The first round of the 2024 Midweek Road Race League saw Garden City Runners get off to a fine start.

Division Two and Three clubs gathered at Stevenage and the Welwyn Garden City-based outfit had 114 in the combined field.

For the women, Martha Hall was fifth while Zoe Stephens made the top 10 as well, finishing in ninth.

Katherine Farrell was their third female finisher in 12th, two places ahead of Caroline Hale.

Chris Baylis was the first male GCR to finish, six seconds outside the top-10 in 11th. James Huish was 15th with Danny Figg in 20th.

Round two takes the clubs to Ware.

Another nearby race was the Hawkshead Hobble at the Royal Veterinary College with around 20 GCRs involved.

Ran on a very warm Sunday morning, it involved lots of uneven paths through paddocks, tufty grass, steep hills and steps.

In the 10k race, Malcolm Baron was the first GCR male while Clare Wildey Grover took that honour for the women, also managing to place second overall.

Others from the club also took part in the 5k distance.

Spencer White competed in the Centurion Triathlon at Box End and came second in his 50-54 age category.

The event contained a 2.8k swim, an 82k bike ride followed by a 21k run.

He completed the swim in 50 minutes, the bike section in two hours 47 minutes and the run in one hour 54, giving him a total time of five hours 44 minutes, including the transitions.

Aiden Dwyer and Martin Mitchell conquered the Goring Gap 52k Ultra.

Dwyer, running his first ultra, said: "It was a great course through beautiful scenery - not too hilly and a good mix of trail and road.

"I had to dig deep towards the end, especially in the heat, but got it done. This definitely was tough but so worth it."

Mitchell added: "It started cool but started to get very hot later on. I kept myself hydrated and was pleased to come fifth out of 301 runners with a chip time of 4:44."

With the cancellation of the Panshanger Parkrun this week, due to an event in the park, GCRs headed far and wide for their Saturday morning 5k fix.

Hannah Frank took the ladies' win at the Cyclepark in Kent while Amber-Leigh Marvin was second lady at Walsall Arboretum and Lucy Iles third lady at Pymmes, north London.

There were also top 10 finishes for Felicity Wadley (sixth at Stevenage) and Clare Wildey (eighth at St Albans).

Thomas Buzzard was second overall at Henlow Bridge Lakes with Jonathan Foan eighth at Rushmere, Leighton Buzzard.

Barclay in Hoddesdon proved popular and worthwhile, Richard Somerset coming fifth and John McDowall 10th overall, with Caroline Griffin the 10th lady.

Justin Swallow achieved a PB at Stevenage in 24:33.