Gainsborough Striders make their mark in popular Owston Ferry race

HALL OF FAME -- club newcomer Kayleigh Hall, who clocked a massive personal-best time for Gainsborough Striders in the Owston Ferry 10k. (PHOTO BY: Martin James).

Because it covers one of the flattest routes in the country, the Owston Ferry event is a popular race with many runners, so the decision to stage it this year, after initially calling it off, was warmly welcomed.

Ten Striders took part and none disappointed, even though strong winds made conditions difficult on an exposed course. Leading the way was Jordan Skelly, who finished fourth in a time of 35.59 minutes, while Will Landsall’s 38.39 earned him 13th position, 16 seconds and one place ahead of James Croft.

Hogging the limelight with them, though, was club newcomer Kayleigh Hall, whose time of 69.31 was a massive three-minute improvement on her previous personal best.

Just five seconds away from breaking the 50-minute barrier was Dale Swinton, while Angela and Shaun Boyle followed him home just 46 seconds later and Dan Gleave finished inside the hour too.

Another husband-and-wife team, Matt and Stacy Lyner, ran the course together and were rewarded with a time of just over 62 minutes, which was a season’s best for Stacy.

Meanwhile, one of Striders’ oldest runners, Norman Hindley, enhanced his reputation as also the most prolific when tackling the Beckingham Bash, a five-mile road race. It was his tenth race of the year, and such experience served him well as he overcame gales to record a personal-best (PB) time of 41.37 minutes.

In contrast, the weather was much kinder for those attending Parkrun events last Saturday morning, and probably contributed to a haul of six best times.

Youngster Chezney Kelsey showed the most improvement, posting 26.39 at Clumber Park, which was no fewer than 11 minutes quicker than his previous run there almost a year ago.

PBs were also clocked at Gainsborough by Daniel Edwards (22.03), to mark his return after a year’s absence, Lee Creed (23.27), for the second week running, Joanne Proctor (24.51), who was also the first lady finisher, and the veteran duo David Allen (38.10) and wife Maureen, whose 37.04 means she is now third in the overall V65 category.

The latest UK national rankings for female runners have been released, and show that Strider Lucy Allan has risen to 74th in the U11 girls’ category.

The club’s junior training sessions have now finished for the summer, but will re-start on September 6.