Running conditions were good for the 392 competitors who completed the Pleshey Half Marathon on Sunday.

The event, organised by Springfield Striders, was an Essex County Championship race and also a club championship race for Grange Farm and Dunmow Runners (GFDR).

The relatively flat 13.1 mile course took runners along quiet lanes from Pleshey to High Easter and Bishop’s Green before finishing at Pleshey Village Hall.

The race was won by Blair McWhirter of Ilford Athletic Club in one hour, 11 minutes and 18 seconds.

Of the 19 runners from GFDR, nine achieved personal best times.

For the club’s men, James Bosher, finishing 30th, was fastest in a PB of 1:21:12.

Alistair Brown was 31st in a PB of 1:21:32 and was followed by Paul McKenna in a PB of 1:27:51.

Dan Reynolds (1:28:17) finished ahead of Ashwin Shah (1:28:46), while there was a PB of 1:29:51 for James Huertas.

Kevin Marshall ran 1:31:12 and Matt Webster set himself a new PB of 1:32:25, while Ian Lawson (1:36:23) was followed by Simon King (1:36:59, PB), Martin Jackson (1:37:21), James Hawkes (1:43:01), Colin Jackson (1:44:12, PB) and John Hardy (1:49:15).

The fastest of the GFDR’s women was Anita Cox, who crossed the line in a PB of 1:33:59.

She was followed by Claudine Davie in a time of 1:39:35, Gillian Robertson in 1:44:43, Hayley Smith who finished in 1:47:03 and Charlotte King who came home in a PB time of 1:48:18.

GFDR will be hosting the Essex County Championship 10 mile race at Stebbing on November 8.