COLCHESTER Harriers enjoyed some fantastic results at the Ekiden Marathon Relay, held at Woodbridge School.

They were aiming to battle for all the titles, against tough opposition.

Sixty Harriers competed in this popular event, which sees six in a team, running legs of 7.2km, 5km, 10km, 5km, 10km, and 5km.

As expected, the senior men's race was close, with Harriers having to settle for second place, a couple of minutes behind winners and rivals Ipswich Jaffa.

The men clocked a superb time of two hours and 26.7 seconds.

Ramadam Osman was the fastest 5km leg on the day, clocking 16m 35s.

Adrian Mussett was third fastest 10km man in 33m 3s and there were also superb times from young debutants Cameron Humpfries and Adam Sawyer.

The B team, led by Ged McMillan, were a fine ninth, with Danny Millward clocking 17m 52s and Max Caulfield 19m 1s, both having excellent 5km legs.

Harriers' lady veterans, led by Sarah Stradling, swept to victory, knocking eight minutes off the course record in 2h 59m 9s, while the super vet men, captained by Martyn Clarke, were also champions, passing rivals Jaffa on the last leg to clock 2h 46m 41s and also set a new age group record by three minutes and 12 seconds.

Harriers' over-40 men's team, led by Keith Marley, made it a hat-trick of victories with a four-minute victory over Newmarket Runners in 2h 37m 40s, with Richard Heath running a superb last leg in 17m 35s.

The senior ladies ran a good race and were pleased with fourth spot in 3h 7m 1s, with Becky Cooke managing 42m 28s for 10km and Sophie Stephenson 22m 20s for 5km both running well in the hot and humid conditions.

Harriers had four teams in the mixed category, which boosted 72 teams.

They finished ninth, 14th, 17th and 20th, with the bonus of Andrew Dagges' team busting the three-hour barrier in 2h 59m 17s.