THE cold weather did nothing to deter eight BRAINTREE AND DISTRICT ATHLETIC CLUB runners, in the Great Bentley Half Marathon.

They joined a field of 733 to compete in the half marathon, which was run on a very flat rural course.

The race is ranked fourth in the UK for personal best (PB) potential and best race in Essex for the year.

It was also the first Essex Championship road race for 2009.

All of Braintree’s newer runners achieved PBs, gained from hard training over the winter months.

Simon Mennell was first in for the club in one hour 30 minutes 41 seconds, his best time for more than four years.

Next came Mark Fribbens, who knocked three minutes off his PB with a time of 1h 38m 12s.

Lee Gardham finished in 2h 00m 34s (PB), followed by David Gethin in 2h 2m (PB) and Freya Rowling, who smashed her PB by more than ten minutes to finish in 2h 04m 06s.

Lisa Pohl and Wendy Smalley stayed together for most of the race, with PB times of 2h 10m and 2h 10m 30s respectively.

Vicky Hadden clocked 2h 20m 50s, a great time for a first half marathon.