IAN Allen made history after becoming the first Spa Striders member to claim an outright win at a cross country league event last weekend.
The men’s A and B teams finished joint fourth in the second event of the season in Division Two of the Birmingham & District Invitation XC League, with Allen blazing a trail with his finish of 36 minutes and 27 seconds at Clopton Park in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Also impressing at the event was Chris McKeown, a 13th-place finisher in 38 minutes, while Neil Smith (20th, 39:06), Steven Taylor (32nd, 39:46), Chris Liddle (48th, 41:14), Adam Notley (63rd, 42:36), Tim Beresford (66th, 42:38) and Simon Ludford (77th, 43:14) placed in the top 100.
In Division One of the Midland Womens XC League, the Striders’ women’s team ranked eighth overall and third in the masters category.
Claire Davidson was first across the line from the club in 29 minutes and 31 seconds in 32nd place, followed by Mairi Walker 37 seconds after in 38th.
Fiona Ferguson (50th, 30:37), Laura Peake (51st, 30:42) and Melissa Venables (52nd, 30:43) were separated by only a matter of seconds, while Susie Stannard (76th, 32:12), Alice Bourne (77th, 32:16), Bethan Gwynn (92nd, 33:24) and Kate Gadsby (100th, 34:10) rounded off the top 100.
At the Milton Keynes Half Marathon, Jason Hemming went agonisingly close to breaking his personal best after finishing in 1:37:58.
He was promptly followed by club teammates Vicky Howat (1:59:47) and Georgie Acton (2:12:28).
