I won the race in 53.59, retaining my Avon title, but a long way off the top of this year's rankings. There were some talented athletes on the start line (notably Rod and Pete Grist) , but not in the best of form, and certainly not looking to run below 53 mins.

Last year I battled with Scott H. all the way round - that took me to a better time, but this year I set off pretty much on my own, and you can't really trust me to keep the pace up for 10 miles. The conditions were OK, there were times when the road was slippery, but I just lost concentration a couple of times, and didn't run as fast as I wanted to.

Sian was saving herself for Tuesday, and Claire H. narrowly missed out on winnning, finishing just behind Telford's Kim Fawke, easily breaking the course record.