THIRTY-ONE athletes from Farnham Runners made the journey to Gosport for the third round of the Hampshire Road League, the Gosport half-marathon.

The two-lap course was partly along the promenade with sections giving the opportunity to spur on teammates heading in the opposite direction. The wind slowed times a little on the eastbound sections, particularly in the last mile, though conditions were generally ideal. A jubilant men’s A team came top in Division Two and lie second, five points ahead of the third team, so looking good for promotion. Recently back from a trip abroad, James Clarke led them in with a fine time of one hour 21 minutes 53 seconds, 82nd out of almost 1,700 runners. Matt Saker was next with an excellent fourth place in the M50 category with 1.23.39, a new personal-best time. Stephen Elliott-Nicholls and Stuart Haig both gained personal-best times of 1.24.17 and 1.24.46 respectively to complete the A team score.

Stalwart Charles Ashby (1.28.00) provided the lead for the B squad just ahead of sixth Farnham Runner Harvey Wickham in 1.28.19, while David Roy impressed with 1.28.45 in his first attempt at the distance. Neil Ambrose was the final B team scorer in 1.29.57.

This team, in B Division One, finished 10th and lie eighth on aggregate of 15 clubs.

Mike Taylor headed the C team in 1.32.18 followed by John Phillips (1.33.28), Colin Addison (1.35.02) and seventh M60 runner Keith Marshall (1.37.32). Just out of the scoring were Chris Cramp (1.38.25) and Steve Bailey (1.39.41). This gave a result of seventh on the day, rising to fifth on aggregate in B Division Two.

Delighted to lead in the ladies was Sarah McCulloch, who finished strongly to overtake in the latter part of the race for 1.39.40, a new personal best by more than two minutes. Next, Kayleigh Copeland ran well for 1.40.53, with Eloise Stradling in 1.42.49. The team, in the top flight for a number of years, lie a safe seventh of 10 clubs, also finishing seventh at Gosport.

The B and C teams gained solid results in their respective tables and hope to capitalise on some races closer to Farnham in the spring.

Jane Georghiou headed the B team, her 1.47.23 placing her first W65 in the race and 10th on the UK W65 half-marathon table for 2018. Anne Snelson in 1.50.13 and Clair Bailey in 2.04.08 put in strong performances for this B team that placed 13th.

Running for the ladies’ C team, also in 13th place, were Alison Yearsley (2.17.20, personal best), Nicola O’Connor (2.20.16) and Julia Tagg (2.21.16).

Other times: Ali Hardaway 1.40.53, Terry Copeland 1.42.49, Richard Frost 1.42.56, Damian Probett 1.47.27 (personal best), Keith Toms 1.57.43 (personal best), Ian Loader 2.02.02, Susan McKenzie 2.22.55, and Jackie Wilkinson 2.26.52.