The Striders have been on the trails in the last week at three different trail races.

The Felsted trail race, which was run in blazing conditions, saw Mark Waine win the shorter distance without falling flat on his face and captain Anthony Marsh was a fine third. The top Strider lady was as usual Tracey Woodyard. In the longer run the top Striders were Darren Coates and Tracey Alexandrou.

Last Saturday two Striders managed to find out about a Thrift Green Trotters trail race from one of our regular pub run pubs the Viper. Jamie Woodyard and Anthony Marsh thought that the route was excellent and we will use it for a pub run later this summer. Apparently the results are also being kept a secret.

This Sunday it was the countryside around Duton Hill that saw two races and there was also an excellent beer festival at the local pub. The closure of two footbridges meant that there was quite a bit of turning back on oneself and those that did not read their instructions carefully were likely to go off course although they were still on the course if you see what I mean. You had to be there. The strong wind sent you off at a rate of knots but of course you had to struggle back against it. Some very nice paths and deep ditches were negotiated by all with the top Striders being Darren Coates again in the longer run and Roger Gooding (2^nd) in the 7 miler. Top ladies were Kerry Marsh and Katherine Hull.

There are plenty more trails in the offing with the three legged trail at Rayne on Wednesday, the Striders birthday trail next Saturday and a Tiptree race on the Sunday.