popular with local clubs. The results were as follows:
| Runner | Chip Time | Gun Time |
|---|---|---|
| Tony Taylor | 00:39:31 | 00:39:32 |
| Gaynor Beckett | 00:54:22 | 00:54:58 |
| Wendy Spreadbury | 00:55:43 | 00:56:20 |
| Amy Norman | 01:00:28 | 01:01:03 |
Whilst not being able to get a place in the London Marathon, Paul Nicholls instead decided to enter the Blackpool Marathon. The event which this year was in good conditions, is a two lap route on the sea front taking in the sights of the Big One, and the Blackpool Tower. Paul had a great finish pushing himself in the final mile to get a time under 5 hours in 4:59:58. This week he decided to replace a post race coke with a stick of rock.
Finally for this week it was the iconic London Marathon, which always gets a lot of attention and rightly so. Approximately 40,000 runners of all abilities take part, and a lot of money is raised for charity. Lindsay Beeston, Duncan Robertson, and Moe Dutton were lucky enough to get places for this years event, with it also being Duncan’ and Moe’s first marathon. The full results were as follows:
| Runner | Chip Time | Gun Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lindsay Beeston | 04:42:26 | 04:42:26 | |
| Duncan Robertson | 05:07:06 | 05:07:06 | Personal Best |
| Moe Dutton | 05:22:40 | 05:22:40 | Personal Best |
Entries are now open for the Sandbach 10k sponsored by Butcher and Barlow. This year's event takes place on an exciting new course and is run entirely on traffic-free roads. It promises to be a great event for both new runners or for those looking to beat their personal best. Secure your starting place now at Nifty Entries