RUNNING: MID-WEEK racing was enjoyed by Spa Striders over the past week with Dawn Clark headlining after featuring in two races.
She first competed in the East Midlands Grand Prix at Rugby in a time of 42mins 37secs before following up her performance with an impressive showing at the Slateman Triathlon in Snowdonia on a challenging course.
Triathlon racing was also on the mind of Andrew Bonjour and Amanda Wiggins, who competed in the sprint distance event at the National Watersports Centre in Nottingham.
Bonjour finished four in his age category while Amanda finished 36th overall in the female competition.
Closer to home, Ben Parkinson raced in the Banbury sprint triathlon, Chris McKeown and debutant Claire Westrope completed the Phoenix Triathlon and at Ragley Hall McKeown also raced the previous day – taking first place in the Hook Norton Brewery Firkin 5
Off-road, Kathleen McCann completed the scenic Shropshire-based ‘Shindig in the Shire’ while Lucy Tugwell raced the Hagley multi-terrain 10k.
Chris Jones completed 37miles in the Apocalypse 50 ultra-distance event while Kelsey Wiberley also raced in an ultra-distance event, taking on the 50 mile West Country Ultra where she finished third lady in just under 8 hours.
Striders captain Paul Edwards rounded the weekend off on a high by recording a personal best in the Chester Half Marathon in a time of 1hr 19mins 19secs.
Mel Venables went into this year’s Anglo Celtic Plate 100k road race as defending champion.
The British Championships were based in Hull on a blustery day which Venables battled through, gaining places throughout the race.
Despite an incredibly tough spell from 70k, Mel showed her mental strength and determination to continue and cross the line as 3rd British lady in the 8hrs 25mins 51secs.
