NATASHA Belsom continued Ipswich Jaffa's domination of the ladies' circuit, while David Miller added another victory to his impressive total at the annual Hadleigh 10-mile road race on Sunday.

By Carl Marston

By Carl Marston

NATASHA Belsom continued Ipswich Jaffa's domination of the ladies' circuit, while David Miller added another victory to his impressive total at the annual Hadleigh 10-mile road race on Sunday.

Jaffa have scooped most of the female individual and team awards on the Suffolk stage this year, spearheaded by multi-club record holder, Helen Decker.

Other Ipswich team-mates have followed suit, not least the duo of Belsom and Jayne Williams, who enjoyed a one-two over 10 undulating miles on country lanes around Hadleigh and Layham.

Belsom has been in good form on the cross country scene, as well as on the roads. A recent winner of the Stowmarket Scenic Seven, the 21-year-old again took top spot in a time of 65mins 07secs.

Club-mate Williams was just over a minute behind in second. She clocked 66.26, and was also the first veteran home from a field of 375 entrants, and 333 finishers.

Over-45 veteran Tracey Curl, from Norwich Road Runners, was third in 66.48, a mere three seconds ahead of Sudbury Joggers' Amanda Henry. Her Sudbury club-mate, Carol Shaw, was first in the over-50 category, as were Ipswich Triathlon Club's Lucy Bowditch and Wymondham AC's Veronica Manly in the over-40 and over-55 age groups respectively.

Miller is now fully recovered from a recent hip injury. The Woodbridge Shuffler rattled up his 19th win of this year, and the 169th victory of his career, in a time of 55.17. The 36-year-old was well clear of the field.

David Laing used to dominate races in the same way that Miller has triumphed over the last decade, and the Ipswich Jaffa veteran is still competing at a high level. Laing was second overall and the first veteran in 56.49.

Ultra-distance specialist, Allen Smalls, made light work of the cold and windy conditions to take third spot in 57.46. Smalls was recently crowned the national Montrail champion, confirming his title as the country's best ultra trail runner.

Fellow Colchester Harrier, Chris Sellens, ran an impressive 58.26 in fifth place, followed by club-mate David Wright, who was second over-45 veteran. This Harriers' trio were second to Ipswich Jaffa in the team stakes.

Laing was joined by Gavin Davies (sixth in 58.46) and Neil Wooby (ninth) in the winning Jaffa team.

In the other age groups, Great Bentley RC's Geoff Tomlinson was first in the over-45 class, finishing one place ahead of over-50 champion Alan Dawson, of Saint Edmund Pacers.

Colchester Harriers AC's Arthur Whiston lifted the over-55 trophy, while Andrew Bailey, of Halstead Road Runners, continued his winning streak in the over-60 section (fine time of 66.21). The same could be said for Glyn Peck, of Harwich Runners, in the over-65s.

Other Colchester Harriers to compete were Sandy McMillian (personal best of 67.06), Philip Lancaster (PB of 79.49), Rachel Richardson-Wright (88.59) and 79-year-old Peter Thomas (103.29).

Three members of Tiptree Road Runners also set personal bests. Nick Reynolds took over a minute off his previous landmark with 62.50, which earned him third spot in the over-40s, while Laura Shewbridge sliced 20 seconds off her PB with 68.35.

Carolyn Bownes improved her two-week old best with 84.42, a time that was 16 minutes faster than her run on the same course last year, and Sarah Ivory made a great club debut at 10 miles in 68.44.

Also in action for the Tiptree club were Mark Brewer (66.25), Calum Peterson (79.00), Gerry Dolden (83.00), Helen Ivory (83.54), Ian Linton (83.55), Barry Dobson (84.40), Rachel Humphries (90.45) and Anne Gomer.

This popular annual event, staged from Hadleigh United Football Club, was sponsored by Babergh District Council's Recycling Team, and organised by Hadleigh Hares.

For the first time, there was also a supporting junior fun run which attracted a field of 55. James Sanders, from hosts Hadleigh, was the overall winner.

Results from Hadleigh 10

Top 40 men: 1 D Miller (Woodbridge Shufflers) 55.17; 2 D Laing (Ipswich Jaffa) 56.49; 3 A Smalls (Colchester Harriers AC) 57.46; 4 S Whiting (London Frontrunners) 58.03; 5 C Sellens (Col/Harr) 58.26; 6 G Davies (Jaffa) 58.46; 7 E Phillips (London Fr) 59.02; 8 P Hamble (Halstead Road Runners) 60.01; 9 N Wooby (Jaffa) 60.33; 10 W Benton (Sudbury Joggers) 60.36.

11 B Caisey (Unattached) 60.38; 12 A Bunn (Norwich RR) 60.45; 13 G Tomlinson (Great Bentley RC) 60.57; 14 A Dawson (Saint Edmund Pacers) 61.34; 15 D Wright (Col/Harr) 62.06; 16 G Roper (Norwich RR) 62.11; 17 T Jarrett (Jaffa) 62.25; 18 C Thomas (Gt Bentley) 62.48; 19 N Reynolds (Tiptree RR) 62.50; 20 M Earle (Un) 62.51.

21 S Lark (Lowestoft RR) 62.03; 22 D Judd (Sudbury) 63.14; 23 N Stonehouse (Ipswich Triathlon Club) 63.21; 24 J Lowe (London Fr) 63.22; 25 M Ball (City of Portsmouth) 63.24; 26 J Smith (Sudbury) 63.44; 27 R Young (Colchester & Tendring AC) 63.52; 28 D Preece (Hadleigh Hares) 64.11; 29 J Ridgeon (Un) 64.13; 30 P McClelland (Harwich) 64.33.

31 L Rudland (Jaffa) 64.48; 32 M Clark (Sudbury) 64.55; 33 J Thorpe (Jaffa) 65.03; 34 N Rogers (Un) 65.24; 35 M Rutter (Harwich) 65.31; 36 S Green (Stowmarket Striders) 65.33; 37 W Kern (Halstead RR) 65.38; 38 D Kay (Halstead RR) 65.59; 39 B Jones (Jaffa) 65.54; 40 C Green (Gt Bentley) 65.56.

Top 30 ladies: 1 N Belsom (Jaffa) 65.07; 2 J Williams (Jaffa) 66.26; 3 T Curl (Norwich RR) 66.48; 4 A Henry (Sudbury) 66.51; 5 E Hall (Mid-Essex Casuals) 67.19; 6 L Shewbridge (Tiptree RR) 68.35; 7 S Cookson (Belgrave Harriers) 68.35; 8 S Ivory (Tiptree RR) 68.44; 9 L Turnidge (Wellington Scottish Harriers) 68.44; 10 L Bowditch (Ipswich Tri) 69.52.

11 R Fok (Harwich) 69.59; 12 M Narey (Stowmarket) 72.22; 13 N Pyle (Col/Tend) 74.07; 14 K Thomas (Harwich) 76.09; 15 S Fossberg (Un) 76.21; 16 H Suttle (Un) 76.36; 17 C Prance (Stowmarket) 77.03; 18 K Murray (Halstead RR) 77.21; 19 S Newman (Un) 77.44; 20 C Howland (Felixstowe RR) 78.12.

21 V Manly (Wymondham AC) 78.47; 22 C Batterham (Triathlon Essex) 78.52; 23 K Denwood (Stowmarket) 79.14; 24 M Gordon (Felixstowe RR) 79.15; 25 P Norman (Lowestoft RR) 79.30; 26 S Belaon (Un) 79.31; 27 A Paton (Stowmarket) 79.33; 28 S Morris (Haverhill) 79.57; 29 J Mckay (Gt Bentley) 80.24; 30 L Mills (Stowmarket) 80.39.

Male veterans, over-40: 1 Laing, 2 Whiting, 3 Reynolds. Over-45: 1 Tomlinson, 2 Wright, 3 Roper. Over-50: 1 Dawson, 2 K Macrosson (Jaffa) 66.31; 3 G White (Bildeston Bounders) 66.47. Over-55: 1 A Whiston (Col/Harr) 71.16; 2 D Gardiner (Un) 74.32; 3 T Hamblett (Un) 77.51. Over-60: 1 A Bailey (Halstead RR) 66.21; 2 A Wilmot (Halstead RR) 75.36; 3 J Greener (Bildeston) 76.49. Over-65: 1 G Peck (Harwich) 74.18.

Female veterans, over-35: 1 Williams, 2 Cookson, 3 Turnidge. Over-40: 1 Bowditch, 2 Narey, 3 Pyle. Over-45: 1 Curl, 2 K Stannett (Ipswich Tri) 84.09; 3 C Bownes (Tiptree RR) 84.42. Over-50: 1 C Shaw (Sudbury) 82.57; 2 S Holmes (Un) 83.40; 3 H Ivory (Tiptree RR) 83.54. Over-55: 1 Manly, 2 Norman, 3 M Wright (Jaffa) 86.44.

Men's teams: 1 Jaffa, 2 Colchester Harriers