SOARING temperatures meant predicted times went largely out of the window for the seven Witham Running Club members who took part in the Halstead Marathon.

It is a testy and undulating course that was made tougher by what turned out to be the hottest day of the year so far.

Leading the way for Witham was Leo Cole, who paced himself well and finished in three hours 35 minutes 19 seconds.

New member Cameron Steed, accompanied by his brother, was back in 4h 20m 50s, while Paul Chandler managed 4h 48m 58s.

Tracey Denby and Becky Grimwood were inseparable and both finished with a time of 5h 34m 35s and despite not picking the best day for his first marathon, Tony Smith finished in 5h 52m 19s.

Completing the club's Magnificent Seven was Peter Burns, who made his way round to finish in 7h 24m 58s to ensure that he has entered and completed all 22 Halstead Marathons.

The club also had runners across three other races on Sunday.

At Alton Water in Suffolk, James Blackshaw travelled for the 10K around the lake and he finished in 46m 31s.

New member Dave Holdich took on the Run Hackney Half-Marathon, finishing in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in 2h 12 m 12s.

There were also five members at the Colchester 10K.

Fresh from his Brighton Marathon, Dave Campbell set a new personal best of 38m 41s.

Andy Lager had a fine run to finish in 41m 34s, while Mark Lynch, also now recovered from Brighton, finished in 45m 52s and Shawn Beckerleg was just a little behind him in 46m 44s.

Dawn Shilling was Witham's only female runner there and she finished 14 seconds over the hour mark.