ATHLETICS: Deed wins once more

Starting and finishing in the grounds of Venue 360, the runners enjoyed near perfect running conditions.

Darren Deed, a 12-times winner, took the early lead from recent Marston 5K winner Paul Farmer.

Deed and Farmer started their running careers with Vauxhall AC 25 years ago under race director Des Haughney, who still coaches Deed, and it was the Bedford and County runner who comfortably extended his lead to finish in 15.25mins.

Club mate Andrew Inskip was almost two minutes down after a sprint finish with Farmer for second place.

In the Ladies race, Christine Lathwell also had a comfortable victory finishing in 33.02mins from Dunstable Road Runners duo Sarah Thorn and Sarah Shynn.

The veteran prizes were won by Stuart Still (Luton AC) and Linda Scanlan (Stopsley Striders).

Stopsley also dominated the male age groups with Chris Lamont V60, Alan Weir V65 and PJ Hough V70 winning their respective titles and also the mixed team winners with Scanlon, Elizabeth Rollinson, Mark Sains, Lee Murphy and Gez Fallon the scorers.

In the veteran ladies categories, Lorraine Daglish (Luton AC) took the V55 title, Margaret Dewinter (Dunstable road runners) the V60 and Jackie Keenan (Bedford Harriers) the V65.

The next race in the three race series, the Wardown 5k, takes place at 11.00am on Sunday.

The race this year incorporates the County championships and entries will be taken on the day or online. For further information, go to www.lutonac.co.uk.

For a full set of results, see the News/Gazette on sale now.