THE Ashford 10k road race came back to its roots in celebrating the race’s 21st anniversary on Sunday.

Another massive field ran, strolled and in many cases walked the 10k through Ashford helping Ashford Athletic Club and the many charities the runners support in the process.

The newly renamed Givauden 10k race basked in the sunshine and it was a great day for the host club who took a brilliant 1-2-3 in the men’s race also clinched the men’s team prize.

There was a terrific battle at the front led by medical student Andy Welch who led from the gun but was pushed all the way by teammate Lynton Lythgoe.

And third was the consistent veteran Kevin Williams.

Meanwhile, women’s race on Sunday had a measure of the tortoise and hare about it with Folkestone Running Club’s Rona Loubser timing her race well to claim the top trophy.

Rona, who was third in the Folkestone half marathon last week, showed her strength to pace her response after a fast start by Deal Tri’s Jill Cliff and Ashford AC’s Janine Brown.

The Deal runner powered to the front but admitted she ran out of steam at about the halfway mark where she was passed by Brown who has now moved to Ashford despite still working as a policewoman in London.

But even she succumbed as the talented South African woman from Folkestone steadily applied the heat to first overhaul Cliff and then take the former Folkestone-based Brown in the run-in to the stadium.