A large contingent of Bourton Roadrunners overcame an early start to take part in the Reading Half Marathon.

The team of runners departed from Bourton on the Water on Sunday (April 14) morning to participate in one of the oldest events in the country.

The traffic-free event benefited from lots of support around the course in Berkshire to spur runners on.

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Read more: Bourton Roadrunners excel across the country with host of PBs

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Eva Shoemark was the first from the Bourton team to cross the finish line, setting a new personal best with a time of 1:30.49.

Eva's mother, Niamh, also participated, achieving a time of 1:34.44.

Teammates Lisa Braid and Jaq Underwood completed the 13.1 mile course together, clocking a respectable 1:48.06.

Arianna Downs, in her first half marathon, along with Louise Hamilton-Smith, finished closely, with just six seconds difference in their times of 2:13.31 and 2:13.37 respectively.

Bourton teammates Michela Sartori (2:14.27), Claire Carroll (2:14.27), Allie Quinn (2:17.16), Liz Hulcup (2:17.16), Val McKay (2:23.37), Tom Knight (2:24.10), Imogen Cox (who clocked 2:33.21 in her first marathon), and Jenny Evanson (2:52.48) also ran.

In other news, Claire Cox, a seasoned marathon runner, took part in the Manchester Marathon.

The 26-miler, which sees over 21,000 runners take part, saw Cox achieving a time of 3:45.38.

Several runners also took part in the regular Saturday park run.

Bourton's John Harding (25:37) and Chris Dry (26:13) ran in Cheltenham Pittville Park, while Claire Carroll (30:15), Liz Hulcup (31:02), and Louise Hamilton-Smith (31:06) ran in Cirencester.

Megan Ratcliffe (25:15) took part in Evesham, Kate Price (31:38) in St Albans, George Swayne (18:20, PB) and Susan Hunt (25:43) in Stratford-upon-Avon, and Iain Cox (24:51) and Claire Cox (24:52) in The Wammy, Newcastle-under-Lyme.