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Paul Harrap ran in the last of the series 10Km at The Queen Mothers Reservoir in Windsor.
He finished 24th out of 141 in a time of 44mins 02 to finish 5th overall in the Race series.
Friday evening was the annual 5 mile Dash, held at Branston, through their small village and surrounding area, incorporating roads and tracks along with fields and streams.
It was a two lap course starting near the Waggon and Horses pub, approaching a steady incline which lead to tracks and fields, where the fun started. It had rained heavily earlier through the evening, making the course muddy and slippery in places, but a good cross country section made it enjoyable for most runners involved.
Three runners from Sleaford Striders challenged the course, and finished in good spirits. The three involved were Edward Brown, who was the first Strider home in 33 minutes 00 seconds finishing in 11th place, he was closely followed by Andy Preston who came home in 17th place with 34 minutes 16 seconds. Alan Buckberry made up the third member of the team, finishing in 36 minutes 07 seconds with 25th position.
There were 66 people who entered the race, and having spoke to several of the runners afterwards, it seemed as though it was a successful event yet again for the organizers.
A new ‘challenging’ course had been used for 2008, which incorporates some of the original route of the race held in the 80’s and 90’s. The course can best be described as very undulating with several long downhill sections and some moderately steep inclines.
The race was well populated with members of the public cheering the runners on and the circular nature of the course provided several opportunities for spectators to easily view the runners at more than one point during the race.
It was very windy in places with heavy downpours throughout the morning, which did not make it easy for the runners or pleasant viewing conditions for the spectators, but spirits remained high.
Andy Preston represented Sleaford Striders. It was his first attempt at Mansfield, and despite all the undulating hills and heavy downpours, he came home with a P.B. He smashed his previous P.B. by 6 minutes, giving him a respectable and pleasing time of 1hour 37minutes and 46seconds, he finished in 167 th place out of 665 finishing runners.
Matt Ballentyne finished 8th in 17 minutes 41 seconds.
This was an out-and-back affair to Ewerby through Kirkby La Thorpe. Jane James was the first Strider home in a time of 58 minutes 55 seconds, not far behind were Andy Preston (59.27) and Graham Potter (60.39). Other Striders to finish were Lindsay Nemeiksas (87.10) and Linda Melloy (90.05). All runners found the going tough as a headwind appeared from ‘nowhere’ on the return leg.
Paul Harrap fininshed 27th out of 173 in a time of 46 mins 32 Secs, definately not a PB Race!!
This is a 15 mile mostly off-roader around the Rother Valley Country Park. The race which is well organized by the Killamarsh Kestrels Running Club continues to grow in popularity and is very cheap to enter. Graham Potter (2.05.35, 44th out of 109) finished 10 minutes faster than last year and really enjoyed the free home-made cakes at the end.
Paul Harrap finished 12th out of 91 in a time of 43 Mins dead.
Andy Preston competed in yet another 10k, his time of 42.56 gave him 64 th place out of 221.
82 runners completed the Ropsley 6 mile road race on Wednesday 4th June. Striders were represented by Andy Preston (17th 41.56), Alan Buckberry (27th 44.10) and Karl Aubrey (32nd 44.41).
Paul Harrap f inished 8th out of 15 in 20 Mins 15 Sec.
Woodhall Spa held its annual 10km race from Jubilee Park, with a fabulous amount of entrants. 1082 entered the event with 937 finishing the race , and over 200 for the fun run. The day started of with heavy rain, but stopped before the race began, leaving pleasurable conditions for runners of all standards to enjoy the day, with rain starting again after the race, in the afternoon. This was the first year Chip timing was used at Woodhall, giving an extra bonus to the race, so actual timings could be recorded accurately with large number of entrants.
Striders were well represented in numbers in both juniors and seniors taking part. 17 seniors ran the 10km race with some people coming out with P.B’s.
The following shows how well the club is doing, and how strong our runners are coming on in their own performances:
All times and positions done by Chip.
1st Strider home was Jane James, who found conditions to be tough towards the end of the race, but still came home in 129 th in 42minutes 11seconds
2nd Strider home was Andy Preston , enjoying the course, found the conditions good enough to get a good run on Sunday 145 th in 42minutes 44seconds (P.B)
3rd Strider home was Terry Grant who said he was happy to get a 10km under his belt, and he did well on the day finishing 153 rd in 42minutes 55seconds.
The rest of the striders came in as follows:
Alan Buckberry 183 rd 43minutes 50seconds
Vince McNiffe 208 th 44minutes 32seconds
Karl Aubrey 214 th 44minutes 24seconds
Paul Hardy 225 th 44minutes 56seconds
Sarah Miller 368 th 47minutes 32seconds
Emma Gray 450 th 49minutes 48seconds
Kevin Bailey 574 th 53minutes 28seconds
Anna Thompson 591 st 53minutes 20seconds
Cathy Davies 642 nd 54minutes 52seconds
Lyndsay Nemeiksas 721 st 57minutes 29seconds
Lorraine Vince 877 th 1hour 06minutes 45seconds (P.B)
Karren Robertson 880 th 1hour 06minutes 51seconds
Pete Haywood 895 th 1hour 08minutes 25seconds
Melanie Jackson 897 th 1hour 08minutes 56seconds
Congratulations to everybody who ran, and hope you all had a good day.
Maureen Runacres completed her first marathon in 4 hours 39 minutes.
Report to follow...
Graham Potter took part in an 8K race in Vancouver, Canada. The course runs through the undulating, historic, residential streets of Shaughnessy and Kerrisdale.
A time of 36.42 gave him 78 th place out of 317. It also ensured a personal best as this was the first time over this distance!
Paul Harrap finished the race in 42 Mins 43 setting a new PB finishing 10th out of 87.
This was the second running of the Sleaford 10k. The event was organized by Sleaford Striders to raise funds for the 3rd Sleaford Scout Group.
Of the 141 finishers, 35 up on 2007, 21 were from the Striders Club. The weather was a lot cooler than last year giving some excellent times. The one lap route started and finished in Scredington and went through the rural almost car-free countryside to Burton Pedwardine.
All runners received a medal, free hot drink with many taking advantage of a massage.
The race was won by Mark Greenwood from the Army Athletic Association in 33 minutes 04 seconds. The first Lady was Debra Mason from Rotherham Harriers (35.45). John Siddens was third overall and Jane James was third lady. Alan Buckberry won the M55 category, Jane James along with Sarah Miller and Anna Thompson took the ladies team prize.
Striders finishers: John Siddens (3rd 34.23), Nick Reet (11th 38.06 PB), Alexander Telfer (25th 41.07), Jane James (29th 34.23), Graham Potter (37th 42.56 PB), Andy Preston (39th 43.06), Alan Buckberry (44th 44.33), Paul Hardy (56th 45.39), Ted Preston (59th 45.52), Mark Cozens (71st 48.01), Sarah Miller (76th 48.36), John Hird (88th 50.51), Anna Thompson (104th 54.05), Leanne Ward (107th 54.19 PB), Maureen Runacres (110th 54.54), Lyndsay Nimeiksas (121st 57.53), Michelle Hird (131st 62.46), Paul Shaw (134th 64.25), Karen Robertson (138th 69.09), Lorraine Vince( 139th 69.18), Pete Hayward (140th 71.12).
On a very warm day that saw temperatures reaching the mid 20c before the race started.
Annie Giles tackled her first 10km race and it proved to be a baptism of fire quite literally. Her steady start paid just rewards for a sprint finish to end in 416th place recording 63.15mins. Stan Thornton found his legs were still suffering from the London Marathon and finished just behind Annie in 429th place for a 64.24mins time. The first Strider across the line was Peter Nadin in 360th place in a time of 57.03mins. All agreed that the weather played a major factor in the times and others runners felt that most lost 5-6 mins on their expected times.
A well organized and marshaled event that attracted 485 finishers in the 10k with over 100 in the 3k Fun Run.
Paul Harrap ran in the Silverstone Circuit 10KM on this Tuesday. He finished the race in 43 Mins 59 secs having being placed 277th out of 983.
A quartet of Striders took the short trip just south of Bourne to run the Langtoft 10k. The course is very flat making it conducive for fast times. The route is basically an out-and-back affair through the villages of Greatford and Barholm. Numbers were up on last year with 218 competitors taking part. The interesting feature to this race is the medal awarded is dependant upon finish time.
Nick Reet (25th 39.00 PB) won a gold medal and will get faster as the season progresses. Graham Potter (65th 43:38 PB) with a silver medal set another best after running the Shakespeare Marathon only 7 days before. Paul Hardy (80th 45.44) just into the bronze medal territory was pleased with his effort taking 3 minutes off his time set at Lincoln in April. Vince Mc Niffe (86th 46.15) was disappointed with his performance and put this down to the muggy conditions.
The race was well organized by a group of volunteers, and all proceeds are donated to community projects within Langtoft Village.
Keely McNiffe finished a very commendable 73rd out of 170 min the 3k fun run.
The Shakespeare Marathon is held on the Sunday closest to Shakespeare's birthday (April 23) .
It is a fairly flat and fast course with only 2 hills of any note . 2 slightly differing laps. The only parts of the course that are challenging are a 3 mile stretch of lap 1 and a 5 mile stretch of lap 2 that are on the Greenway (a compacted grit path) - but even this (at least in the dry) was nothing too out of the ordinary. 749 competitors completed the full marathon with 1,845 in the half. Well supported, and very comprehensively marshalled (water stations every 2 miles). Chip-timed. A good alternative to a Spring big city marathon. The weather forecasters got it completely wrong as all runners prepared for a rain downfall but were subjected to brilliant sunshine after 2 hours of the race start.
Leanne Ward (631st 4.42.40) recorded an excellent time for her first full marathon . Graham Potter (188th 3.38.31 PB) knocked 6 minutes off his fastest set in 2002. Ted Preston (250th 3.46.52) won the personal challenge with Ian Hanks (285th 3.52.09 PB).
Alan Buckberry (313rd 1.43.08) was the first Strider to finish the half marathon closely followed by Andy Preston (326th 1.43.32 PB) shaving a few seconds from his Grantham time posted in March. Clive Holden (1,099th 2.03.34) used this race as a kick start to his year.
Described by previous participants as having great PB potential. The start and finish was in the magnificent Don Valley Stadium, with the race once again following the runner and spectator friendly route through the city centre.
Vince Mc Niffe (1.45.40) competed along with Jon Hird (1.46.22 PB) beating his Grantham time by 4 minutes.
A lovely sunny day greeted a trio of Striders at Bourne Wood 5 mile run. The first strider in was Karl Aubrey with the time of 36.55, the second Strider home was Paul Hardy with a time of 37.40. And it was a good run by Anna Thompson who came in Second in the womens race with a time of 43.00 and picked up the trophy for the second fastest female.
Jane James was guaranteed a place on her Good for age time at Mablethorpe marathon and knocked 5 minutes off coming in at 3:20:45 and placed 20th in her age group. Garry Wilson and Sarah Miller both in their first marathon ran together and helping each other through the tough times coming in at a time of 4:04:36 Garry found it more difficult than expected due starting off close to the back and spending the majority of the race passing slower runners/walkers. Emma Marshal came in at 4:13:03 knocking over 20 minutes off last year’s time and felt fine at the end. Annie Giles, another first timer who only received a charity place late so had to condense her marathon training by half came in a very good time of 4:57:11 and thanks all the Striders for their help and support over the last few months, She says it was a very well organised supportive run and pleased she ran it, Stanley Thornton the most experienced of the 6 competing in his 9 th London Marathon came in 5:19:46.
A Lovely sunny day greeted 21 Striders at the City of Lincoln Jackson Bulding Centres 10k Roadrace The first Strider in was John Siddens in a time 35.02 making him 3rd male over 40, followed by Nick Reet in 40.14, Next was Jane James in 41.45 using this as time on her legs before London Marathon in 2 weeks, but still managed to be First female 45. Paul Hardy 48:20, Jon Hird came in 47.29 pleased with his time even though he had to slow down at 9k due to a muscle injury. Mark Cozens 48.10 Anna McKenzie 51.50. Joan 51.55. Anna Thompson 52.21, Clive Holden 54.41 was pleased with his negative split race as being out of racing for a while due to concentrating on coaching. Cathy Davies 55.21, Kevin Bailey 55.12. Linda Melloy 59.30(PB) Stan Thornton 1:00:02, Dennis Tindall 1:01:06, Paul Shaw 1:03:22 pleased with his time after coming back from a recent illness, Leanne Ward ran despite having a bad cold, to help along one of the 3 runners coached by Clive Holden and Leanne on the Monday nights beginners group at St Georges doing their first 10k race, Leanne and Michelle came in together in 1:05:26 followed by the 2 others on their first race Karen Robertson 1:10:28 closely followed by her running partner for the day Lorraine Vince 1:10:33,All 3 were pleased to finish their first 10k that this time last year could only ever dream about saying it is thanks to the Monday night group they were able to complete the 10k. Finally Pete Hayward crossed in 1:17:03 continuing to improve.
On the same day not far from Lincoln a quartet of Striders took part in the Friskney Half Maratahon.Ted Preston took third place in the V50 cat with a time of 1 hour 40 minutes 20 seconds. The other runners were Alan Buckberry (1.43.30) Emma Marshall (1.49.40) and Pete Nadin (2.06.30).
Fourteen Striders took the short trip to Grantham on Sunday for the third running of the Newton’s Fraction Half Marathon. A minutes silence for club President, Chairman and co-founder of Grantham AC, Mike Bundy marked the start of this race. This is a scenic course offering views of Harlaxton Manor and Belvoir Castle which incorporates a 2 mile stretch of the Grantham Canal Path and a lap of the track at the Grantham Stadium. The terrain was mainly flat with 2 inclines at the 6 and 10 mile points. The weather was warm and very sunny with a slight breeze making ideal running conditions and was very well organized by Grantham AC. Jane James was the first Strider to cross the line in 1 hour 33 minutes claiming the third lady overall prize. Nick Reet (1.35.08 PB) in his first half marathon for years found going down the hills difficult was pleased to be in under 1.40. Ian Hanks (1.36.00 PB) was 4 minutes faster than last year and set a 50 seconds PB. Graham Potter (1.36.30 PB) set a 5 minute PB and clocked fastest times for 5 miles and 10 miles in the process. Vince Mc Niffe (1.40.29) had a steady but enjoyable race. Ted Preston (1.41.45) was pleased with his time and was his best performance at this distance for 3 years. Andy Preston (1.43.51 PB). Emma Marshall-Telfer (1.44.51) was pleased with this time after suffering a trapped sciatic nerve recently, she is still on course to get a ‘good for age’ time at London next month. Garry Wilson (1.46.15 PB) smashed his PB by 37 minutes and should be good for 4 hours in London. John Hird (1.50.10 PB) like most of the others also found the hills hard going. Anna Thompson (2.00.00) was just a bit slower than at Sleaford a couple of weeks ago. Leanne Ward (2.02.15 PB) beat her previous best by 18 minutes and shouldn’t take her too long to break the 2 hour barrier. Maureen Runacres (2.04.30) was breathless at the end but enjoyed the whole experience on reflection. Linda Melloy (2.21.00) crossed the line in arms with 2 fellow competitors to great cheers and applause from the rest of the Striders.
Clive Holden helped with marshalling near the end of the race.
A quartet of Sleaford Striders took the short journey to the village of Harby in Leicestershire for the 15 mile Belvoir Challenge. The annual Belvoir Challenge was set up in 1990 to raise money for Harby Primary School. The event is organized by the 'Friends of Harby School' and the Vale Striders running club. Around 1,000 competitors took part. There is also the option of a 26 mile route and is also open to walkers. The route follows footpaths, byways, tracks, and minor roads, with the kind permission of the Duke of Rutland, go through the Belvoir Estate. There are checkpoints roughly every 5 miles providing free drinks and snacks. (The Belvoir Challenge is well known for the homemade cakes provided, and is one of the few events where you can actually put on weight!).Jane James took it easy and still managed to finish in 10th place in the ladies’ race with a time of 2 hours 27 minutes. Samantha Lester (41st 2.53) completed the race an hour quicker than last year and particularly enjoyed the pizza at the first checkpoint. Ian Hanks (44th in the men’s event 2.22) thoroughly enjoyed the race and will be back next year. Graham Potter (149th 2.53) noted that the slight route change from last year was for the better.
This was the fifth running of the Sleaford Half Marathon from RAF Cranwell.
304 runners from all over the country completed the course which still makes this the largest event of its’ kind in the county. Months of hard work and planning by the members of Sleaford Striders made sure the race went ahead smoothly. Race Director, Clive Holden would like to thank all of the volunteers for their efforts.The winner of the race was Leigh Stubbs from Redhill Road Runners in 1 hour 12 minutes 28 seconds, some 3 minutes off the course record set last year. The ladies winner Carolyn Hay (1.25.48) was also from Redhill Road Runners. The men’s team prize went to Redhill Road Runners and the ladies’ team prize to Notts AC. 4 runners from Sleaford Striders took part with results as follows: John Siddens (6 th 1.19.32), Paul Hardy (182 nd 1.51.17), Anna Thompson (227 th 1.58.33), Stanley Thornton (245 th 2.05.10), Pete Hayward (301 st 2.52.46).
Sunday 10th February dawned cold, crisp and sunny. Ideal conditions for the 30k Stamford St Valentines race which attracted 608 finishers. The course is described as challenging and preparation for the flora London Marathon. By challenging they mean hilly, very hilly!!! The course started and ended through a local housing estate, but the main bulk of the course is on quiet country lanes, all varying in gradients! The course was well marshalled and if you had enough energy was exceptionally picturesque. Jane James was first to finish in 162 nd place overall in 2 hours 19 minutes 16 seconds, followed by Ian Hanks (235 th 2.25.25), next was Ted Preston (329 th 2.36.40) then Emma Marshall-Telfer (360 th 2.39.48) and finally Andy Preston (417th 2.45.07). The long sleeve t-shirt received by the entrants was nice and the bananas which you could help yourself to at the end was agreat idea! This was a great race for a warm up for a spring marathon.
This was the second running the Ropsley Raid in the shortened 13 mile format. The event was well organised as usual by the Ropsley Road Runners. This is mainly off-road along footpaths, tracks, bridleways and muddy farmer’s fields giving the feeling of running through porridge with moon boots on. The weather was chilly with brilliant sunshine for the duration. Some of the water stations had chocolate bars and cakes to provide energy boosts. Only 3 Striders competed here amongst the 100 strong turnout due to the clash with the Lincs Cross Country championships taking pace on the same day. Paul Hardy used the run as a tester for his on-going Achilles heel problems. Samantha Lester in her first attempt here produced a fine performance in 2 hours 28 minutes with little training. Her enjoyment was tempered with aching legs at the end. Graham Potter also 2.28 had a steady run at one of his favourite races. Afterwards, all runners were treated to a cup of well earned soup and a cheese roll with a drinks mug to mark the occasion.