Warm, sunny conditions greeted most parkruns, throughout Suffolk and Essex on Saturday, none more so than at the 273rd staging of the Colchester Castle parkrun, held over a tough 5K course in Castle Park.
A field of 326 runners, joggers and walkers completed the two laps of an undulating route, led home by Jason Gunn, of the host club Colchester Harriers, who recorded 17mins 30secs. This was 16 seconds slower than his personal best for the course.
Shay Broomhall, in the 15-17 year-old age category, was a good runner-up in a PB of 17:55, a comfortable 20 seconds ahead of third-placed Gavin Scanlan, of Colchester Harriers,
The top five was completed by Mark Smith (18:24) and Jon Nears, another member of the Harriers, in 18:30.
Meera Rajoo-Oakley, a member of Great Bentley Running Club, was the first female finisher in 21:59 (in her 146th parkrun), followed by Jordi Moat (22:35) and Arabella Gilbey (23:33).
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