THE Great Bentley half-marathon saw a great result for Tiptree Road Runners, with Jim Slater winning a county bronze medal in the V60 category.

There was also a top-70 place and club debut for Simon Morgan at the Bentley race, which incorporated the Essex championships, and personal bests (PBs) for Laura Shewbridge, Martin Avent and Jamie Fairfull.

Morgan’s run of one hour 26 minutes 36 seconds was his first half-marathon for more than 15 years and followed on from some great cross-country races, showing that his London Marathon training is well on target.

Shewbridge’s time of 1h 30m 40s was a PB by 90 seconds and took her just outside a top-ten spot in the ladies’ race.

Avent, who is also in training for London, took more than two minutes off his previous best with a run of 1h 35m 14s, while Darren Foy made his club debut at the distance in 1h 39m 10s.

Slater’s medal-winning run of 1h 39m 57s was a great reward for a loyal club servant.

Phill Clarke continued his consistent running with a half-marathon debut of 1h 39m 57s, while Fairfull improved his PB by two minutes with 1h 40m 48s.

Matt Kett made his club debut at the distance in 1h 53m 53s, with Ian Linton and Barry Dobson coming home in 1h 55m 50s.

Paul Shewbridge was unlucky to suffer a stitch for much of the race, finishing in1h 57m 30s, while Carol Lodge continued her marathon build-up with a debut run of 2h 21m 50s.

Meanwhile, at the Sible Hedingham trail races run in difficult conditions after recent snowfall, Roger Duffield completed the six-mile route in 72m 05s.

Kevin Bownes ran the 13-mile event, finishing in 2h 04m 34s.