Springfield Striders took to the coast at the weekend with races at Frinton and Mersea Island.

Pete Tremain was the first 0ver 50 at the Frinton & Walton half marathon in a fine time of 1.21.

John Hoskyn (1.37), Janet Hill (1.50) and Brenda Whitehead (1.57) also ran this sea front race, with Theresa Tremain running in the accompanying five miler.

Further down the coast, eight Striders completed the Round Mersea Island race.

The course is mainly sea wall, but also includes long stretches of beach, which makes the finish particularly difficult.

Andrew Mason (1.27) was first Strider among over 100 competitors, with Dave Milton (1.29) not far behind.

Lindsay Broadbridge (1.31), Rob Rodie (1.33) and Ken Edwards (1.35) all took the difficult terrain in their stride, while Neil Bradley (1.42) improved after a slow start.

There were disappointing runs from Alec Coleman (1.44) and Kevin Wright (1.46).

This weekend sees two Striders, Richard Milton and Pat O'Connor, representing Essex in the Inter Counties Fell Running Championships, at Shining Tor near Buxton in Derbyshire, while the majority of the club will be running in the Baddow 10.

Information about the Springfield Striders club and regularly updated local race details are available on their website .

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.