SPA Striders athletes were out in force last week which also saw the return of the Warwickshire Road Race League.
Chris McKeown took on the Summerfield Smash – a 5k event in Birmingham which attracts a lot of runners aiming for a PB.
However, McKeown was unable to take advantage of the cooler temperatures and fast field as he finished in 26th place in 16 minutes and 58 seconds.
Fellow Strider James Bryant took on the 10-mile Inferno – Edale’s Ring of Hell – set in the heart of the Peak District.
An aptly named race given the recent heatwave – Bryant finished in 2 hours 27 mins to place 13th overall.
And James also completed the 10k race option, which in reality was closer to 12k, with Sue Bryant the following day.
Sue produced a superb run to finish as third lady and sixth overall in 2 hrs 37 mins 39 secs to beat James by just a second.
The Warwickshire Road Race League (WWRL) returned last weekend with the Stratford Summer 6 event.
And McKeown led Striders home to claim his first ever WWRL podium finish in 33 mins 32 secs with Mike Pugh second Strider across the line in 37 mins 09 secs.
Club member Chris Wilson shrugged off any jet lag from his trip to Thailand to finish in a personal best time of 37 mins 20 secs.
John-Paul Hunt (38:25), Trevor Wilkinson (39:01), Simon Ludford, (39:18), Nev Chapman (41:58) and Billy Morton (44:02) all posted sub 45-minute times despite the latter setting a parkrun PB earlier in the morning.
Simon Keay (45:22), Paul Harris (48:02), Gary Perkins (57:20) and Ian Davy (1:02:26) completed the Strider men in action.
And Kat Robertson continued her return from injury to lead the women home, finishing as fifth woman overall in a time of 42 mins 32 secs.
Bethan Gwynn was next home in 45 mins 21 secs, closely followed by Naomi Cruden in 45 mins 42 secs whilst Claudine Piper squeezed in one more race as a Strider before she leaves for a few months, finishing in 48 mins 29 secs.
Megan Hearn, running for the first time in a Strider vest, came home in 50 mins 22 secs closely followed by Gabrielle Freeman in 50 mins 36 secs.
Abi Morton (54:38), Kate Evans (55:15) and Gillian Walker (1:02:12) completed the Ladies team.
Elsewhere, Jenny Mills completed the Blithfield Olympic Triathlon in 3 hrs 04 mins despite the swim being around 400m too long and narrowly managed to avoid losing her swim hat.
Lastly, Kevin Baskerville completed the 1000km Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee (GVRAT) for the third successive year.
