Twenty-two runners braved the bitterly cold wind on Tuesday evening to compete in the fourth race of Waveney Valley AC winter 5km handicap series.The majority of the runners found the gusty wind hard going, especially on the long straight finish of each of the three laps, so most of the times recorded were down on the previous races.

Twenty-two runners braved the bitterly cold wind on Tuesday evening to compete in the fourth race of Waveney Valley AC winter 5km handicap series.

The majority of the runners found the gusty wind hard going, especially on the long straight finish of each of the three laps, so most of the times recorded were down on the previous races.

Some of the runners found the difficult conditions to their liking, especially Waveney's David Pryce who had the strength to finish strongly on the final lap.

He managed to just overhaul Lowestoft Road Runner's Lisa Braat, who led most of the way, to clinch first place overall with a season best time of 23:51.

Lisa also posted her best time for this series in clocking 27:58. Lisa's team-mate Genna Smith took third place overall with her actual time of 29:31.

Once again there were some very close runs to the line, especially between mother and son Carol and James Maycock, who had a very competitive run to the finish.

Carol, who started ahead of James, was determined to keep ahead of him. But, James was also working hard to gain on her and managed to overhaul 12 runners, but just failed to pass his Mum - only a second separated the two.

Carol stopped the clock at 31:02 with her actual time of 25:02 while James crossed the line in seventh place in 31:03 with his actual time being 19:13.

James' solid run did earn him some rewards. He now tops the league table with 117 points.

The previous leader Steve Warman put in a below par performance due to a sore foot and slipped down to second place overall but is only three points adrift. Sue Rendal-Read and Steve Kenyon are joint third with 107 points.

Steve clocked the fastest time of the night with 19:07 and another of Waveney's athletes, Alice Wicks, recorded the fastest female time in recording 22:04.

The penultimate race in the series will be on Tuesday, February 5. Once again thanks must go to the officials who also had to turn out on such a bitterly cold evening.

Results (actual time in brackets)

1 David Pryce WVAC 30:21 (23:51), 2 Lisa Braat LRR 30:28 (27:58), 3 Genna Smith LRR 30:51 (29:31), 4 Pauline Norman LRR 30:55 (24:15), 5 Steve Barber WVAC 30:55 (20:25), 6 Carol Maycock BBD 31:02 (25:02), 7 James Maycock WVAC 31:03 (19:13), 8 Kevin Smith LRR 31:05 (20:55), 9 Steve Kenyon WVAC 31:17 (19:07), 10 Nigel Lungenmuss-Ward LRR 31:19 (22:19), 11 Phil Laurier LRR 31:23 (27:13), 12 Alice Wicks WVAC 31:24 (22:04), 13 Nick Carter LRR 31:30 (25:50), 14 Shaun Lark LRR 31:36 (19:16), 15 Steve Rendal-Read LRR 31:51 (20:31), 16 Barry Cartwright LRR 32:01 (24:31), 17 Matt Nicholls WVAC 32:06 (22:46), 18 Chris Harboard GtYar RR 32:11 (30:11), 19 Sue Rendal-Read LRR 32:29 (26:09), 20 Barry Smith LRR 32:51 (22:21), 21 Hollie Blowers WVAC 33:12 (26:12), 22 Steve Warman WVAC 33:35 (27:15).