Nick Goolab (13:34) and Laura Weightman (15:22) rightly took the plaudits, with their course-record breaking runs and respective personal best times, at Saturday evening’s Ipswich Twilight 5K event, where they were crowned English National 5K road champions.
But away from the elite men's and elite women's fields, there were some terrific times posted by many of East Anglia's leading club runners from across Suffolk and North-East Essex.
Hadleigh-based Kieran Clements (Shaftsbury Barnet) was ninth in the elite men's race in 13mins 54secs, while another runner with strong Suffolk links, ex-Woodbridge Shuffler and former Woodbridge 10K champion Aaron Scott, registered 14:38 in the colours of Lincoln Wellington, again in the final race of the day.
- videos and story of Goolab and Weightman's cracking runs at Ipswich Twilight 5K
Meanwhile, former West Suffolk AC athlete Holly Archer (16:05) and ex-Ipswich Harrier Charlotte Christensen (16:56) both ran well in the elite ladies' race.
But away from the limelight, the sub-20 men, in the penultimate race around the Ipswich Waterfront, boasted some of the cream of Suffolk's best, and Essex's finest.
Here is a run-down of some of those eye-catching performances:
Results
Leading local 5K men (chip times): 45 Chris Burgoyne (Springfield Striders) 15:21; 49 Ed Mitchell (Colchester Harriers) 15:39; 51 Ben Carpendanle (Felixstowe RR) 15:39; 52 Matt Spencer (Bungay Black Dog) 15:42; 53 Nathan Goddard (Ipswich Harriers) 15:48; 55 Robert Chenery (Ipswich JAFFA) 15:53; 56 Scott Ramsey (Hadleigh Hares) 15:54; 59 Nate Filer (Col/Harr) 15:56.
62 Peter Miller (Haverhill RC) 16:03; 63 James Pettersson (Ips/Harr) 16:03; 64 Conor Whiting (Ips/Harr) 16:04; 65 Matthew Snowden (Ips/Harr) 16:08; 66 Angus Holford (Col/Harr) 16:09; 68 Jim Last (Framlingham) 16:10; 70 Sam Burditt (Stowmarket Striders) 16:10; 71 Robert Reason (Harwich Runners) 16:12; 72 Alex Jago 16:12; 75 Alex Manton (Springfield) 16:13; 83 Freddie Adams (Ips/Harr) 16:22.
88 Tony Gavin (Felixstowe RR) 16:30; 90 Danny Millward (Col/Harr) 16:31; 93 Malcolm Muir (Ilford) 16:33; 96 Will Law (JAFFA) 16:43; 99 Jack Wilkinson 16:44; 102 Oliver Manning 16:46; 103 Matthew Bennett (Ips/Harr) 16:52; 105 Paul Wain (JAFFA) 16:55; 106 Gary McKivett 16:56; 108 Paul Mingay 16:56 (Col/Harr); 109 Antony Goodall (Springfield) 16:56; 110 Jonathan Glanfield (Felixstowe RR) 16:55.
113 Nicholas Clarke (JAFFA) 17:01; 118 Paul Rodgers (Col/Harr) 17:17; 120 Chris Cooke (Saint Edmund Pacers) 17:13; 122 Jonathan Warner 17:16; 123 Geraint White (JAFFA) 17:18; 124 Kieran Hayles (Sudbury Joggers) 17:18; 125 Stuart Buchan (Stowmarket) 17:20; 126 Tom Adams (Ips/Harr) 17:21; 128 Fergus Crouch (Col/Harr) 17:23; 129 Joe Adams (vet) 17:23.
131 Tim Larke (Stowmarket) 17:35; 132 Nicholas Bell 17:33; 133 Jon Duffney 17:34; 135 Darren Cook (Felixstowe RR) 17:35; 137 James Cornich (Woodbridge Shufflers) 17:49; 138 Matt Payne 17:50; 139 Simon Day (Harwich) 17:51.
Leading local 5K women (chip times): Rebecca Cooke (Col/Harr) 19:14; Colette Green (Felixstowe RR) 20:11; Jasmine Bilner (JAFFA) 20;20; Helen Taczynski (Col/Harr) 20:38; Rebecca Fish 20:34; Rosie Horsfield 20:43; Becky McCorquodale (Harwich) 20:57; Emma Mortimer 20:57; Emilie Wix (Woodbridge) 20:55; Terri Green (JAFFA) 20:59; Racael Hamblyn (JAFFA) 21:21; Marion Bennett (JAFFA) 21:23; Sarah Lewis (Woodbridge) 21:41; Lizzie Hicks 21:50.
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