League joy for depleted Striders

The August fixture in the summer 5K league saw Saffron Striders men finish with three runners in the top five, despite only managing to field a depleted team at Newmarket. Bryn Reynolds made a welcome return from university to claim second place in 17mi

The August fixture in the summer 5K league saw Saffron Striders' men finish with three runners in the top five, despite only managing to field a depleted team at Newmarket.

Bryn Reynolds made a welcome return from university to claim second place in 17min 18sec, Chris Dodge continued his fantastic season with third place in 17min 22sec and Tim Gardner marked his first race for Striders with a great fifth place in 17min 43sec.

Tremendous runs from Maurizo Molina, Andy Bryant, Bjorn Krylander and Chris Gibson helped solidify the team's position in the overall standings.

Janet Lipski produced another fine performance to be the first female Strider to finish in 21min 25sec.

The women's team will enter the final race in joint second position thanks to great efforts from Lucy Stebbings, Kim Hirst, Monika Krylander and Laura Mangan.

The season comes to a climax at Haverhill on September 6. Cambridge & Coleridge appear to have an unassailable lead in the club event, but the battle for second place could not be much closer.

Newmarket Joggers with 106 points have a slim lead over Saffron Striders on 104.

Saffron Striders' Paul Burgess and Gavin Long travelled to Derbyshire to compete in the hilly Belper 30K last week.

In a surprise result, Long negotiated a tough climb on the 18-mile course slightly ahead of his teammate Burgess.

Both runners made considerable improvements to their 2006 times.

Closer to home, John Howe and Gavin Long competed in the Huffer Puffer Trail race near Great Dunmow.

The Saffron Striders' duo navigated the six mile route in just under the hour mark to claim 54th and 55th position respectively.