The 24th Brooks Paddock Wood half marathon was a record breaking event held in cool but sunny conditions from Eldon Way on Sunday morning.

There were 1,733 finishers representing over 70 clubs after a capacity entry of 2,500 runners had registered.

Frank Tickner (Wells City) smashed Barry Royden’s 2002 course record to win by nearly a mile in 1hr5min6sec. Andy Rayner (1:09:11) of Blackheath and Bromley Harriers was runner-up and Mark Greenwood (1:10:23) from Aldershot, Farnham and District completed the top three.

The remarkably durable Tina Oldershaw (Paddock Wood) took her fifth victory in the women’s race to equal the exploits of Sue Martin-Clarke (Medway) who won here in 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995 and 1997. Oldershaw (1:20:58) defended her 2012 title to add to her previous successes from 1998, 2008 and 2010.

The men’s race featured many of Kent’s finest endurance runners with Peter Tucker (Blackheath, 1:10:27), Tom Fewster (Tonbridge, 1:11:54) and Daniel Watt (Tunbridge Wells, 1:12:07) completing the top six.

The women’s race may have had a popular host club winner but London club runners saw off most of the local opposition. Tina Oldershaw was 55 seconds clear of fellow W45 master Claire Bond (Stragglers, 1:21:53) with Catherine Lee (Dulwich, 1:22:05) completing a quality podium.