Sarah shines at Summer Six - The Stratford Observer

Sarah shines at Summer Six

Stratford Editorial 24th Jul, 2018 Updated: 24th Jul, 2018   0

THE 15TH STRATFORD Summer Six, organised by Stratford AC, again formed part of the Warwickshire Road Race League (WRRL).

It is a six-mile road race, on an undulating course around the roads of Wilmcote and Aston Cantlow, starting and finishing at Mary Arden’s Farm.

Due to the large number of marshals and officials needed to make this run smoothly and safely, the club itself tends to have few competitors participating. This year, more than 40 club members were on duty while three runners contested the race.

Sarah Boundy was the first of the Stratford AC members to finish. She was the 24th woman and 127th finisher overall, clocking 45:15.




Annie Cox finished just 16 seconds behind, in 132nd place (26th woman) in 45:31. Cox is currently in contention for the overall U20 age group victory in the WRRL and this strong run should have enhanced her chances of achieving this goal.

Suzi Graham was the last of the SAC triumvirate to complete the race, finishing in 198th place (50th woman) in 49:49.


The race was won by Andrew Savery in 32:11. Natalie Bhangal was the first woman to finish, placing 36th overall in 37:53 as 306 runners completed the race.

Barbour and Bland place highly at Droitwich Sprint Triathlon

TWO Stratford AC triathlon members achieved top-two finishes in their respective categories at the Droitwich Sprint Triathlon on Sunday.

Competing against strong company, the talented Oscar Barbour was fifth overall and second in the open category. He was pleased with his swim and bike but the heat caused some nausea on the run and he narrowly lost out on a podium place.

Sarah Bland, dipping back into triathlon after a long gap out, was also was comfortable with her swim and bike but is currently struggling with running form. She was the 14th woman overall and the first senior veteran.

STRATFORD AC husband and wife duo Gavin and Tara Lambert conquered the epic Man versus Lakes race on Saturday.

The adventure run is held in the Lake District and starts with a crossing of the quicksands of Morecambe Bay, before heading through mountainous countryside. Participants then head into the lake itself – tackling short wades, swims, slides, jumps and a floating assault course.

Runners also have to carry the mandatory kit, which weighs more than 5kg. The race is advertised as 26.2 miles but, due to a change in the finish point and shifting sands in Morecambe Bay, it ended up being just over 30 miles.

“I decided to enter the race to ‘celebrate’ turning 40 this year,” said Gavin, who is originally from Morecambe.

“The race started by crossing Morecambe Bay when the tide was out. Then there was a river to be waded through, which was pretty scary as the current was fast and the water came up mid-thigh.

“Then the real fun began with the vertical kilometre and another 23 miles running across the Lake District and running or staggering to the top of several mountain peaks.

“To top that off, there were four lakes to swim across and three of them had floating obstacle assault courses to overcome. These were awesome and made the race.

“One kilometre before the finish, there was a kayaking stage with a fifth lake to be kayaked around.”

Tara finished in 198th place in 7:57:01. Due to a GPS tracking malfunction, Gavin’s time is not yet official, but is understood to be about 8:02:00.

The race was won by Ben Opie in 4:50.26. Katie Joyce was the first woman to finish, placing fourth overall in 5:01:01 as 449 competitors finished the race.

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