Sleaford Striders: Marathon man Steve brings up his century

Sleaford Striders' large band of marathon runners EMN-180305-132146002

Steve made the short trip to Boston to complete his 100th 26.2-miler, having started his epic journey at the London Marathon back in 1988.

The Strider once completed 15 races in a year, and were it not for occasional injury may have reached the magic mark sooner.

April was a very busy month for the club with races across the country and overseas.

Steve Thacker has run 100 marathons over the last 30 years EMN-180305-132135002

Running 26.2 miles is not just about the event itself but also the months of training and long runs which go into each one, with weeks of 16, 18 and 20-mile training runs.

The past month saw Kath Cheadle, Kate Hutton and John Hutton complete the Kielder Forest night marathon, while Dawn Bailey, Sam Warrener and Tracey

Dickinson inspired others in the Manchester Marathon.

And Jayne Knight and Cliff Maddison joined Steve at Boston.

For Jayne it marked the culmination of a rapid rise, having only taken up running just over a year ago with a couch to 5k course in Heckington before joining the Striders.

Further afield Jo Jordaan Patrick ran the Brighton Marathon, while a host of Striders headed to London for one of the world’s biggest marathons, this year held in sweltering heat,

Chris North ran the distance in an amazing 2hr 46min 58secs, while clubmate Emily Foran described it as her hardest race.

Andy Preston, Sasha Oliver and Jamie Hirst all reached the finish in the Mall, but Greg Southern was injured at 20km and had to withdraw.

* Sleaford Striders juniors, from six years upwards, meet on Monday and Wednesday evenings.

The adult section meet at Sleaford Town FC’s Eslaforde Park home in Boston Road each Thursday.

For full details, visit the club website at www.sleafordstriders.org.uk