Wet, wild weekend of PBs

Club members defied wet, windy conditions on Sunday to notch up an impressive array of personal bests and strong performances across a number of races. The largest contingent of Stragglers was racing in Chessington at the Valentines 10k where 50 members completed the race, winning Stragglers the mob trophy.

Lisa Bailey was our fastest finisher with a time of 35:22, earning her the first woman title and 23rd place overall. Pavel Przepiorski was our first man to finish in 30th and a time of 36:15, closely followed by Pete Gregorowski who finished 32nd in 36:35.

Pavel's time was a new PB, down from 37:14, as was Nic Douglas' time of 37:10 which earnt her second place among the women. Alex Willson, Maddie Garner, Adam Davies, Tony Finn, Glady Gartland, Mark Pichler, Becca Gravell and Tara Holt all produded PBs. And Lisa, Nic and Merilyn Davis all won their age categories.

There was a wave of yellow shirts also racing at the Hampton Court Half marathon where Sarah Holt produced a new PB of 76:24 to take the women's title and finish 15th overall. Oli Bowers was the first Straggler to finish, just ahead of Sarah, in 12th. HIs time of 75:23 was also a PB, as was Roy Kemp's time of 94:27.

Lynda Chase travelled into town for her race on Sunday, completing the London Winter 10k in the pouring rain and finishing in 60:01. While Chris Coates and Aaron Israel travelled the furthest, both competing in Spain, and becoming the first Stragglers to complete a Spring marathon in Seville. Chris finished in 2:44:30 while Aaron's time of 3:26:11 was his second fastest time in the marathon.