STRONG winds greeted runners over the second half of the Baileys Nissan Whitstable 10k road-race, staged by Canterbury Harriers on Monday.

The 600-strong field had to battle hard against the elements from Hampton Pier to Beach Walk but the conditions did not deter Neil Renault, who broke clear of his two nearest rivals towards the end of the race to finish 14 seconds clear.

Renault, of Medway and Maidstone AC, proved stronger than Ryan Prout, of Thrift Green Trotters and Ashford AC's Lynton Lythgoe over the closing stages to cross the finishing line in 32min 17sec.

First lady was Claire Colmer (Bexley AC) in a time of 37.55, more than two minutes ahead of Invicta East Kent’s Sharon Hawkins and Claire Gibson (Cambridge Harriers).

Invicta's international athlete, Charlotte Dale, the overall winner in 2005 and hot favourite for the women’s race, was forced to drop out through injury.

Essex club Thrift Green Trotters, who compete in large numbers each year, lifted both the men’s and women’s team prizes.

RESULTS:

Men:

1 Neil Renault (Medway & Maidstone AC) 32min 17sec, 2 Ryan Prout (Thrift Green Trotters) 32.34, 3 Lynton Lythgoe (Ashford AC) 32.43, 4 Sam Rigby (Folkestone RC) 34. 37, 5 Dale Laughlin (Thrift Green Trotters) 34.41, 6 Theo Bateley (Deal Tri) 34.51, 7 Garon Hislop (Chelmsford AC) 35.05, 8 Martin Gaunt (Serpentine RC) 35.28, 9 Ian Reid (Medway & Maidstone AC) 35.56, 10 John Barker (Thrift Green Trotters) 36.17.
Veteran's categories: MV40, Dale Loughlin (Thrift Green Trotters) 34.41; MV45, Theo Bateley (Deal Tri) 34.51; MV50, Alan Butler (Thrift Green Trotters) 37.30; MV55, Barry Smith (Swanley & District AC) 42.52; MV60, John Kemp (Aquila AC) 44.32; MV65, Joe Cleverley (New Eltham Joggers) 50.32.

Women:

1 Claire Colmer (Bexley AC) 37.55, 2 Sharon Hawkins (Invicta East Kent AC) 40.03, 3 Claire Gibson (Cambridge Harriers) 40.30, 4 Lucy Hadler (Unattached) 40.45, 5 Zoe Traynor (Kent Police RC) 41.34, 6 Nicola Susans (Larkfield AC) 41.36, 7 Chloe Hammond (Bexley AC) 43.34, 8 Francis Crozier (Southampton University) 44.04, 9. Hayley Pegg (Thrift Green Trotters) 44.14, 10. Nikki Smith (Folkestone RC) 44.29.
Women’s categories: FV35, Kathy Sherlock (Unattached) 45.13; FV40, Sharon Hawkins (Invicta East Kent AC) 40.03; FV45, Vicky Talbot- Rosner (Invicta East Kent AC) 45.25; FV50, Liz Banks (Unattached) 50.12; FV55, Sue James (Paddock Wood AC) 45.09; FV60, Kenwynne Barber (Unattached) 64.38.