STRATFORD-upon-Avon Athletic Club saw three of their members compete for Team England at the Chester 10k in a fixture against Welsh Masters athletes.
Ben Kruze (M35), Matt Burdus-Cook (M45) and Phil Brennan (M80) were all selected to run for England after they finished well inside of their respective required qualifying times at a race in Regents Park in January.
Kruze went into the race in Chester with a bad back and then picked up a cold but shrugged off any injury and illness to finish 13th overall out of 3,200 runners and seventh in his age category out of 278 athletes in a time of 32 minutes 12 seconds.
Burdus-Cook placed 84th and an impressive ninth in his age category out of 203 runners in a time of 34 mins 9 secs as he now shifts his focus to England 5km qualifying.
Brennan has endured a difficult year with a hamstring injury but showed great determination to compete in Chester having run in the British Masters 3000m Indoor Championships in London the day before.
And Brennan topped the podium in the capital before he secured another podium finish in Chester as he placed second in his age group in a time of 56 mins 16 secs.
The course at Chester starts at Nuns Road, next to the iconic Chester Racecourse, and passes the picturesque village of Mollington before returning to the heart of the city centre.
And runners pass the historic Victorian town hall and Medieval Cathedral, before finishing on Eastgate Street with a spectacular backdrop of the Eastgate Clock.
Stratford also saw two teams take part in the Teddy Hall Relays at Oxford’s iconic Iffley Road track – where Roger Bannister famously ran the first sub four-minute mile.
The relay format comprised of four 4.35-mile (7km) scenic legs around the centre of Oxford with runners of all abilities welcomed.
Stratford have been represented at the event in each of the last 13 years as the mixed team of Sarah Odell, Stuart George, Kate Sergent and John Butler took to the track.
Odell ran the first leg in 35 mins 5 secs before she handed the baton to George who came home in 29 mins 3 secs.
And Sergent then took the baton as she finished in 41 mins 50 secs before Butler brought the team home in 44 mins 42 secs to secure a top-50 finish in a combined time of 2 hours 30 mins 42 secs.
The Stratford ladies team consisted of Lindsey Anderson, Lisa Lambourn, Jan Turner and Miranda Maloney with all four athletes in training for the Brighton Marathon next month.
And the foursome all produced strong runs in awful conditions as Anderson (41:25), Lambourn (38:06), Turner and Maloney (both 48:48) finished in a combined time of 2 hrs 57 mins 9 secs to place 21st overall.
