Essex was the host with the most trophies after the Essex 20-mile Championships and Inter-County team race at Debden Airfield, Saffron Walden on Sunday (5 March 2023).

An astonishing 28 athletes finished inside two hours and we also saw a high-quality women's race with the top five going under 2:10:00 on the slick four-and-a-bit laps course.

Active Training World promoted this annual pre-spring marathon workout for top club athletes and there were Essex County Championship titles at stake as well as the Inter-County invitational match which was contested by six teams in both genders.

In the men's race, Peter Robinson (wearing #1 in the photo above from last year) justified his pre-race favourite status as he easily repeated his Essex gold medal-winning run from 2022, just seven seconds slower this year in 1:45:59.

The Springfield Striders athlete was three minutes clear of Jack Nixon (St Edmunds Pacers/Suffolk, 1:48:55) and Essex colleagues Peter Coates (Witham RC, 1:49:09) and Shane Boxall (City of Southend AC, 1:49:19).

Team success was sealed by sixth-placed Chris Burgoyne (M40 Springfield Striders, 1:50:39) as Essex cruised clear of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Sussex.

W40 Helen Davies (Ipswich Jaffa, 2:02:19) led the way for Suffolk in the women's race. The remaining sub-2:10:00 times were achieved by Elle Monks (Southampton AC/Hants, 2:03:29), Jesse Lutwyche (Birchfield Harriers, 2:06:25), Jackie Stretton (Springfield Striders, 2:06:56) and W45 Charlie Metcalfe (Ryde Harriers/Hants, 2:07:44).

The team race resulted in a clear win for Elle Monks' Hampshire quartet from Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire as Essex and Sussex failed to finish four scoring athletes.

Results are available via runABC South race listing here.

Image courtesy Essex 20 Road Race on Facebook