IT was a weekend full of first experiences, personal best times and epic achievements for St Helens Striders athletes.

Nine members took on the Manchester Marathon and all achieved their goals and beyond.

Kev Outten, who was running to raise money for Macmillan, was the first Strider to complete the race in 3 hours 9 minutes.

He was followed by Chris Reid in 3:23, a spectacular achievement following serious injury only 12 months ago.

Emma Gallery, Lisa Cheers and Wendy Davies set themselves the challenge last year to train together and compete in their first marathon.

Dedication and hard work truly paid off as they finished in 3:32, 3:33 and 3:45 respectively and all have a guaranteed place in the London Marathon in 2019 or 2020.

Eric Ranson featured in his second marathon of the year while Colin Wilson bagged a four minute PB of 4:16 despite training in secret on his own!

Peter Moville, 4:00, and Lynda Butchard, 5:23, also completed the Manchester Marathon.

Dan Tetlow and Susan Frances Kerfoot tackled the Berlin Half Marathon.

Anthony Ellis competed in his first trail race, the Rivington 10-mile trail, which included an elevation gain of over 1,000ft! Ellis finished the race in a very respectable 1 hour 29 minutes.

A number of Striders also competed in the Edgehill Triathlon.