Alan Darby continued his recent domination of the popular Wymondham 20-mile race.
The Ely Runners athlete finished in the excellent time of one hour 53 minutes and 43 seconds to retain his title – having been runner-up in the two previous years.
The race – popular for those who are training for spring marathons, including London, Brighton and Manchester – was completed by 371 runners, up from last year's 284.
There were three other finishers under two hours: Alex Manton of Springfield Striders was second in 1:57.28; Daniel Middleton of Norwich Road Runners was third in 1:59.05 and Matt Pyatt of Ryston Runners was fourth, and first Vet, in 1:59.24.
There was a close race among the ladies with Rose Waterman of Tri-Anglia winning in two hours 23 minutes and 38 seconds.
She was just 18 seconds ahead of Zoe Shackleton of Ely Runners in second with Katy Oldman of Lowestoft Road Runners third in 2:30.38.
As usual, the race was well supported by local clubs. The largest representation was from Norwich Road Runners, who had more than 40 runners. There were also many runners from further afield, including blind runner Simon Webb, of The Stragglers in Kingston, visiting for the fourth time. With the help of his guides, he finished 58th in a time of two hours 28 minutes.
The race is hosted by Wymondham AC, involving over 60 members volunteering.
Andrew Lane, race director, said: 'We are very pleased with the turnout and with the positive feedback from runners. I would like to thank all our Wymondham club members who helped with the race. It was again held on the day the clocks went forward, and so the volunteers showed real dedication.'
Abbie Durand's outstanding cross country season just got even better, writes Brendon Byrne. In her debut international she finished an outstanding sixth in the Schools International Championship at Wollaton Park, Nottingham. Abbie was in the scoring England team which convincingly won the team event ahead of Scotland, Ireland and Wales. This follows on from Abbie's seventh place in the English Schools race at Leeds last week.
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