Saffron Striders Tim Penn took on the challenge of the Lausanne Half Marathon last week. The half marathon winds its way between Lake Geneva and the luxuriant green slopes of the Swiss Alps. Runners battle their way along 21 undulating kilometres in Swi

Saffron Striders' Tim Penn took on the challenge of the Lausanne Half Marathon last week.

The half marathon winds its way between Lake Geneva and the luxuriant green slopes of the Swiss Alps.

Runners battle their way along 21 undulating kilometres in Switzerland before reaching the finish area in front of the Olympic Museum.

Penn lined up alongside 9800 other competitors and completed the race in a very credible 1hr 51min 31sec to secure 1505th position.

Steve White added to his ever-increasing race portfolio, with two more off-road events.

The Windgather Fell Race in the Peak District demanded more than 2500' of climbing during a tough 13.5 mile route. White finished in 78th position in a time of 2hr 9min.

In the Chilterns Ridgeway Run, White uncharacteristically started too fast but still managed to hang on for an impressive 69th position finish out of a field of 468 runners.

Fellow Strider Paul Burgess ran a perfectly judged race and passed his team mate with just two miles to go to secure 56th position.

Nearly 2500 runners took part in the Great Eastern Run in Peterborough, with two Saffron Striders finishing in the top 500.

Fiona Tideswell recorded a fantastic time of 1hr 46min 53sec for the 21km course to come home 430th.

Janet Lipski has excelled in 2007 over the shorter distances of 5K and 10K and she continued her amazing year with an attempt at the longer distance of a half marathon. She produced a tremendous time of 1hr 35min, a 15-minute improvement on her last half marathon.

Saffron Striders meet on a Tuesday evening at 8pm at the Lord Butler Leisure Centre. Further information is available from Robert Woodward on 01223 836017, from the website www.saffronstriders.org.uk or from Runnerway in Cromwell Road.