TWELVE St Helens Striders travelled to Chorley to take part in the second of the Astley Trail Race series at Chorley.

First Strider home was Kevin Brennan in 26:23 followed by Peter Fairclough in 27:04, Mike Dodd in 30:11, Rachael Fishwick in 30:14, Tony Horsfall in 31:52, Pauline Horsfall in 32:40, John Murphy in 32:44, Gary Ward in 35:14, Dave Baxter in 35:46, Carol Foster in 37:57, Debbie Hill in 46:03 and finishing it all off was Emily Curbishley in 46:41.

At the Forest Park Ladies 5k at Birchwood Katie Taggart was first Strider to finish in 25:00, followed by Jennifer Lawrence in 26:11, Andrea Hill Jones in 27:07, Anita Hall in 28:55, Bonnie Mansell in 32:31, Lisa Worsley in 33:28 which was a pb for Lisa.

Next in was Lorraine Kelly Swann in 34:41 with Aimee Hill completing her first ever race in 36:34.

In Northumbria Gary Spriggs and Ruth Wales took part in the Chevy Chase 20 Mile Fell race, completing the challenge in a time of 5:45:30 On Sunday Striders were racing in Lancashire and the Lake District with five taking part in Southport half marathon and four Coniston half and full marathon.

At Southport first Strider over the finish line was Kevin Brennan in 1:21:01 followed by Paul Demore in 1:27:30 Rachael Fishwick in 1:37:36, Chris Falls in 1:41:39 and Katie Taggart in 2:00:23.

John Murphy completed the half marathon distance and Ian Wright, Matt Dyas and Simon Poole completed the full marathon distance over difficult terrain and finished the challenge safely.

Saturday saw the first ever Parkrun take place in St Helens with 26 St Helens Striders running to support the event. Kevin Brennan came in first in a time of 18:13 followed by Paul Demore 18:54, Peter Fairclough 18:57, Rachael Fishwick 20:11, Scott Robertson 20:44, Michael Dodd 20:50, John Smee 20:56, Rich Worsley 21:08, Gill Lee 21:29, Les Abbott 21:56, David Navis 22:04, Paddy Lee 22:11, Claire Lindsay 24:06, Paul Spencer 24:10, Donna Halsall 26:33, Alex Abbott 27:28, Amanda Coogan 27:40, Charlotte Ward 29:07, Debbie Hill 30:54, Anthony Jones 31:06, Vicky Kehoe 31:14, Bonnie Mansell 31:17 Alex Turner 35:08, Lisa Worsley 35:42, Lorraine Kelly Swann 35:42, Aimee Hill 36:12. Rachael Fishwick and Gill Lee were first and second ladies to finish.

Louise Read completed the Worsley Parkrun in 23:34.

Three Parkrunners then made the journey over to Halewood to join fellow Striders taking part in the Merseyvend 5k. Peter Fairclough was the first Strider in with a time of 18:37 followed by Paul Demore in 18:58, Rachael Fishwick was first lady to finish in 20:20, followed by Tony Horsfall in 21:00, Julie Pennington in 21:14, Pauline Horsfall in 21:58, Martin Farrar in 22:34, Rebecca McKenna in 24:02 and Cheryl Orrick brought it home in 24:21.