It was a warm evening and the undulating trail course made it a tough event. Again, the ladies team, with Claire Woolis, Tracey Holmes and Claire Britnell, all finished in the top 10 of their race to keep Sutton at the top of the Ladies League with only two races left.

The best of the men’s times were: Nick Luke 30:30, Steve Brewer 31:19 and Keith Brown, who kept up his challenge for the VM50 medal with a time of 31:33, for second place in his category on the night.

Other performances of note were Chris Taylor, returning to racing after a serious illness, along with Jodie Sibert and Jean Drury, who completed their first race for the club with more than 230 runners competing.

Sutton Positions and times: 9 Claire Woolis; 13 Nick Luke; 24 Steve Brewer; 27 Keith Brown; 33 Alex Brewer; 35 Dan Bailey; 75 Tracy Holmes; 81 Claire Britnell; 90 Eric Round; 91 Luke Beastall; 111 Chris Taylor; 113 Bryan Timmons; 115 Phil Bird; 127 Mark Smith; 130 Maria Saunders; 132 Tony Theaker; 141 Paul Beasley; 156 Jodie Sibert; 157 Trevor Platts; 161 Marie Bower; 167 Heather Pike; 170 Bev Dawes; 172 Joe Ball; 188 Jean Drury; 197 John Dale; 198 Jill Riley; 199 Terrie Theaker; 201 Linda Timmons; 207 Denise Sherwood; 209 Mick Bird.