Striders brothers pick up top six places in Lincoln

The final race weekend before Christmas was remarkably devoid of Gainsborough and Morton Striders action, despite almost perfect racing conditions – although the lack of available races was certainly a factor.

David Sweeting took his talented sons, Rhys and Thomas, to Lincoln to participate in the cross country races on the city’s south common.

These races, hosted by Lincoln and District Runners are certainly not for the faint hearted as they require the athletes to run up and down the steep and hilly common.

Rhys and Thomas were in the Under 11 race which was run over a mile and they both put in excellent performances in a high quality field.

Thomas came home with the trophy for third place; although it would have been second but for a slip in the closing straight which dropped him down one place.

Rhys wasn’t that far behind his brother as he claimed sixth place.

Saturday morning’s parkrun, behind Gainsborough Leisure Centre, was a productive morning for Gary Atkinson.

His run time of 22:24 was not a personal best, but it was certainly quick enough to give him the distinction of being the first Strider to finish, in fourth place overall.

Craig Ward was another top 10 finisher, in 24:14, with David Sweeting (29:06) and Jonathan Chapman (29:29) breaking the half hour mark.

Kirsty Smithson was the first lady Strider to finish, after running for 30:35, with Dyllan Marsh taking the plaudits for the first junior to finish with his time of 35:18.

The other runners were Karen Ramsdale (36:55), Maureen Allen (38:24) and David Allen (40:45).

There were a couple of parkrun tourists at the weekend. Jordan Skelly was second finisher at Scunthorpe with a superb time of 17:13 whilst Darren Cobb, a regular at Hull parkrun, recorded 26:57 on his latest run there.

The club train sessions have now finished for the year and will resume in early January.

The next racing action will take place on December 27th when the club holds its annual 10k handicap race.