This week saw members of the Sandbach Striders running in events covering distances from 5km to 50 miles, and even a number of triathlons to add to their achievements.
The week started with the Stone 5 Road Race, a one off event in aid of the Lymphoma association. Liz O’Keefe stated “undulating would be an understatement”, turning out to be a very hilly 2 lap course. A well supported event, organised by Mick Hall, who himself was diagnosed with Lymphoma finished with all receiving a bespoke medal, and a buffet meal. Results for the three Striders are as follows:
| Runner | Chip Time | Gun Time |
|---|---|---|
| Craig Edwards | 00:40:19 | 00:40:27 |
| Liz O'Keeffe | 00:48:55 | 00:49:01 |
| Rachel Mason | 00:49:58 | 00:50:03 |
On Friday, Darren Varley travelled to Christleton to compete in the Christleton 5k. This event attracts a very good field of competitors, and provides a closed road race with good personal best potential. Darren took full advantage of this and managed to beat his own 5k time in 17:23, well done Darren.
On Saturday 13 members from the club took part in 4 different parkruns. There were personal bests at Conwy for Julia Dunlop in a time of 31:00, and Helen Child over in Congleton with a time of 25:31.
Paul Nicholls continued his quest to get the 100 marathon mark, and this week we saw Paul over in Derbyshire to complete his 76th marathon in the 2017 White Peak event. The off road event was a point to point marathon taking in the trails, with various checkpoints to complete along the way. The weather wasn’t kind to the participants, but Paul completed it in a time of 5 hours and 15 minutes.
In it’s 13th year, the Donna Louise 10k is run as a family friendly event to help raise money for the children's hospice. It is run around the idyllic Trentham Estate in Staffordshire. It is mainly flat with only one slight incline. Liz O’Keefe won her category, with 3 other members completing the event as follows:
| Runner | Chip Time | Gun Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lucy Lee | 00:53:24 | 00:53:29 | |
| Helen Child | 00:53:45 | 00:53:49 | |
| Liz O'Keeffe | 00:55:09 | 00:55:13 | Category Winner |
| Amy Norman | 01:01:32 | 01:01:37 |
Also on Saturday Craig Edwards, and Steve Treweeks entered what is regarded as one of the toughest fell races in Wales. The Cader Idris Mountain Race is an approximately 10.5 mile event which starts at Dolgellau, at sea level, and then climbs almost 3000ft to the summit of Pen y Gader. You then repeat this in reverse, and the key to success is avoiding cramp with changing surfaces and gradients on the way back down. Craig completed the event in 2:08:35, with Steve coming in, just over 2 and a half hours.
Chris Brumby took on the Apocalypse 50 mile ultra marathon. The self navigated event which has 4 loops named after horsemen of the apocalypse starts and finishes from the headquarters in Church Stretton. You can do as many of the loops as you like, and to make things more interesting you can complete them in any order you wish. A very challenging and hilly 50 miler indeed. Chris did all 4 of the loops and finished in 17th place and was pleased with his time of 12:55.
On Sunday 7 members of the club took a trip over to Chester to complete in the Essar Chester Half Marathon. With almost 5000 runners taking part, it one of the UK’s longest established half marathons. The race starts from the Chester race course, and finishes in the centre of the city. A route that goes out into the rural areas, is well supported with great organisation and support. Both Lisa Highfield, and David Sharp got personal bests, with the full results are as follows:
| Runner | Chip Time | Gun Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stephen Mclean | 01:29:30 | 01:29:38 | |
| John Wright | 01:42:40 | 01:44:14 | |
| Lisa Highfield | 01:45:19 | 01:47:15 | Personal Best |
| James Halling | 01:54:22 | 01:56:17 | |
| Chris Holden | 01:55:39 | 01:58:37 | |
| David Sharp | 01:55:40 | 01:58:38 | Personal Best |
| Tom Brunt | 01:57:59 | 02:01:17 |
Whilst a running club, many of our members also compete in triathlon and duathlon events, this week saw three triathlons, with 10 members from the club taking part.
Chairwoman Cheryl Hutchins travelled to Nottingham to take part in the Outlaw Half Triathlon. Held at the national watersports centre this is a half Ironman event, and participants need to complete 1.2miles open water, transitioning to the bike for a further 56 miles, and finally complete 13.1 miles on foot. Cheryl finished all 3 of the disciplines in just under 6 and a quarter hours, finishing on the podium 3rd in her category!
Over in Wales 7 Striders took part in the Pedalcover Slateman Triathlon. Set in the Snowdonia National Park the event offers two different distances, the Sprint, and the full Olympic distance over the weekend. Steve Farnell, Mick Hutchins and Nigel Fishwick took on both the sprint on Saturday and the full “Olympic” distance on Sunday. The open water swim is surrounded by the mountains, with the bike ride going into the heart of the park. The final run is through a slate quarry. It is a popular event with amazing scenery, great times by all of our entrants the results were as follows:
Results for Sprint distance on Saturday were:
| Competitor | Time |
|---|---|
| Mick Hutchins | 1:28:23 |
| Nigel Fishwick | 1:36:15 |
| Steve Farnell | 1:46:26 |
Results for Full/Olympic distance on Sunday were:
| Competitor | Time |
|---|---|
| Mick Hutchins | 3:16:57 |
| Steve Fallows | 3:21:05 |
| Giles Hodges | 3:33:35 |
| Steve Farnell | 3:44:26 |
| Matthew Jones | 3:47:15 |
| Nigel Fishwick | 3:50:14 |
| Paul Barnett | 3:53:58 |
More locally in Nantwich, Colin Dalton and Gaynor Beckett competed in the Nantwich triathlon. This was a sprint distance event, also being Colin’s first one. Colin finished the 500meter swim, 20km cycle, and 5km run in 1:14:43, with Gaynor coming in 17th placed female with a time of 1:17:38.
Full results for our members are published on our results page.
Entries are 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 ourraces page