STUART Holloway registered a bumper win at the Larmer Tree 20mile race on the demanding trails of the Rushmore Estate near Sixpenny Handley, writes John Ruskin.

Thriving on the soft going underfoot, he crossed the finishing line in a notable 2hours 18mins 52sec to lead City of Salisbury to a fine team win.

Mike White with 2.57.50 in 10th and Richard Larcombe in 3.31.14 were the others to enjoy sharing the team spoils.

Linda Robson led the ladies home in a steady 4.29.47, followed by Mel Murphy 4.29.49, Jackie Chlebowski 4.51.34 and Jane Whiteley 5.29.32. Colin Martin completed the set with 5.04.44.

In the 10mile event at the same venue, Liz Roberts not only finished 10th overall but won her age group with an excellent 1.42.19 and after her came Susanne Howland in a promising 1.56.41, Kathryn Dreyer 2.18.38, Jeanette Hardiman 2.18.43, Tim Friedlander 2.25.55 and Andy Robbins 2.26.32.

Phil Perry continued his remarkable series of monthly marathons with 4.10.07 in the Larmer 26miler, some way ahead of David Osmund’s 4.37.45 and Di Cross 5.19.11. Liz Roberts defied fatigue from the previous day to clock 5.54.24, with Kathryn Waterworth close on her heels at 5.54.25 and Charlotte Boardman 6.27.19.

Craig Murphy was Salisbury’s only contender in the half marathon variation and was timed at 2.05.11.

This Sunday the focus switches to the Hampshire road race league’s Eastleigh 10k, where more than 40 Salisbury athletes are due to face the starter.

  • SALISBURY'S Lucy-Jane Matthews scooped gold in the Combined Events (Pentathlon) in Sheffield on Sunday. She managed to gain personal bests in all five disciplines with a points total of 3,649.