St Albans Striders extend lead in Midweek Road Race League as half marathon enjoys 40th birthday

St Albans Striders have been extremely busy with competitive running - and have picked up some excellent results along the way too.

The 40th anniversary of the the St Albans Half Marathon was held over the usual hilly course in Batchwood and Bedmond and more than 100 Striders took part.

They managed second place in both the men's and ladies' competition, Matt Cooper clocking one hour 12 minutes 17 seconds while Megan Walker came home in 1:22:11.

Stefano Fererici was third for the men in 1:12:36.

The Striders also extended their lead in Division One of the Midweek Road Race League with victory in round three at Chingford.

They finished second in both the men's and women's races over a six-mile course but the winners of each category, Orion Harriers in the men's and Trent Park Running Club in the women's, both finished fourth in the other.

It meant when the results were combined, Striders jumped ahead of both of them, with their lead over Trent Park overall now three points.

Penny Habbick led the Striders' women home in eighth with Wendy Walsh (16th), Lily Seach (17th) and Jenny Maginley (18th) also finishing in the top 20.

Stephen Buckle was the first Male Strider to finish in sixth with the trio of Paul Adams (ninth), Matthew Cooper (10th) and Stefano Federici (11th) not far behind.

Philip Evans and Adam Yorweth completed their top-20 runners.

Round two had been the Striders' home leg, held at Highfield Park, and the short journey to the start line brought a big turnout, more than 130 in total.

The men took the round win with James McMurray claiming the individual win in a time of 31 minutes 28 seconds for the 10k distance.

Federici (fourth), Buckle (fifth), Cooper (sixth), Adams (14th) and Evans (17th) rounded out their top 20 finishers.

Hannah Burkhardt was the first female Strider to finish in 40:16 with the team coming second behind Trent Park.

She was ninth, one place ahead of Habbick with Sophia Cliffe (12th), Walsh (14th) and Deborah Nowlo (17th) completing their first five scorers.

The fourth round is at Trent Park on June 30 with the last meeting being the mob match in Welwyn Garden City, where teams from all three divisions come together for one big run.

That is on July 6.

Elsewhere there have been a couple of PBs over longer distances at major events.

Max Campbell ran the Olympic Park Half Marathon and finished third in a new best time of 1:26:27.

Spencer Grant improved his marathon time with 3:40:20 at Edinburgh.