Linda Franks 5-mile road race – Sunday 22 January 2023
On the coldest morning of the year so far, a large turnout saw 18 members of CLC Striders take to the streets around The Reddings and Up Hatherley to race in the Linda Franks 5-mile road race, hosted by local running club Almost Athletes on Sunday 22 January.
Although the pavements were icy in places, and with -3 degrees Celsius registering on the starting line at 9am, CLC Striders athletes were ready to run their best. As it turns out, the club far exceeded any expectations it had – with great performances across the board, including multiple PBs and a club record or two.
First home for the club was Joe Willgoss in 4th place overall in a super-fast PB time of 26:52 in his first road race in a Striders vest. Joe was closely followed in 5th by Alex Johnston in a PB time of 27:31 and Rob Barnett in 6th in a PB time 27:33. With three in the top 10, CLC Striders narrowly missed out on the team prize (by just two points) to Western Tempo – an amazing achievement. The ever-improving Nick Ledwold finished in 16th with a solid sub-30 PB time of 29:19 and he was followed by Sheng Peng in 24th in a PB time of 30:16 and Adam Greenwood in 25th with a PB of 30:18.
The first lady home for the club was Kate Telford in 30th overall, as 4th lady in a PB time of 30:42 and 2nd in her LV35 category, closely followed by Helen Knight in 34th over, as 6th lady and 1st in her LV40 category in a PB time of 30:58, breaking the Striders LV40 club record in the process.
Joel Freeland hung up his coaching whistle and camera to clock a PB time of 32:06, while Jon Howes, returning from injury, registered 32:47. In a new course PB, Matt Ashman was next in 33:17. Tim Brock, also returning from injury, ran 35:04, closely followed by Nigel Bailey in 35:12. Club coach Amelia Mullins was next in 37:33, breaking the LV50 club record and Edward Collier in 37:46 broke the MV65 club record. Three more Striders completed the race: Mike Speke in 38:18, Helen Howes in 38:33 and Rebecca Reynolds in 41:44.
Full results of the race are available on the [Race Roster website]https://results.raceroster.com/v2/en-US/results/7pg7j9jvxd5q53xv/results?subEvent= “Race Roster website”)
After their success across the country this winter season, it was great to get the chance to show what the club can do on the roads in their home town. And they did not disappoint. Roadworks permitting, the club looks forward to hosting its own Staverton 10-mile road race on Sunday 29 January, where a handful of its runners will compete while the rest of the club will marshal and support.
