THERE was more success for Harwich Runners at the third race in the 53-12 cross-country series.

Having won the first two pool B races, they took a smaller team to compete at Colchester on a very cold morning.

In the ladies' race, Kate Hodgkiss was the first black and white vest home in sixth place.

Claudine Benstead and Madeline Lewis completed the scoring trio, all within the first 15 places.

There were further strong supporting runs from Nicola Flatt and Ellie Haynes and promising cross-country debuts for Parkrun regulars Karen Stapleton and Alison Evans.

With points scored for positions, the ladies finished 21 points ahead of nearest challengers Tiptree.

In the men’s race, Steve Cooper continued his good form, finishing in the top five for the third consecutive race.

Rob Reason was two places further back, with Mark Lloyd claiming his highest finish so far this year in 15th.

Simon Day was in the scoring six yet again, alongside Archie Barrington and Charlie McCarthy.

There were further strong runs from Will Roxby-Clarke and Niall Burke.

The men were very convincing winners in their section.

Overall, the combined team effort gave Harwich a third victory from three races and sees them sitting four points clear at the top of pool B.

In the junior race, Harwich finished fifth out of 11 for the third time in three races.

Of the 12 runners, Michael Knowles was first back for Harwich in 12th, also taking eighth in the MU15 group.

Eddison Barker finished inside the top ten in his age category (MU13).

Jamie Carter was the quickest male representative from school year four while Jemima Gardner was fastest female from the same year.

Charlie Newman had a strong run in his first cross-country race and Samuel Barstow was third from year five.

Daisy Ward was sixth fastest in the FU15 group and there were also strong runs from Eryn Lewis and Isabella Ward.

The next race in the series is at Halstead on December 10.

Elsewhere, Chris Payne tackled the Southwold 10km, finishing 33rd out of 731 runners in 40m 53s.