This Week's News: 29/03/2015

Of the 173 finishers at the free weekly parkrun at Congleton, 16 were members of Sandbach Striders Running Club. This included two more members of the couch-to-5k group, Barbara Evans and Claire Dalton, who started only eight weeks ago but have already achieved their target of running a full 5k without stopping. Two Striders earned themselves new personal best times, Amy Norman and John Wright who ran his second parkrun.

Sandbach Striders at Congleton parkrun

The full results were as follows:

20:21 Nick Hogan
20:22 Darren Varley
20:24 John Wright
22:24 Lindsay Beeston
23:53 Terry Coppenhall
23:53 Michael Escolme
24:20 Rachel Green
25:18 Philip Truman
25:57 Thomas Taylor
25:58 Tony Taylor
26:10 Denis Culloty
27:08 Amy Norman
32:07 Tracey Hale
33:40 Barbara Evans
33:45 Claire Dalton
44:00 Karen Wright

Also in parkrun action was Francis Gilchrist who ran the Whitley Bay parkrun, a two lap route which hugs the coast of the North Sea.

Jill Young, Christiane Bunte and Cheryl Hutchins completed the 20 mile route of The Three Shires, an annual off-road event organised b the Long Distance Walkers Association, but which is open to runners and walkers alike. Starting at Swythamley Village Hall, the route takes in te scenic splendour of three counties and includes such challenging scenery as Gun Hill, The Roaches, Gradbach, Three Shires Head, Wildboarclough and Shutlingsloe. Meanwhile Craig Edwards completed the 29 mile version of the route, thus completing his first ultra-distance event.

Jak Foster and Craig Edwards at the Three Shires

Wendy Barnes, Terry Coppenhall and Clare Pheasey opted to travel north to the Lake District to compete in the Coniston 14. This popular 14 mile road race starts at The john Ruskin School and circles Coniston Water, the third largest lake in England.

Wendy Barnes at the Coniston 14

The full results were as follows:

2:04:18 Clare Pheasey
2:04:19  Terry Coppenhall
2:23:19 Wendy Barnes

Terry Coppenhall and Clare Pheasey at the Coniston 14

Read a race report from Wendy here.

Karen Lovatt was one of 5000 runners participating in the Liverpool Half-marathon. Starting and finishing at the Pier Head, this 13.1 route takes in many of the sights of the City of Liverpool.

More locally, two Striders ran the Newcastle-under-Lyme 10k. Organised by Newcastle and Staffs Athletics Club this is a one lap 10K road race on town and country roads, incorporating a tough 2km climb. 

Denis Culloty and Tony Taylor at the Newcastle 10k

Tony Taylor finished in 40:11, finishing in 37th place overall, whilst Denis Culloty came in narrowly behind in 54:29. You can read Tony's race report here.