FIFTEEN representatives from Spa Striders headed for the Estonian capital last weekend to compete in the Tallinn Half Marathon.
Chris McKeown (1:15:58) was the front runner for the club once again, followed by teammates Adam Notley (1:29:24) – who was returning from injury – Billy Morton (1:39:46), Tom Gotts (1:46:48), Bethan Gwynn (1:49:08) and Jude Baum (1:49:57).
Also finishing were Abi Morton (1:52:39 PB), Jane Cummings (1:53:09 PB), Sandra Stokes (1:54:52), Emma Bish (1:59:43), James Robbins (1:59:43), James Civil (1:59:47), Doug Rattray (2:07:03), Gary Perkins (2:19:08) and Kathryn Rattray (2:27:16).
Representation at the Stratford Big 10k was also strong, with Chris Liddle (34:46) the first home from the club in 18th, Luke Bennett (39:27) in 72nd, Joe McCullagh (40:03) finishing in 89th and David Chantrey (40:40) coming home in 100th.
Steve French (40:41), Claire Davidson (41:17), Jason Hemming (42:10 PB) Eugene McNally (49:58), Amy Butler (57:45), Ellen Powell (59:42, PB) and Natalie Dellar (1:05:13) then completed the line up for the club.
Neil Smith ran an excellent 20-mile race at Draycote Water, winning the contest with a finish of 1:58:35, five minutes faster than the race runner up.
He was followed home by Helen Pugh (3:23:21), while Mike Pugh (1:08:42) finished tenth in the ten-mile equivalent, while Clare Hinton (1:14:10) raced home as the second-fastest lady.
At the Battle of the Borders Half Marathon, taking place on the English and Welsh border, Anne Hurrell was successful in navigating a 2,500m incline to finish third overall and as the second-fastest female runner in 2:13:48.
The quartet of Claire Westrope (2:04:09), Richard Lowery (2:05:52), Louise Parry (2:10:35) and Tess Robinson (2:17:45) took on the Great North Run on Sunday, while Ben Cohen clocked a new personal best time of 43:29 at the Silverstone 10k.
Club chairman Nigel Fox completed the London Duathlon in a 2:47:01 time, while Fiona Ferguson (1:15:56) and Louise Dwyer (1:22:16) finished third and fourth in their respective age category at the Daventry Triathlon.
Elsewhere, Gethyn Friswell completed the Woburn Abbey Triathlon in 2:30:24, proving his fastest-ever Olympic distance triathlon finish.
