Two St Albans Striders’ club records were broken at the Hatfield five mile race.
James McMurray became the fastest Strider over the five mile distance on Sunday in the senior men’s category, clocking 24 minutes 54 seconds, while Peter Crowdell set a new record in the men’s V40 category with 27:46.
The men’s race contained the winner of last year’s event as well as the 2015 Love Welwyn Garden City 10k winner and the 2016 Welwyn Half Marathon winner, all of whom were Striders.
In total over 20 Striders participated with McMurray, Tom Crouch, Paul Adams and Blake Vivian taking four of the top five male positions.
Wendy Walsh was first W40 in a time of 31:57, Jen Pickering achieved a new five mile PB in 47:40 and Allie Park completed her first event as a Strider, finishing the race in 37:32.
Elsewhere in Hertfordshire, many Striders also competed in the Watford 10k, with James Turner crossing the line in 3rd place (35:27) and Doug Hobson 11th in 39:11.
Further afield, Ben Scott and Andrew Mckillop took part in the gruelling and hilly Wendover Woods 50 mile run, both gaining impressive times for a challenging course.
Jenny Maddocks and Errol Maginley completed the Lee Valley half marathon in 1:34 and Jack Brooks ran the La Rochelle marathon in a time of 4:13.
Making a great comeback to running and flying the Striders flag in Demark, Jen Conway was first lady at the Amager Faelland parkrun in Copenhagen in a time of 22:59. Graham Smith was fourth in 17:49.
Helen Cartlidge was first lady at Shorne Woods parkrun (21:05), Doug Hobson was first male at Aldenham parkrun (20:15) and Edward Bailey was seventh at Hastings parkrun in 17:01.
Closer to home at St Albans parkrun, Howard Bull, Chris Barr, Katherine Caris-Harris, Christopher Curran and Russell Sessions all achieved new PB’s for the 5km course, while Pablo Plaza Lastras came eighth running his 100th parkrun.
The St Albans Striders popular Fred Hughes 10 mile race is on January 22 and entries are open at http://www.activetrainingworld.com/
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