Colchester Harriers’ endurance runners put themselves to the test over the weekend in the Stour Valley Path 50K Ultra marathon.   Run over a challenging 50 kilometre section of the Stour Valley Path from Sudbury to Brantham, the race was run in line with new Covid-19 guidelines involving, among other things, staggered start times for the 200 or so competitors.

Allen Smalls led the way for Colchester, the veteran runner rolling back the years to record a superb time of 4:04:27 and finish second overall in a strong field.  Not to be outdone Victoria Primmer, on her ultra debut, also had a remarkable run, finishing fourth female in 5:20:52.  Simon Smith clocked 5:26:57 with Chris Panton clocking an encouraging 6:44:51 over the mainly off-road course.  Mark McKeown made it to 30K before retiring with a foot injury.

#Harriers also had a couple of entrants in the 100K event with Andrew Jobling having to pull out after 60K and Mark Wigley after 40K. Elsewhere Malcolm Statham was completing his 225^th marathon, running 3:49:55 in the Great Barrow Marathon in Bury St Edmunds whilst Simon Morgan ran 47:12 to win the 5 mile Escape from the Museum Trail Race near Maldon, the Tiptree based runner’s first trail victory in a green Harriers vest.