CLC Striders race report from Sunday 23 March 2025
Berkeley Fission 20 and Half Marathon and Forest of Dean Trail Half Marathon
Fourteen CLC Striders made the trip to Berkeley, nine to contest the 20-mile road race and a mere half marathon for the remaining four. It was a cloudy but mild day with an energy-sapping breeze at various parts of the course.
Running in the half marathon, the conditions suited Rob Barnett, who came home first Strider and fourth overall in an excellent sub 75-minute PB time of 1:14:22. James Endicott set a new club VM45 record in a time of 1:22:45, Adam Greenwood registered 1:29:28 and Sarah Bergdahl was twelfth woman and fiftieth overall in a time of 1:43:39.
In the 20-miler, Joe Willgoss finished just six seconds outside the two-hour mark in ninth place overall, followed by Alex Johnston in a time of 2:01:47. Tom Burgess and Adrian Montagu ran together, Tom finishing in 2:10:35 and Adrian just one second later in 2:10:36. The Striders men also bagged first place in the team competition on the day, thanks to this crop of fab finishers.
Will Pearce and Paul Northup, both in training for the London marathon, finished in 2:15:23 and 2:19:23 respectively, Paul knocking nineteen minutes off the club MV55 record. Splitting Pearce and Northup was Richard Aarons who ran a gritty 2:17:50.
The two remaining club finishers over the 20-mile distance were Gavin Woods in 2:31:32 and Josh Hadland 2:37:07. Rhianna Evans put in a really good shift of 15.5 well-paced miles before severe hip pain forced her to pull up (a sensible move, given she is deep into prep for both the Paris and London marathons).
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the County over in the Forest of Dean, Helen Knight and Fiona Brady-Miller competed in an England Masters trail running qualifying race. The competition was hot and, over an undulating course, Helen finished in 1:35:14, as twenty-fifth female and earning a coveted top fifty finisher t-shirt, while Fiona came home in 1:42:59, just outside the top fifty.
