Harrison and Hundal delighted with form

As part of his spring marathon preparation, Hundal lined up at Silverstone with more than 6,000 athletes for the Virgin Half Marathon.

With training having gone well, the 45-year-old was confident of a good run despite the cool conditions.

Four laps of the circuit tested all of the athletes but Hundal pushed hard early on, running three sub six-minute miles.

He then settled into a strong pace to finish in a new personal best of 79min 50sec, which gave him 30th overall and fourth in his age category.

“When I saw the weather conditions I knew it was going to be difficult,” said Hundal. “But I stuck to my race plan and am really looking forward to the challenge of the Rotterdam Marathon in April.”

The former RAF base at Long Marston was the venue for Sue Harrison’s first race of 2011, the Shakespeare Runbreeze.com 10k.

Running close to six-minute miling for the full race, she crossed the line with just seven men in front of her to take the prize for first lady.

Harrison was delighted with her time of 37.31, saying: “After a disappointing start to the year this gives me great confidence to hopefully contest some bigger races later in the year.”

Kenilworth Runners’ James Griffiths was one of those athletes ahead of Harrison, recording a personal best time of 36.23 to come fifth.

Also at Long Marston, Leamington C&AC’s Roland Hancock contested the half marathon, finishing 51st in a time of 94min 1sec.

Crewe endurance athlete Lee Riley was not far behind Hancock after setting a new world record for completing the distance while carrying a 40lb backpack.

Hancock’s time of 1hr 36min 56sec saw him overhaul the previous record by almost seven minutes.

Kenilworth Runners’ Rod Goodwin was among the 11,000 runners taking part in the Bath Half Marathon.

Running a negative split, Goodwin took over three minutes off his previous half- marathon best, clocking a time of 1:35.43.

Three Kenilworth Runners took part in the 21st running of the Belvoir Challenge, an event over 16 or 26 miles for walkers and runners around the Vale of Belvoir and Belvoir Escarpment in north-east Leicestershire.

The trio all took part in the 16-mile event, with Tom Dable taking 95th in 2:38.36.

Sally Hicks ran well to finish in 131st place (2:51.19), with Pauline Dable 269th in 3:26.41.

Phil Gould made his fell running debut in the opening round of the English Fell Running Championships, in Shropshire’s Long Mynd Valley.

Kenilworth’s men’s team captain put in a steady performance over the 11-and-a-half mile course, which saw runners ascend a total of 4,500ft, finishing 143rd in 2:05.00.

Pete Matthews finished 180th in a time of 2:12.11, while Celia Mills improved on her 2010 performance, coming home in 2:37:36.

The race was won by Lloyd Taggart of Dark Peak Fell Runners in 1:34.25.

Richard Whiting was the first Kenilworth Runner home in the 56th Coventry Parkrun, coming 13th over the 5k course in 19.35. Clubmate Clive Pearce was 22nd in 20.23.

Finally, Ken Edwards knocked more than three minutes of his best when clocking an unofficial time of 1:45.34 in the inaugural Droitwich Half Marathon.