Last news of the year! 28/12/2014

Despite the festivities members of Sandbach Striders running club enjoyed a wide range of running activities over the Christmas period. On Christmas Day there was a special 5k parkrun at Astbury Mere.  

Sandbach Striders at Christmas Congleton parkrun

62 runners put down their presents to brave the thunder and hailstorm on the three laps of the mere, four Striders recorded a time. Their results were as follows:

24:36 Michael Escolme
24:43 Craig Edwards
28:51 Elaine Wood
28:52 Matt Wood

On Boxing Day the club organised its annual Boxing Day Bacon Butty Onesie Run. This run is designed as a way for club members to run off some of the excesses of the previous day. A gentle 5k run through Sandbach town centre is followed by a big club breakfast back at the clubhouse, all designed to aid post-run recovery.

The Striders' Boxing Day Onesie Run

On Saturday the 27th Martin Coleman once more ran the annual 4.5 mile Bollington Christmas Fun Run around the attractive woods and countryside of Bollington. Ran in aid of the Catholic aid agency for England and Wales, CAFOD. Martin finished in 5th place in a time of ???

Martin Coleman at the CAFOD Bollington fun run

Also in action on Saturday was Giles Hodges who participated in the Sunrise to Sunset challenge. Taking place on 0.84 mile laps of Lightwood, Shropshire runners have from the moment of sunrise to sunset to complete as many laps as possible. Giles completed the full marathon distance in 4:17 before calling it a day.

Giles Hodges at Sunrise to Sunset

Striders also competed in four different parkrun events stretching almost the length and breadth of the country. Alice Bober participated in the Workington parkrun, a long out and back route along mixed terrain starting and finishing at Workington Leisure Centre. Alice finished in 25:58.

On the opposite side of the country Fran Gilchrist was running the Whitby Bay parkrun. This two lap course follows the tarmac and gravel coastal paths along Whitley Bay Links Common. Fran finished in 22:43.

Down in Essex, Chris Holden was at the Colchester Castle parkrun. Ran entirely on tarmac paths the route follows the River Colne in the grounds of Colchester Castle. Chris finished the 5k route in 27:13.

Closer to home 11 Striders ran the Congleton parkrun. It was a good day for sons of Striders with Tom Taylor and Nathan Lee both recording new personal best times.

The full results were as follows:

20:30 Heather Carter
22:16 Chris Pugh
25:59 Denis Culloty
26:00 Terry Coppenhall
28:15 Thomas Taylor
28:16 Tony Taylor
30:19 Isobel Bennett
30:44 Karen Lovatt
30:56 Eve Roberts
30:57 Michael Escolme
33:54 Nathan Lee

Karen Lovatt, Denis Culloty, Les and Isobel Bennett, Terry Coppenhall, Michael Escolme and Mary Chadwick at Congleton parkrun

The Adlington Winter Warmer also took place on Sunday. This 10k run takes its inspiration from the Striders own ‘predictathon’ whereby runners leave their watches and phones behind and the winners are those who finish closest to their predicted time. The 10k trail run takes in the Macclesfield Canal & Middlewood Way, along with small sections on the lanes around Adlington & Higher Poynton.

The full results were as follows:

Tony Taylor finished in 42:31 just 61 seconds off his predicted time. Next was Paul Nicholls in 56:33, 3 minutes 14 seconds off his predicted time. Denis Culloty was the next finisher in 59:40 , some 3 minutes 40 seconds off his predicted time. Lindsay Beech finished in 63:19, just 2 minutes 41 seconds off her predicted time.

Lindsay Beech, Jaz Beech, Tony Taylor, Paul Nichols and Denis Culloty at the Adlington Winter Warmer

The club run on Wednesday 31st December is cancelled, but there are parkruns on New Years Day at Congleton at 9am and at Hanley at 10am. 

Happy New Year everyone - see you soon!