FVS TRI were victorious in the four-stage Hereward Relay with a win for the men and second for the ladies. The men s team covered the 38.4 miles from Peterborough Cathedral to Ely Cathedral in 4-05:50 on a course that went from road to bridleways, over fi

FVS TRI were victorious in the four-stage Hereward Relay with a win for the men and second for the ladies.

The men's team covered the 38.4 miles from Peterborough Cathedral to Ely Cathedral in 4-05:50 on a course that went from road to bridleways, over fields and bridges and even through calf deep standing water on a closed flooded road on the final stage!

The historic victory for the men was made even more special as they were joined by the ladies who were runners-up in a time of 4-49:15.

The men's A team were led off by Steve Wells who, despite returning after long term injury, still managed a first M45 for the stage and overall 10th.

Brian White managed to gain four positions and was second M50 for the stage handing over to Simon Hall for stage three.

Hall was running following a kick in the face from a horse earlier in the week and was nursing chipped teeth and bruised pride but still managed to bring the team up to fourth with a third place overall on the stage.

Steve Harrison was fast enough to lead the team to victory despite off-course issues which meant he only managed a disappointing third for the stage.

The ladies' A team were led off by Jackie Perry who was first F45, followed by Sam Tophill on stage two for the longest leg at 11.6 miles. Jane Chappell gave the team the lead with a stage win and Paula Adams was first F35 on the final stage.

The team lost out by just under a minute to Cambridge who regained the race lead when Paula was delayed crossing a dual carriageway!

There were also strong performances throughout the other FVS TRI teams with Steve Chalk returning to form with second M50 in stage three and Lesley Dutton third F45 in the final stage.

The intra-club battle was settled with the ladies' A team beating the men's B team by 1:18, much to the bemusement of the men who were leading for much of the event! Mark Grayson was running injured and the heroic efforts of Chappell and Adams were just enough to earn victory for the ladies over the final stage.

Club records continued to fall at North Herts Road Runners as two more were lowered at the Wolverton Five Mile Road Race on Saturday.

Stewart Bryant kept up his recent fine form to reduce the male vet 50 time, set earlier this year, by eight seconds as he finished in a time of 31:19.

Anna Priestley absolutely destroyed the 12-year-old record for a female vet 50 by knocking an amazing three minutes off the previous best time to cross the line in 39:19.

Priestley holds the best times for her age group at 5k, 10k and now five miles.

Five further Squirrels ran the race over a flat course in blustery conditions as Pete Northover posted a personal best time of 28:57, with good performances from Duncan Hooker (32:51), Karen Dodsworth (39:19), Adrian Muxlow (43:19 pb) and Ashley Strows (49:02 pb).

Hooker raced on consecutive days as he was part of a North Herts trio that ran at the monthly Serpentine 5k at Hyde Park the previous day.

Windy and wet underfoot conditions affected times but Hooker was pleased to record a time of 19:26, finishing just behind club colleague Martyn Annetts, who recorded a time of 19:01.

For the second successive month, Jo Summers was second in the female vet 40 as she finished in 21:30.

Simon Jackson from Fairlands Valley Spartans broke the 30-minute barrier for the first time at the Wolverton five miler despite parts of the course being flooded (29:58).

The first Spartan woman was Annette Bell in 33:09.

Times: Simon Jackson 29:58 pb, Declan Clynes 30:20, Andy Garrett 31:04, Jim Brown 32:33, Annette Bell 33:09, Andy Bramall 33:50, Steve Smithson 34:38, Peta Wilson 37:56, Karen Wells 44:19, Ann Tryssesoone 44:16, Bev Harlow 44:56, Elisa Dunbar 45:37, Liz Morgan 53:49.

In contrast on Sunday, it was nice and sunny for the Bernidorm Marathon and Half Marathon.

Nine Spartans ran the full 26.2 miles and four the half. Chris King was first woman veteran (45 plus) in the marathon with a time of 3-20:30.

Other times: Roger Biggs 3-28:57, Mike Newbitt 3-44:39, Robert Hardy, Paul Holgate 4-18:34, Carol Paul 4-19:17, Mark Sanders 4-50:53, Michaela Norton-Lay 4-52:00, Dave Paul 4-58:58.

Half-marathon times: Steve Dear 1-36:44, Tony Osborne 1-45:50, Dave Clarke 1-53:28, Pauline Hardy 2-46:30.

Jim Brown achieved his first of two improvements in two days at the Serpentine Last Friday of the Month race in Hyde Park when he ran his fastest 5k since July 2002.

He finished in 19:33, an 18-second improvement on his season's best and 58th out of the 199 finishers.

Chris Leigh came close to running both the fun run and the 10k at Eynsham, Oxfordshire.!

Due to traffic congestion when he arrived at the start, the gun had already gone and runners were well on the route.

After being delayed by the start of the fun run, it meant he spent the whole race overtaking other runners! His own start line to finish line time was 46:13.