Stratford AC start 2022 with a bang
STRATFORD AC have certainly started 2022 with a bang as athletes savoured plenty of success over distances from 60 metres to 44 miles.
On Sunday, four of the club’s masters athletes travelled to Sportcity to compete in the Manchester Indoor Open Meeting.
International athlete Paula Williams finished third in her 60m hurdles heat in 10.20s. She followed this up with another third-placed finish in the 60m flat race in 8.83s.
Also competing in the 60m flat was Simon Curran, who ran a PB of 8.72s in the senior men’s race. Competing in the same heat was Dave Wilson, who false-started and was disqualified.
He was given a second chance, though, and managed to beat his previous M50 club record time in 8.36s.
Elaine Ledden is always a force to be reckoned with in the sprints and she continued this trend with a new W60 club record of 9.87s.
Wilson finished off the day in the senior men’s 200m, clocking 27.37s.
At the Windsor Winter Lake Run, Ben Kruze started 2022 as he finished 2021 by setting a new record, taking eight seconds off his own club 10k time to run a new best of 31:44 and win the race with ease. He was joined on the podium by clubmate Matt Burdus-Cook who finished second in 34:04.
Closer to home, athletes were out in force at the Fladbury 5. Alex Adams, 16, was first home with over a two-minute margin in 31:07. Next to finish in ninth was Neil Wicks in 37:05. First female home for Stratford was Hannah Osborne in 41:32.
Ellie Deaner was next to finish, running 45:47 and finishing first in her age group. Just behind was Cara Reynolds who ran a solid 45:56 alongside Karl Harris (45:58). Lisa Dallisson (46:43) looked comfortable in the race and she finished just ahead of Sarah Odell (47:05).
Also finishing was Susan Hunt (49:37), Emily Adams (51:14) and Kate Sergent (59:51 – second in age group) who managed to sneak under the hour.
Elsewhere, Tara Lambert was one of about 300 other athletes that competed in the 43.8-mile Country to Capital Race from Wendover to London Paddington. In the deteriorating weather conditions, Lambert was happy to finish in 8:36, well ahead of her nine-hour target time.
