BOURTON Roadrunners took to various European locations to compete in three marathons on the same day.

One group visited Romania on their club trip to the Bucharest Half Marathon and Marathon.

The sunny, cool conditions were perfect for running and the course comprised flat, wide, traffic-free boulevards.

In the half-marathon, Mike Smith finished an outstanding fourth and was first male veteran 40 in one hour 13 minutes 40 seconds.

Steph Holton’s commitment to her arduous training schedule paid off as she knocked a huge three minutes off her personal best to finish second (FV45) in 1.38.28. Next in was Susan Hunt in another PB of 1.44.27 for fourth place (FV45). Catherine Wheeler surprised herself with a PB of 1.45.30, while David Pyne ran a well-paced 1.53.27.

Lynn Hudson and Shirley Creed finished well within their target time of sub two hours, in 1.58.17 (Creed fourth FV50) and Hudson third (FV55).

In the Marathon, Ewen Smith managed to hold onto his target of sub three-hour pace for the first half of the race, although he slowed towards the end, finishing in 3.04 to finish 23rd (fifth MV45).

A jubilant Nigel Frith recorded 3.19.53 to smash his personal best by around eight minutes, which also won him the Dennis Abbots Trophy for Best Club Trip Performance.

Meanwhile, on a warm day at the inaugural Bournemouth Marathon, Steve Edwards running his 602nd marathon recorded negative half-way splits of 1.33 and 1.31 to finish in a time of 3.04.33. This was his best time since May 2011 and won him the MV50 prize.

Darren Long just missed out on a second sub three hours this year after recording 3.00.20 for sixth place in MV40 with halfway splits of 1.27 and 1.33.

Shona Crombie-Hicks took part in the Jersey Marathon for a third consecutive year.

Against extremely tough opposition, including France’s Svetlana Pretot, who won the ladies race and smashed the women’s course record, Crombie-Hicks was delighted to finish third in 2.56.23.