Striders of Croydon faced strong opposition in the Surrey Cross-Country Championships, at Dorking on Sunday. In the women’s race, Consuelo Kennefick ran well to place third in the W50 age-group and 46th overallout of 106 finishers, completing the eight-kilometre course in 41:12. Club colleague Elspeth Meakin was 104th (56:15). In the men’s race, James Rhodes was 85th out of 227 finishers, completing the 12-kilometre course in 49:39. Tom Gillespie was 136th (54:00) and Josef Freedman 160th (56:31).

Striders had an impressive total of 124 finishers in the various Christmas Day parkruns. Kara Boaks was the first woman to finish the South Norwood parkrun, placing 18th overall (21:52). Two days later, Kara was the first woman to finish the Riddlesdown parkrun, placing 21st overall (22:08).

On New Year’s Day, Tatsuya Okamoto placed first out of 74 finishers in the Hikarigaoka parkrun near Tokyo(18:08). Rachel Lindley was the first woman to finish the Milton parkrun near Cambridge, placing sixth overall (20:06). Consuelo Kennefick was the first woman to finish the Riddlesdown parkrun, placing 20th overall (22:16). 

On Saturday, Tatsuya Okamoto placed first out of 42 finishers in the Momoi Harappa parkrun near Tokyo (17:48). Rachel Lindley was again the first woman to finish the Milton parkrun, placing eighth overall (20:28), while Consuelo Kennefick was again the first woman to finish the Riddlesdown parkrun, placing 16th overall (22:24).

In the Staplehurst End of Year 10-mile race, Alex Legge was the eleventh woman to finish, placing first in the W45 age-group and 91st overall (79:37). For Striders’ men, Nathan Davies was 27th (68:42) and Peter Johnson 47th (72:59). In the Tadworth 10-mile race, Rob Zietz was 139th (83:05), David Foster 165th (84:52), Radhika Lingham 367th (1:47:37) and Amy Foster 388th (1:51:41).

Striders of Croydon faced strong opposition in the South of the Thames Cross-Country Championships, at Wimbledon Common on Saturday. Their best placing came from Elspeth Meakin who was 61st in the women’s race, competing the 12-kilometre course in 79 minutes 36. In the men’s race, James Rhodes placed 73rd of the 219 finishers (48:36), with Tom Gillespie 138th (53:48) and Josef Freedman 171st (57:47).

In the RunThrough Lee Valley Velopark 10-mile race, Keith Simpson ran well to place first in the M75 category and 38th overall, setting a club age-group record of 1 hour 40 minutes 40.

Also on Saturday, Marc Burrows was first out of 255 finishers in the Wanstead Flats parkrun (18:39). Tatsuya Okamoto was first out of 44 finishers in the Momoi Harappa parkrun near Tokyo (17:44). Chris Porter was first out of 103 finishers in the Bay East Garden parkrun in Singapore (18:24). Niamh Vincent was the first woman to finish the South Norwood parkrun, placing seventh overall out of 178 finishers (21:18). Phil Coales was second out of 414 finishers in the Southwark parkrun (17:13). Rachel Lindley was the third woman to finish the Clumber Park parkrun in Nottinghamshire, placing 19th overall out of 332 finishers (21:18). Striders had a total of 119 finishers in the various weekly parkruns.

In the Serpentine five-kilometre road race, at Hyde Park on Friday, Steve Corfield placed 39th out of 223 finishers (18:27), with Liam Redmond 53rd (18:50) and Darren Woods 125th (21:12).

On Sunday morning, Zoe Siu was the second female finisher in the Lloyd junior parkrun, placing fifth overall out of 107 finishers (8:35).

Ally Whitlock, from Striders of Croydon, ran very well in the Centurion Winter Downs 100-mile race, starting at Amberley in Sussex on Friday afternoon and finishing at Mickleham on Saturday morning. She was the fourth woman to finish, placing eleventh overall and completing the course in 20 hours 52 minutes 31.

In the RunThrough Victoria Park Half-Marathon, Keith Simpson was the first M75 to finish, setting a new club age-group record of 2 hours 12 minutes 14.

Also on Saturday, Rachel Lindley was the first woman to finish the Thonock Lane Farm parkrun in Lincolnshire, placing fourth overall out of 63 finishers (20:54). Martha Taylor was the second woman to finish the Dulwich parkrun, placing 35th overall out of 641 finishers (18:52). Zoe Siu was the second woman to finish the Brockwell parkrun, placing 48th overall out of 451 finishers (21:33). Consuelo Kennefick was the second woman to finish the Riddlesdown parkrun, placing 15th overall out of 121 finishers (23:07). Becky Laurence was the second woman to finish the Dartford Heath parkrun, placing 13th overall out of 75 finishers (24:04). For Striders’ men, there were third places for Marc Burrows in the Valentines parkrun in Ilford (18:12), Nathan Robertshaw in the Kingston parkrun (18:18), Erik Schrijnemaekers in the Oak Hill parkrun in Barnet (19:08) and Tom Gillespie in the South Norwood parkrun (20:11). Striders totalled 118 finishers in the various weekly parkruns.

In the RunThrough Crystal Palace 10K on Sunday, Leonie Hondeborg was the sixth woman to finish, placing 43rd overall (50:06). She was followed by Maili Singh (54:11), Lee Roberts (55:51), Matt Byrne (59:49) and Stephen Tyler (85:51). In the half-marathon at the same venue, James Harrison ran 2:09:14, Jeremy Tonkin 2:30:15, Kerry Kane 2:33:13 and Darren Skinner 2:35:50.

Striders of Croydon had the first two female finishers in the South Norwood parkrun on Saturday morning. Ally Whitlock ran well to place tenth overall out of the 172 finishers (21:38), while Niamh Vincent was 17th (22:25). Martha Taylor was the first woman to finish the Hilly Fields parkrun in Ladywell, placing 20th overall out of 246 finishers (21:16). Further afield, Tatsuya Okamoto placed first out of 42 finishers in the Momoi Harappa parkrun near Tokyo (17:43).

Lee Flanagan was second out of 118 finishers in the Lloyd parkrun (20:04) with Steve Corfield third (20:41), while Cindy Siu was the second woman to finish, placing 25th overall (25:52). Marc Burrows was second out of 249 finishers in the Wanstead Flats parkrun (20:19). Martin Filer was second out of 111 finishers in the Riddlesdown parkrun (20:55), while Consuelo Kennefick was the second woman to finish, placing eleventh overall (24:28). Erik Schrijnemaekers was second out of 55 finishers in the Bethlem Royal Hospital parkrun (20:37), while Selena Wong was the fourth woman to finish, placing 14th overall (24:42). Striders’ fastest time of the day came from James Rhodes who was fourth out of 746 finishers in the Bromley parkrun (16:59). Striders had a total of 114 finishers in the various weekly parkruns.

On Sunday, Michael Smaldon ran well to place twelfth in the RunThrough Goodwood 20-mile road race (2:46:56), while Yasmin Anderson was first in the W45 age-group and 16th overall (3:03:57). Josef Freedman placed 157th out of 365 runners in the Hurtwood 50-kilometre trail race, starting and finishing in Dorking (6:39:13). Club colleague Kechong Nguyen was 317th (8:32:05).