HARWICH Runners member Elspeth Knott retained her title after travelling to Canada to compete in the Penticton ITU Duathlon World Championships.

Knott is a founder member of the local running club and does her bike training with Colchester Rovers.

Earlier this year she retained her European champion title which qualified her to take part in the World Championships and represent Great Britain.

Knott entered the race as reigning world champion in her age group, 65 to 69, having won the world title seven times and the European title eight times.

The duathlon involved a 10km run, followed by a 40km bike ride and finished with a 5km run.

Great Britain was only represented by one other athlete, with the rest of the field being made up of competitors from New Zealand, USA and host nation Canada. Right from the start, the Little Bromley resident dominated the race, running the 10km stage two minutes faster than anyone else.

Her 40km bike stage was also quicker than her rivals, 2m 17s faster.

On the final 5km run, one other athlete was quicker by a small margin of just 22 seconds.

Fellow British competitor Jan Forrester finished second overall in two hours 41 minutes and 20 seconds but the world title stayed with Knott, who finished almost six minutes ahead in 2h 35m 27s - her eighth world title.

At the Harwich Parkrun, conditions seemed perfect for fast times as seven members of Harwich Runner achieved new personal bests.

There were PBs for new club members Tahnee Gueizer (25m 33s) and Kelly Peck (30m 56s).

Kim Pretty knocked 41 seconds off his previous best to finish in 25m 23s - his first sub 26-minute run.

It was a first sub 25-minute time for Anne Herbert who improved by 42 seconds to record 24m 47s.

Kris Dalby marked his 50th Parkrun with a 52-second improvement, in 26m 41s.

Alison Evans set a new best last week and knocked another three seconds off this week to finish fourth lady in 24m 20s.

Current club runner of the month, Helen Benham, made certain she deserved the award with four PBs in her last four Parkruns.

She has improved in those four runs by 71 seconds and now has a best of 24m 17s and finished third lady.

The first lady finisher was club member Ellie Haynes, in 22m 41s, not quite a PB but just five seconds off.

Visiting serial Parkrunner Tony Daglish marked his 350th Parkrun at Harwich in second place, in 19m 42s.

A member of Redway Runners, he has run at 130 different venues, doing his first-ever Parkrun at Milton Keynes in 2010.

The first finisher this week was Josh Newlyn in 19m 3s - his fastest time at the local event.