Midsummer Open - 1 July 2015

On an evening where the temperature soared above 30 degrees, a team of 15 CLC Striders represented their club at the first of the Midsummer Open track meetings hosted by Cheltenham Harriers at the Prince of Wales Stadium.

First to tackle the challenging conditions, Sam Baylis made his CLC Striders club debut in what was a strong and fast field in the first of two 3000 metre heats. Finishing in a time of 10:26.50 Baylis showed great promise for the season ahead and made it clear that he will be a great addition to the club. In the second 3000m heat, Jon Howes continued his fantastic recent form to claim the win in a time of 10:35.65. Hot on his heels was Richard Shardlow who set a new Veteran 45 club record in 10:49.36, Rustam Hemsley ran a well paced race to finish in 11:17.54. The CLC Striders contingent in the 3000m was completed by Joel Freeland (11:26.45), Paul Northup (11:29.36), Laura Gush (11:33.44), Bradley Coates (12:17.78), Martin Bick (12:41.04), Daniel Farrelly (12:43.07), Emma Abbey (13:43.30) and Helen Howes (14:17.09).

In the 800 metres, a trio of Striders were drawn in the same heat. Paul Lockyer ran superbly to win the heat in 2:25.71, Katie Lyons made her club debut to finish in an excellent 2:40.34, closely followed by distance running enthusiast Laura Gush in 2:46.79

It was a family affair in the 100m as husband and wife duo Jon and Helen Howes donned their spikes for the short distance sprint. Jon narrowly missed out on winning his second race of the evening but finished second in a new Veteran 40 club record time of 13.17. Having made her track racing debut earlier in the 3000m, Helen capped off the evening by setting a Vet 35 club record in 17:36.

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