THE ladies course record fell at the Bethersden 5-mile road race. An impressive run by Dulwich’s Meredith Pannett saw her finish a superb third in the 200-strong field and a clear winner of the women’s race.

Her time of 27:47 earned her a £50 bonus provided by the organisers for bettering the record of 28:14 set by Kerry Clark of Medway and Maidstone last year.

It was not only too good for most of the male field but left her a distant three and half minutes clear of her nearest female challenger, Bryony Segal in 31:24 and Deal Tri’s Nicky Baron who was third in 32:24.

Baron was the leading W35 runner and best W45 prize went to Hastings’ Sylvia Huggett in 37:36.

Medway and Maidstone dominated the men’s race with top honours going to Andy Thomas winning in 26:19 from teammate Neil Renault with 26:44. Third was Ashford man Dave Harding in 27:50.