The Hampshire Road Race League resumed after a weather-enforced delay and 18 Farnham Runners travelled to compete in the Salisbury 10-Mile Race.

With the Eastleigh 10km rescheduled for June, there are still four meetings left and the Farnham ladies A and B strings are on course to remain in the top divisions, while the men’s A and B sides are hopeful of promotion back to the top flight.

Matt Saker gained an excellent sixth place in the M40 section, recording 1hr 1min 46sec, and was 39th overall out of 774. Matthew Morgan secured the second team slot with 1-03-00 and Rob Gilchrist, returning to club racing, made a valuable contribution in 1-04-23.

Charles Ashby, after a high mileage week and a long run the day before, managed 1-05-10 for ninth M50. The A team placed second in Division Two and stay second on aggregate, just two points above close rivals Isle of Wight Road Runners. Fast-improving Harvey Wickham recorded a personal best 1-05-56.

James Clarke ran a steady pace for 1-07-43, followed by Ali Hardaway in 1-12-26 and Chris Cramp 1-15-01. This B team came second in B Division One and remain top after eight events, a comfortable seven points above the second-placed club and ten points above third.

Tim Farrant clocked 1-16-01.

A strong trio of Emma Pearson (personal best 1-12-27), Emma Russ (1-15-12) and Eloise Stradling (1-16-05) gave the ladies A seventh place on the day and eighth on aggregate, a safe 16 points above the relegation group.

Tenth place for the B string was achieved by good performances from Sarah McCulloch (1-21-15), Anne Snelson (1-23-16) and Victoria Gow (1-50-18), keeping them in mid-table. Not far behind were Jackie Wilkinson (1-50-50) and Susan MacKenzie (1-52-39), forming an incomplete C team that came a valuable sixth out of 15 clubs in B Division Two.

Nine Farnham Runners completed the Brighton Marathon which took place in ideal conditions.

Ali Hardaway and Harvey Wickham crossed the line together, both delighted with times of 3-34-22 and 3-34-23 respectively. Hardaway, with just eight weeks training after a back injury, was well within his realistic target time.

It was Wickham’s fifth marathon, but his first since joining Farnham Runners, and he attributed a remarkable improvement of 27 minutes to his personal best time partly to advice about speed and training from club members.

Next back for Farnham was Paul Mackie who was also chuffed with a time of 3-37-46, a personal best by 14 minutes. Michael Stevens achieved a creditable 3-44-00 in his first attempt at the distance. He also thanked members for their help and advice and raised almost £1,300 for the NSPCC.

Mike Taylor, running his 26th marathon, recorded 3-54-42, while Keith Marshall bravely fought off injury to return in 3-59-05. Long-standing member Steve Murphy managed 4-27-35 and Spencer Barfield clocked 4-31-09, having given assistance to someone on the way round.

Philip Masters (4-54-30) finished a fine 11th out of 27 in the M70 category, raising £300 for Get Kids Going.

James Clarke chose the Great Welsh Marathon in Llanelli for his second tilt at the distance. He enjoyed the course, though it was very windy, and set a new personal best of 3-05-26 for an excellent eighth place.

Linda Tyler represented the club in the Paris Marathon and recorded an impressive 3-50-02.

Susie Marsden, meanwhile, completed her fourth Marathon des Sables, one of the toughest foot races in the world.