THE fourth of Minehead Running Club's series of six seafront race nights took place last Wednesday with only a light breeze for runners to contend with.

In the Under 10s event, the West Somerset winners of last month soon established their positions in front, with James Greatorex extending the gap between himself and Danesfield's Michael Hutchinson to 21 seconds as he crossed the line.

Minehead First School's Patrick Reed fended off a late attack from Danesfield's Ryan Strong and Andrew Miles to take third place.

In the girls' race, Taunton took the first three places with Dunster's Natalie Parker fourth in her first race.

With no Taunton opposition to face, Danesfield's Peter Baker led the Under 12s race from start to finish.

Although his time was 20 seconds slower than last month, he was still a quarter of a minute ahead of second-placed Chris Facey from Tiverton.

Darren Gamblin and Danesfield school mate Jason Strong battled it out for third place, Darren eventually getting there by a neck.

The girls' race was lacking Danesfield's Lydia Rosling and Rosie Wilson - leading contenders for the series - and this allowed Minehead's Laura Parker to assert herself, beating Taunton's Fiona Pascall by four seconds.

Minehead's Luke Milton boosted his hopes of taking the Under 14 series title with a victory over rival Julian Morrish from Tiverton.

Adrift by five seconds last month, Luke made amends by confidently putting 60 metres between himself and the Devon number one - but he must win both the remaining two races to secure the overall title.

Girls' overall leader, Tiverton's Melanie Moore, had her confidence shaken by Dulverton's Joanne Leighton, who whittled down her early lead and passed her in the last 600 metres.

The seniors' three-mile race saw Royston Green destroy the field.

Recording the fastest time for many years, he took 37 seconds off his December winning time and was more than 11/2 minutes ahead of second place Brett Rigler.

Behind them, Minehead trio Steve Bosley, Anthony Weaver and Graham Collins had a race of their own, with Steve's finishing burst enough to earn third place on his return to competitive running after a near-two year break.

Ricky Lewis led home the veterans for Minehead, and Matthew Sully took the Under 17s category.

Although Katherine Humphries was the first lady home, her time was over a minute slower than last month, while second-placed Anne Dyer improved by nearly half a minute, outsprinting Taunton's number one Caroline Lewis in the final stages.

RESULTS

Senior Men, 1 R Green (Exeter) 15.04, 2 B Rigler (Exeter) 16.45, 3 S Bosley (Minehead) 16.56; Under 17 Men, 1 M Sully (WSCC) 17.17, 2 H Pascall (Taunton) 19.33, 3 J Leach (Tiverton HS) 24.31; Over 40 Men, 1 R Lewis (Minehead) 17.48, 2 P Daniel (SWRR) 18.36, 3 C Goulty (Minehead) 19.09; Over 50 Men, 1 G Sizer (Minehead) 18.27, 2 A Dyer (Minehead) 18.47, 3 B Coles (Minehead) 20.49; Over 60 Men, 1 J Lethaby (Minehead) 21.07, 2 M Till (Minehead) 22.01.

Senior Ladies, 1 C Lewis (Queens); Under 17 Ladies, 1 K Humphries (Tiverton HS) 19.57, 2 C Bosley (Minehead) 21.50, 3 K Broadly (Queens) 22.02; Over 45 Ladies, 1 A Dyer (Minehead) 21.12, 2 A Coles (Minehead) 22.04.

Under 14 Boys, 1 L Milton (Minehead Middle) 9.49, 2 J Morrish (Tiverton HS) 9.59, 3 Z Osborne (Ladymead) 10.56; Under 14 Girls, 1 J Leighton (Dulverton) 10.29, 2 M Moore (Tiverton HS) 10.45, 3 K Baker (Ladymead) 11.17.

Under 12 Boys, 1 P Baker (Danesfield) 10.46, 2 C Facey (Tiverton HS) 11.01, 3 D Batten (Taunton) 11.18; Under 12 Girls, 1 L Parker (Minehead Middle) 12.03, 2 F Pascall (Taunton) 12.07, 3 M Morrison (Tiverton HS) 13.22.

Under 10 Boys, 1 J Greatorex (Minehead Middle) 5.02, 2 M Hutchinson (Danesfield) 5.23, 3 P Reed (Minehead First) 5.37; Under 10 Girls, 1 T Batten (Taunton) 5.24, 2 Z Round (Kings) 5.33, 3 A Round (Kings) 6.09.

l Next month's races will be the 100th time they have been run and Minehead Running Club is planning a few surprises to mark the occasion.

With some sponsorship, it is hoped to attract runners from further afield in an attempt to break the records for the three-mile senior event - currently 16.04 by Vicky Pincombe for the ladies and Rob Williams' 14.07 for the men.

Any former competitors are also welcome to take part or simply attend the meeting, which is on February 7 from 7.20pm.