A DOZEN Pickering Running Club members competed in the Helmsley 10k on Easter Sunday keen to earn points in the club league standings.

Runners enjoyed ideal conditions, with a recent dry spell ensuring sound going along the off-road section.

However, the difficult route demanded runners climb more than 300 feet on a three-mile stretch through Carlton before heading across and towards Monk Holme Wood, through fields and back to the recreation ground.

First home for PRC was Mike Todd, who has benefited from recent off-road training to finish in 41 minutes seven seconds.

Next back was club coach Graham Harrison, who has had a break from competing but showed no sign of a dip in form to clock 42-05.

Not far behind was Paul Smith, who smashed his previous year’s time to bag third in category in 42-19.

Testing his trail-racing legs was Russ Grayson (43-04), who has shown a meteoric rise in form since starting running less than a year ago.

Club stalwart Mike Hetherton (45-10) came back from a recent lull to win the veteran-60 prize with a well-paced run, while Simon Ridley (45-29), despite a recent conversion to ultra-running, upped the tempo again to suit this distance.

Next for PRC came Lynn Humpleby (46-31), followed by in-form Tess Roebuck (48-46), Simon Tyrrell (49-24) club chairman Steve Hampshire (50-37), Jennifer Roebuck (54-56), Shirley Tyrrell (56-41) and Marion Bets, who clocked 65-23 only a week after completing the London Marathon.

Bets had been one of three PRC runners among the 30,000 who braved record-breaking crowds and unseasonably warm weather in the capital.

First home of the trio was Ian Farrer in four hours one minute, while Sue Slack clocked an excellent 4-20 and raised money for the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign.

Months of training paid off for Bets, who put in strong performance for the first half of the course and finished in 5-31.