CITY of Salisbury runners took on the best roadrunners in the region at the Solent Half Marathon for round two of the Hampshire road race league series.

Highest placed Salisbury man on the day was Stuart Holloway whose steady 76.22 was three minutes down on the Winchester AC under-23-year-old George King, and put him in eighth place.

Ten minutes further down the field was Rithy Hy in an encouraging 86.30, within a minute of his best at the distance. He was closely followed by Steve Auton, one of the few finishers to record a big personal best after a string of improving recent performances at shorter distances, and the outcome was a highly promising 88.08 to complete the club’s A squad.

Jo-Anne Gready again ran well to lead out the women’s team, crossing the line in 96.36. Kate Mansfield was next points scorer with 104.03 and longer-distance specialist Liz Roberts followed with 116.08 to round off the trio.

The men’s B team featured a close tussle between Tony Hewett and Clive Smith, crossing the line just five seconds apart with 92.08 and 92.13 respectively. Nick Willetts then clocked 95.19 and Andy Budgell 98.17 to produce a good result.

The next fixture on the league programme on Sunday, November 1 is the Lordshill 10mile near Southampton.

In the Cheltenham Half Marathon, Mike White clocked a good 93.21 while in a five mile race at Southampton, young Ben Stott was timed at 29min 6sec and veteran Mel Holloway 39.08.