Halstead Road Runners’ ladies put in an impressive performance to finish 11th out of 18 teams at the Essex County Cross-Country Championship at Woodford Green.

It was a muddy five-mile course for the ladies and a gruelling seven miles for the men and Halstead’s runners competed in a very competitive field, which boasted many county and national standard athletes.

First home for Halstead in the ladies’ competition was Mal Candler in 56th spot overall.

Hazel Buist was 59th, Wendy Carter 65th, Roise Atkins 73rd and Nicole Smith 98th.

However, while the ladies’s team finished 11th, the men’s team failed to field the required six athletes, so despite some spirited individual runs, they failed to score.

Individual results saw Richard Candler 110th, Jon Buist 123rd, Sam Wolton 134th and Andy Carter 165th. Meanwhile, the Cold Christmas to Good Easter Trail Marathon proved fruitful for Bob Langley and Andy Wilmot as both took age group honours.

Langley made light work of the wet and muddy 27.2-mile course to finish in a very impressive four hours 40 minutes to take first place in the Male Vet 60 category.

Marathon legend Wilmot scooped first in the Male Vet 70 category with a time of 6h 20m.