HARWICH Runners fielded two teams at the popular Essex Way Relay.

While most clubs hailed from Essex, this year was notable with the presence of a visiting team from Holland, who finished 13th.

Springfield Striders claimed victories in the open, ladies' and veterans' categories.

The Essex Way is a 10-leg race over 81 miles, starting in Epping with the finish line in Harwich.

The legs ranged in length from 5.3 to 11.2 miles.

Harwich Runners managed to field two teams this year.

Justin Burls got his team off to a good start, claiming 16th place of the 59 teams.

Jason Meachen and Kieran Callaghan followed before Robin Brookes was an excellent ninth place on his 10-mile leg. Further good legs followed from Andre Besant, who sadly picked up an injury while running, Rob Warner, Matt Doran and Ian Cannons.

In between those efforts, Rob Reason put in a terrific performance to claim second fastest on his 11.2-mile leg between West Bergholt and Dedham.

The final leg for this team from Ramsey saw Sam Gooding-Matthews finish seventh, to give the team a very good 16th place overall.

The second team finished just three places further back and contained more wonderful performances.

Richard Flutter was a last-minute replacement and managed a great eighth place on his 10-mile leg.

Mark Rutter was 11th on his leg before handing over to Mark Lloyd, who claimed seventh on the longest 11.2-mile leg. Justin Cooper-Keeble ran a good ninth leg while wife Michelle ran the same leg just for fun.

Dennis Warner, Bob Rowles, Sally Gillam, Will Roxby-Clarke and Jeff Higgon contributed further good runs for the cause and Madeline Lewis brought the team home to Harwich with the final leg.

Elsewhere, Jeremy Downs continued his good form with another personal best.

This time he tackled the 10km distance and his time of 56 minutes 15 seconds was a near three-minute improvement.

There were lots of visitors this week at the Harwich Parkrun.

A big group from Northampton Road Runners chose it as their preferred Parkrun.

Tony Letts, from Northampton, stamped his authority on the run and came home in a good time (considering the conditions) of 18m 48s.

He was 48 seconds ahead of local runner Warren Byrd, who crossed the line in 19m 36s.

Third place went to another tourist, Connor Vidal-Cocker, close behind on 19m 42s.

These were the only three to arrive under the 20-minute mark.

In the ladies' section, all three top spots were taken by visitors to Harwich.

A close contest between Andrea James (Colchester Harriers) and Caroline Horden (Basildon AC) saw James cross the line at 21m 12s, with Horden hot in pursuit in 21m 17s.

Another runner from Northampton, Wendy Parker finished third in 23m 52s.

The first Harwich Runner to finish was Simon Day, in 20m 26s, for fourth, and the first Harwich Runner lady finisher once again was Elspeth Knott, also fourth in 24m 4s.

The club performance of the morning must go to Cooper-Keeble.

He is going from strength to strength at the moment.

Finishing fifth and a 45-second improvement, in 20m 26s, is a massive step up.

The weekend also saw the Clacton Triathlon event.

Four Harwich members completed the 1,500m sea swim, 40k cycle and 10k run.

Harwich's first finisher, and 25th overall, was Justin Burls in 2h 17m 47s.

Chris Payne was next, 37th overall, in 2h 20m 55s.

Jeff Higgon was first in his over-60s age group, 54th overall, in 2h 31m 26s and Steve Tatum finished 63rd in 2h 34m 51s.