THE St Helens Striders' busy week of racing began on Thursday when 19 Striders travelled to Halewood in Liverpool to take part in the Halewood 5K, a charity run hosted by Knowsley Harriers to raise funds for one of their members recently diagnosed with cancer.

The first St Helens Strider home was Shaun Phoenix in 18:22 followed by Paul Demore in 19:10, Mark Riley in 19:34, David Navis in 20:56, Paul Hargate in 21:36, Tony Dagnall in 22:09, Gemma Webster in 22:51, Jade Booth in 25:13, Carol Foster in 25:20, Nicola Howarth in 25:33, Rachel Tickle in 26:22, Frank McAllister in 26:31, Marie Chesworth in 29:31, Paul Carr in 29:32, Debbie Hill in 30:22, Adele Crawford in 31:20, Mike Brunt in 35:24 and Gill Kelly in 40:38.

Striders travelled back to Liverpool for the weekend to take part in the Rock and Roll running festival. On Saturday morning there were four Striders taking part in the 5k. Kevin Brennan finishing as first Strider in 17:58, Peter Teeling in 26:52, Georgie Warner in 30:24 and Anthony Jones 36:19.

Sunday saw over 50 St Helens Striders take part in the half marathon and full marathon distance in very warm and sunny conditions.

The first Strider over the finish line for the half marathon distance was Jono Kirkman in 1:31:32, whilst Kevin Brennan was the first Strider to finish the full marathon in 3:12:28.

Meanwhile, there were a number of Striders out on the course giving support to their fellow club runners, including manning a water station on Otterspool Promenade.

A little further afield Debbie Hill enjoyed the Scottish sunshine when she took part in the Edinburgh marathon. Debbie completed the distance in 5:39:15.