EIGHT members of Prestatyn Running Club took part in the London Marathon on Sunday.

Five travelled to the English capital and raced on the 26.2-mile route past world-famous landmarks including Big Ben, Tower Bridge and Buckingham Palace.

This included Lisa Johnson and Hannah Garnett, who ran together and crossed the line in a highly creditable 3-57.46. Other runners included Steve Weedman 4-21.30, Andy Clark 4-35.12, Julie Evans 6-19.40.

Meanwhile, those taking part in the virtual version a little closer to home were Alli Reid 4-23.44, Jo Edwards 4-23.55, Ann Claire Jones 4-26.02.

Due to the popularity of the event, the cross-country season opened on a bitter-sweet note for Prestatyn Running Club, with only six senior men turning out for its first fixture of the David Alun Williams North Wales League at Wrexham.

All six were veterans - four of them over 50 - and Lee Bailey and Arwel Jones were both making club comebacks.

There were several positives, however, notably in the fact that four of the seven women who ran were making their debut at the discipline. They included 16-year-old Rowan Graham-Jones, who led the team home.

Martin Cortvriend continued his rich seam of form by winning the M65 class and helping the supervets top the team table by a single point. Steve Skates finished an excellent 8th in the highly competitive senior race.

Ladies: 34 Rowan Graham-Jones 28.16, 58 Jo Lewis 31.15, 63 Pam Graham-Jones 32.12, 65 Julia Evans 32.50, 66 Sophie Johnson 32.55, 77 Debbie Jones 34.53, 86 Many Cartwright 37.06. Supervets.M65: 1 Martin Cortvriend 24.55, 5 George Nixon 29.05. M75: 2 Gareth Hughes 31.55, 8 Steve Hatfield. M80: 1 Roger Harrison-Jones 46.27, 2 Ronald Harrison-Jones 48.09. Senior race: 8 Steve Skates 46.07 (2nd M40), 68 John Simpson 35.45, 77 Lee Bailey 36.42, 104 39.33, 138 Steve Brown 46.07, 140 Arwel Jones 47.30.

One of the reasons for the low turnout was the clash with the London marathon, as well as the Chester Marathon.

In Chester Dean Longley paced his nephew Jordan Mainwaring, who was making his debut at the distance, and they narrowly missed the 3-hour target, clocking 3-01.52. Others: Sian Beck 3-50.07, Gethin Evans 3-50.25, Luke Bodman 44-16.54. Metric Marathon: Darren Thompson 2-05.16, Nem James 3-28.33.

With so many counter-attractions it was not surprising that few members turned out in Parkruns, with Bill Scriven making a tentative return after injury while on a visit to South Wales. Results:- Nova: 6 Steve Stocker 20.40, 56 Linda Friar 31.11 (pb), 57 Debbie Weedman 31.11. Penallta (Ystrad Mynach): 60 Bill Scriven 29.28.

Just a couple of weeks after rejoining the club Shirin Poostchi has claimed a national title, completing a family hat-trick.

The long journey to Swansea proved worthwhile when she won the L50 class in the 1,500 metres at the Welsh Masters’ track and field championships, with an excellent time of 6-33.

Both her son Roman and his father Mike Hodgson have previously been Welsh champions.

On the same weekend and in the same age-group, John Simpson also had a fine run, but the terrain was vastly different. He finished sixth overall in the Half Pedol Peris, which is regarded as one of the toughest challenges in North Wales mountain running. He, too, won his age-group, finishing in 2-23.31.

In the final race in the Wirral Seaside 5k series Martin Cortvriend won the M60 group in 20.23, just outside his pb.