There was a real sense of déjà vu at the St Neots Half Marathon last Sunday.
Not only did Huntingdon BRJ star David Hudson triumph for the second successive year, he was also followed home by the same rival.
Hudson crossed the line in 1:11.18 to better his victorious 2017 time by almost a minute. He beat runner-up Jamie Hall by eight seconds on this occasion having had his closest challenger more than a minute-and-a-half behind the previous year.
Hall represented Biggleswade in 2017 but he is now a member of local club Hunts AC and knocked a huge chunk off his previous personal best for the distance.
Hall’s time of 1:11.25 was the quickest half marathon effort by a Hunts AC runner since 1985 and puts him sixth on the club’s all-time list.
Hunts AC also provided two other top-10 finishers. David Connell clocked 1:16.08 for ninth spot with Ty Farrer one position and five seconds further back.
The exploits of Hall, Connell and Farrer earned Hunts AC the team title in an event organised by Riverside Runners and NiceTri, and which attracted close to 1,400 runners.
England international Victoria Knight won the ladies race in a time of 1:16.21 with Riverside representative Jo O’Regan following her home in a new personal best of 1:19.18.
O’Regan was the quickest runner from the host club with Paul Veitch (30th, 1:20.07), Michael Ball (65th, 1:24.10) and Adam Harris (91st, 1:27.37) other Riverside members to run well.
BRJ also claimed age-group honours courtesy of Annette Newton, who triumphed in the FV65+ section in 1:46.29.
The race started on Cromwell Road and took runners on a route through Abbotsley and Waresley before finishing close to Ernulf Academy.
The accompanying 3k fun run was won by a senior runner – Matthew Dicks from Marshall Milton Keynes AC – but local juniors enjoyed success in the age groups.
James Orrell of BRJ was second overall and the first Under 17 Male finisher while Hannah Williams of Riverside was first Under 17 Female.
There was also a Taylor family treble for Riverside with Danielle triumphing in the Under 13 Female section, brother Jake taking the Under 13 Male prize and younger sister Faith winning in the Under 11 Female section.
Rhian Bailey (Under 15 Female), Dylan Jenkins (Under 9 Male) and Esme Lydon (Under 9 Female) were other Riverside victors, while Ciaran Burke (Hunts AC) was the first Under 15 Male to finish.
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