HARWICH Runners were represented at various races as their busy schedule continued.

The Halstead Marathon attracted 374 runners to its undulating but scenic route. Stephen Peck was running his second marathon and finished the day with several achievements.

His previous run at Chelmsford last year saw him debut with a sub three-hour time but he improved on that at Halstead to post a new best of 2h 44m 20s.

It was enough to place him second overall and with race winner Matt Spencer, from Bungay, hailing from outside the county, Peck also became Essex champion for the distance for 2018.

Added to this, Peck also set a new club record for the MV40 category over the marathon distance, bettering Peter Gooding’s previous record set in 1992 by just 24 seconds.

Also taking up the challenge was Mike Ball, who finished in an excellent 3h 59m 11s in his first-ever marathon.

Further success for the club came at the new Boxted 10k, where the race was won by Graeme Knott in 37m 29s.

This was a minute clear of his nearest challenger.

Another course with some climbs saw Lee Allen complete his third race over this distance in the last six weeks, finishing 12th in 42m 1s.

There were also age group wins for Kate Hodgkiss (FV35) and Claudine Benstead (FV55).

Anna Anderson and Sarah Roxby-Clarke also completed this race that is bound to become a popular fixture in the race calendar.

The popular Woodbridge 10k only attracted one member of Harwich Runners this year, with Jules Lawrence crossing the finish line in the town centre in a shade over 48 minutes.

Another 10k race taking place last Sunday was the rearranged Colchester Zoo Stampede.

Starting and finishing in the zoo itself, there was a huge field of over a thousand runners taking on this unusual challenge.

Stuart Raffle was the highest-placed runner from Harwich, coming 40th in his first race over this distance for the club in a good 42m 58.

Alan Gardner was another running his third 10k of the year, finishing in 46m 55. Ruth Benham managed a new personal best on this course (54m 47s), just ahead of sister-in-law Helen Benham (55m 30)

Meanwhile, Madeline Lewis opted for the first Witch Finder 5k, which started from Acorn Village, near Mistley.

She finished fifth overall and was the first lady to complete the course in 22m 45s.

Lian Meachen joined 20,000 other runners to compete in the Hackney Half-Marathon.

Her time of 2h 25m 18s was very close to her best set earlier this year.

At the Harwich Parkrun, a number of club members took advantage of the good running conditions to record new personal bests (PBs).

Ian Flook finished second in 19m 6s, Mark Higgs fourth in 20m 13s and nine-year-old Jamie Carter continues to impress with a new best of 21m 29s.

Other club members to set new PBs this week were Paul Smith, 25m 31s, Neil McCrea, 28m 52s, Jacqui Keetle, 28m 55s, Jennifer Griffith, 30m 3s, and Jo Higgon, 27m 31s.