THE third race in the Harwich 5K series took place, with runners attempting to beat their predicted times.

The overall winner was Louise Reeve, of Great Bentley Running Club, who managed to beat her time by the biggest margin, posting 28 minutes and 24 seconds.

She was followed by Alistair Dick, of Ipswich Jaffa, and Barbara Law, also from Bentley.

The fastest times on the night were set by a familiar trio.

Harwich runner Rob Reason beat his time from the second race by two seconds to post 16m 54s.

Next quickest was Adam Howlett, of Framlingham, in 17m 22s, followed by Danny Millward, in 17m 29s.

The ladies' race proved the quickest of the series so far.

Victoria Kenny, of Hadleigh, triumphed after posting 18m 30s, just 22s ahead of Colchester’s Laura Shewbridge.

There was another fine run by Harwich runner Madeline Lewis, in third, whose time of 20m 27s was just five seconds short of her personal best (PB).

There weren’t too many PBs around on the night but rising star Archie Barrington sliced three seconds off his to record a new best of 19m 34s.

Last year’s winner, Michael Turner, with 24m 3s, and Anne Herbert, in 26m 46s, were the only other Harwich runners to achieve the same feat.

Plenty of runners did, however, record their fastest times of the year.

Sebastian Keczmerski (19m 22s) and Robin Brookes (18m 41s) are both working their way back into short races after recent marathons.

Ian Cottee’s time of 21m 9s was his quickest since 2010.

Others recording their quickest times of the year included Kieran Callaghan (23m 15s), Alice Cole (25m 27s), Amos Seddon (26m 1s) and Andre Besant (19m 53s).

In the accompanying junior race, the youngsters were also trying to beat their predicted times over a one-mile distance. The overall winner was Tommy Cumner, followed by Alexander and Isabella McCreadie.

The fastest boy was Toby Perry, in 8m 19s, while the fastest girl was Daisy Ward, in 8m 40s.

Also performing well were Annabel Brookes, William Turner and Eleanor Newman.

Elsewhere, Richard Flutter tackled the Welsh trial half-marathon on a very off-road and hilly course.

He finished 35th in the field of just over 500 runners in a time of 1h 49m.

At the Harwich Parkrun there were 62 runners this week - 10 first timers and a total of 17 PBs.

This was down on normal attendance due to the Harwich Sprint Triathlon, which was taking place in the afternoon. Eighteen of the finishers were Harwich Runners and they included Ann Piercy, who has run all 49 runs since the event started.

Saturday was her first time as fastest lady finisher, clocking 24m 51s.

The first male club member to finish was Neil Bridges, in third place - his highest finish position ever.

Justin Cooper Keeble was sixth, in 21m 28s, and Scott Luckey ninth, in 22m.

Angela Walton used the Parkrun as a warm-up for the local triathlon in the afternoon, finishing in 31 minutes.

In the triathlon, she was fourth in her age group in 1h 36m 14s.

The triathlon, now in its 11th year, involved a 300 metres swim, a 25k bike and 5k run.

Twenty club members took part and most of the rest of the club members helped put on the event.

While the weather was not ideal, the rain did hold off and the event was a great success, bringing competitors from all over the country into the Harwich area.

Five club members won their age group and they were Claire Bransby, Jo Higgon, Justin Burls, Dennis Warner and Simon Day.

Day was also second overall in 62m 30s, just 28 seconds behind the winner, Colin Peck.