The efforts on the final day of the Sunday Cross-country League earned the men of Fairlands Valley Spartans a spot on the podium.

The Royston round of the series had been delayed by wet weather but the Therfield Heath course was in better condition when a decent-sized field ended the season.

And helped by a better turnout, the men's A-team from FVS finished third out of 21, three points ahead of Garden City Runners.

The FVS women also advanced, moving into the top half of the standings in ninth.

Overall, the men finished eighth while the women were 10th.

The Twin Lakes 20 proved popular for three of the Stevenage running clubs.

Held over a traffic-free, multi-terrain course in Milton Keynes, the event provided the opportunity to run fast with many also using it as preparation for upcoming marathons.

Five Spartans ran the 20-mile event, Pete Smith finishing 87th out of the 469 to complete the race.

He was also the best of the 12 men in the 60-plus category.

Harriet Smith and Sam Maidens were the next two to finish, the latter beating team-mate Michael O'Keefe by just over a minute and five places.

Wendy Tharani completed the FVS group as she continues her recovery from injury.

Stevenage Phoenix had three building up their marathon strength.

Gemma Holloway was the first of them home while Angela Goodwin and Stef Gransby ran together.

Stevenage Striders meanwhile had two involved, Matthew Robinson and Lucy Martin in 3:43:16. 

All three clubs had one athlete running the 10-mile option at the event, Spartans' Matthew Newton, Ashley Bates for Phoenix and Alun Watkins of the Striders.

Bates's run was a club record for the distance.

Among the parkrun highlights were two wins for Fairlands Valley men.

Simon Fraser took the victory at the home event in Stevenage while Nick Gill topped the charts in Letchworth, recording a PB in the process of 19 minutes 58 seconds.

PB runs were also recorded for Ashley Johnson, second female at Stevenage in 20:52, and David Pattman, who completed the Great Denham event in 20:50.

There was a parkrun milestone for Garry Wallace of Phoenix as he completed his 100th event at Stevenage, where there were another six finishers from the club.

Others from Phoenix opted for a bit of parkrun tourism.

Heidi Cameron was at Pocket in St Neots, Emma Mead took on Henlow Bridge while Ashley Bates and Gemma Holloway were at Rushmere in Leighton Buzzard.

Essex was the destination though for Suzy Taylor and Wendy Brewster who went to Mersea Island and Clacton respectively.