Barry Royden of Medway and Maidstone AC won the 2011 Kent 10k road race championships by finishing fourth overall in the Greenwich Meridian race on Sunday.

The open competition was won by Jermaine Mays of Kent AC in a swift 31mins 56secs from Shaun Collins (32:15) of Enfield and Haringey and Rob Jackaman (34:03) of Cambridge Harriers from 433 finishers.

Royden (M40, 34:05) (pictured) was the first entrant in the annual Kent championships to finish and he was 38 seconds clear of club-mate Clayton Barrett (34:43). Luke Armitage (M40, 35:15) of Kent AC was the Kent bronze medallist.

Royden also claimed the M40 masters’ gold from Armitage and Gavin Kitchingham (35:37) of Orpington Road Runners. The M50 winner was Steve Suttle (40:53) of Thanet Road Runners and the new M60 champion is Trevor Edgely (40:59) of Invicta East Kent.

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Maidstone Harriers won the men’s team race by one point from Tunbridge Wells Harriers and Thanet Road Runners were third.

Maria Heslop of Paddock Wood enjoyed a very profitable day as she was the overall women’s winner, Kent senior and W35 masters’ champion and took the prize for the first female athlete to cross the Meridian line. Heslop (W40, 38:23) was followed by Louise Watson (W35, 38:56) of M&M and Helena Penfold (39:04) of M&M in the main awards.

Heslop, Watson and Bernadette Harrop (W35, 42:05) of M&M accounted for the W35 awards and the higher age group champions were W45 Sharon Hawkins (41:53) of Maidstone Harriers and W55 Penny Roberts (59:16) of Paddock Wood.

Medway and Maidstone dominated the team awards from Maidstone Harriers and Paddock Wood.