The MBNA Chester Marathon proved a happy hunting ground for four St Albans Striders – with all of the quartet breaking their personal bests.
Rob Spencer, Mike Martin and Sebastian Rowe all broke the three hour barrier; Spencer leading the way in two hours 56 minutes, with Martin and Rowe finishing within a few seconds of each other in 2:58.
Gareth Beavis also achieved a PB in 3:09.
On the south coast, Steve Cockrell, Ben Scott, Paul Earnshaw, Lauren Osborn and Tessa Osborn ran the Bournemouth Marathon in times of 03:00:31, 04:06:52, 04:21:52, 05:35:34 and 05:45:16 respectively.
Cockrell was somewhat frustrated to finish just outside the three-hour mark, but was pleased to have qualified for a Good Far Age place at the London Marathon where he can try again to hit that milestone.
Also in Bournemouth, Neil Mallon completed his first ever half marathon in a time of 2:26.
The first weekend in October is usually host to two big 10K races in Hertfordshire, and this year was no exception.
In Letchworth, nine Striders took part in the Standalone 10K. Tom Crouch was the club’s first member across the line, in 32 minutes 35 seconds, coming sixth overall.
Wendy Walsh finished in 41:27 and topped the FV45 age category as well as winning a gold Hertfordshire County Championship medal.
Fleur Harvey-Keenan achieved a new PB of 45:53 and Mike Jack got his best 10K time since 2008, with 47:27.
At the Willow 10K, held in the grounds of Hatfield House, Doug Hobson finished fifth in 41:07. SK Au-Yeong came in at 48:55, followed by Andy Normile 49:43, and Wai Meng Au-Yeong in 1:08:57.
In other racing news, Nick Day finished second in Saturday’s 7km Spartan obstacle race in Windsor, before competing again the following morning in a similarly styled event, coming fourth over 4km.
David Holcroft ran the Abbots Langley Tough 10K event in 45:24 on Sunday.
Nairn McWilliams completed the Great Scottish Run half marathon in Glasgow in a time of 1:17 with Tim Searle coming home in 1:33.
At the new parkrun at Ellenbrook Fields, Richard Vaughan achieved a 5km PB, knocking 40 seconds off his previous best time from 2013 to finish in 21:40.
At St Albans parkrun Ed Bailey also got a 5K PB, finishing in 17:31 for fifth place overall.
St Albans Striders is a friendly club for runners of all abilities.
Members meet at the Westminster Lodge athletics track building at 7pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
More information is available at www.stalbansstriders.com
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