Festive cheer for Edwards as he claims runners-up spot at the Raceways Christmas Cracker 20k

Edwards was locked together with eventual winner Nathan Montague (Swindon Harriers) approaching the end of the first 10k lap.

However, he had to settle for the runners-up spot in a time of 1hr 17min 14sec, with Montague pulling away to win in 1:14:55.

Leamington C&AC had three runners inside the top ten, with Sue Harrison finishing fifth overall and first lady in 80min 15sec.

Clubmates Natalie Bhangal and Paul Okey resumed their season-long battle, with Okey this time passing Bhangal at 9k on his way to finishing eighth in a huge personal best of 84:13.

Bhangal was second lady and tenth overall in 85:47.

Running the 10k event, C&AC’s Alex Montgomery finished 21st in 44:15 - his fastest time of the year.

Kenilworth Runners’ Jon Radley was 33rd in 48:34, with clubmate Michelle Collingham 36th overall in 48:57 and Mandy Crust 53rd in 52:48.

Gary Perkins won the V60 category in 60:30.

There were 187 finishers and the race was won by Stuart Spencer of Charnwood AC in 31:44.

Marie Voice of BRAT was the first female in 39:51.

Kenilworth Runners’ Martin Dorrill, running his second ten-mile race in as many weeks, was delighted with his time of 63:15 at the Sneyd Christmas Pudding race in Bloxwich.

Louise Andrews and Neil Sheward ran together, finishing in 70:23 which was a PB for Andrews.

Tom Dable ran 1:29:56 and wife Pauline clocked 1:35:15.

The race was won by Ed Banks (BRAT) in 52:55.

Kenilworth Runners’ Peter Bryan and Dave Pettifer took part in the Andy Reading Bicester 10k on Sunday, a mostly flat one-lap course from Chesterton on the outskirts of Bicester.

Conditions were good with light rain but no wind.

Bryan was pleased to run his fastest 10k for four years, finishing 30th in 37:15, with Pettifer 50th (2nd V60) in 42:07.

The race was won by Harry Earl of Loughborough Students in 32:35.

Kenilworth Runners’ Richard Zanetti and Karra Herrero travelled down to Milton Keynes for the winter half-marathon.

The traffic-free course took in footpaths in the parks surrounding the town, with Zanetti setting out strongly but fading over the final few miles to complete the course in 1:37:50, just 15 seconds outside his personal best.

Herrero, meanwhile, sliced four minutes off his personal best to clock a time of 1:40:25.

Kenilworth Runners’ Stephen Page ran a new personal best of 32:53 in the Telford 10k to finish 60th in a highly competitive race.

Clubmate Steve Marr also ran a new PB of 34:43 for 99th position.

In a race renowned for fast times, Lee Harrison (37:25) completed a trio of Kenilworth PBs for 190th, with Jon Mettyear clocking 39:30 for 230th.

Spa Striders also took advantage of the flat course, with Will Johnson setting a new club record time of 34:45.

He was followed home by clubmates Kevin White (36:22, PB), Tim Down (37:02, PB), Matt Leydon (46:38, PB) and Chris Jones (48:22).

Striders’ ladies grabbed two top-five finishes in the V35 category with PBs for Clare Hinton (40:42, 3rd V35) and Susie Stannard (41:06, 5th V35), while Fiona Ferguson trimmed her best 10k time to 41:41.

The race was won by Ryan McLeod of Tipton Harriers in 29:40, with seven runners dipping below 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, Claire Westrope also improved her 10k best at Worcester, finishing in 51:44.