HARWICH Runners enjoyed a very successful weekend.

Club members filled the top three ladies' positions and had the top two male finishers at Saturday's Harwich Parkrun.

Then, the following day, they finished as the first team at the Great Bentley Half-Marathon with personal bests (PBs) galore.

On Saturday, Steve Cooper was first finisher at the Parkrun, in a course PB of 17 minutes and 51 seconds.

Archie Barrington again finished second, this week in 18m 55s.

Claudine Benstead was first female finisher for the 27th time in 21m 35s.

Ruth Benham was second in 24m 13s and Helen Benham third in 24m 38s. There was also PBs for Mike Ball (21m 13s), Kim Pretty (23m 32s), Valentina Burley (25m 40s) and Michael Knowles (20m 54s).

The success continued on Sunday morning at the Great Bentley Half-Marathon, with several personal best times being achieved as well as other accolades.

The popular race sold out within two hours this year but 16 Harwich Runners were able to secure places and complete the 13.1-mile countryside course.

Rob Reason ran almost the same time as he did here last year, finishing ninth in a very strong field in one hour, 14 minutes and 51 seconds.

The continually-improving Stephen Peck ran a stunning new PB of 1h 16m 36s. Peck was 14th overall but also managed to claim first place in the MV40 category and a new club record for that age group.

Next home was Mark Lloyd, who is going well again, completing the course in 1h 17m 45s.

These three runners won the male team award by virtue of having three runners finish before any other club.

Simon Harrison ran his fastest time for two years (1h 25m 6s) while Stuart Weaver continued his marathon preparation with a solid 1h 29m 19s.

Conditions were not ideal, with the runners being treated to cold wind and the occasional snow flurry.

Running their first-ever half marathons were Kris Dalby, who ducked under the two-hour mark, and Karen Stapleton, who recorded a good debut time of 1h 51m 46s.

Nicola Flatt continues to improve and sliced another three minutes off her PB to post 1h 51m 43s.

There were also new best times for Anna Young and Lian Meachen.

Anne Herbert was agonisingly 11 seconds over the two hours, while Faye Elliott did well to record 2h 11m so soon after returning from her honeymoon.

There was a first appearance in a Harwich shirt for Jules Lawrence, who grabbed a PB of 1h 47m 50s.

Matt Doran and Tracey George were also happy to complete another half-marathon.

Elsewhere, Will Roxby-Clarke travelled to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and came home with a 10km PB, improving 90 seconds from his previous best to 43m 6s.

Sarah Roxby-Clarke managed 30 minutes exactly for the 5k race at the same venue.

Also in action was Vicky McCrea, who ran a decent 44m 6s over five miles at Alsager.