A TRIO of athletes with PH Racing Club enjoyed a time-and-a-half as they raced to success at a 13-mile run.

John Hammond, who in April made his debut in a Scotland vest at the Anglo Celtic Plate competition, joined Scott Cassidy and Mark Webster in winning the team prize at the Loch Leven Half Marathon.

The trio scooped the accolade just ahead of hosts Kinross Road Runners, with Hammond, who had led earlier in the race, finishing second in a time of one hour, 18 minutes and 14 seconds.

Cassidy, on his PH debut, was 10th in 1:21.25, with Webster finishing17th, clocking a time of 1:24.05.

Malcolm Hammond, John's father, was also in action, finishing as the first V70 competitor in 1:38.07, while others racing for PH included Mark McLean (1:26.52), Alan McGowan (1:28.10), Kevin Hughes (1:28.16) and Clare Graham (1:54.16).

Elsewhere, Scott McDonald, in a time of 37:20, claimed the first V50 spot, and third overall, at the Penicuik 10K, while Michael Lindsay finished fourth, and third male, at the Blast Running #ReclaimTheseStreets 5K in 19:26, with Ed Norton (21:06) finishing seventh and first V70.

There was a second place for Ben Hukins (26:20) at the Strathkinnes-Blebocraigs Race, with Louise and Emma Lessels, the latter of whom was the first under-20 athlete (33:34), placing sixth and seventh, while Allen Marr (35:32) was the second V60 runner home.

The Sri Chinmoy 5K road race, incorporating the Tru Wealth Scottish 5K Road Race, saw a number of PH athletes compete in its first run since 2019.

Norton was again in the medals, winning a V70 silver as he broke the 20-minute barrier for the first time in that age category (19:59), while John Crookston was unfortunate to miss out on a V60 medal, having posted the same time as the bronze-medallist.

Michael Combe (16:06) broke PH's V40 age group record, having also set a relay record from Land's End to John O' Groats with his army colleagues, while Aaron Bennet broke the club's junior best in 16:23.

Others racing included Paul Kieran (16:16), Mark Ryan (16:45), Peter Gibson (16:55), Ewan Taylor (16:56), Mark Webster (17:36) and Andy Jannetta (17:43).

In the women's race, Judy Turner was PH's fastest, clocking 21:21, ahead of Louise Lessels (21:37) and Clare Graham 23:58, while, in Bermuda, Gayle Lindsay competed in the Sir Stanley Burgess 5K, placing eighth overall, and first female, in 18:48.

Fine efforts in other events saw Mark Western (3:11.55) finish 121st out of more than 1,300 finishers, and eighth in the V55 category, at the Milton Keynes Marathon; Mike McConnell (26:25) placing second in Perth Road Runners' Kinnoull Hill Race; Graeme Doig finishing fifth at the Edinburgh to North Berwick 20-mile race in 1:59.15; and Martin Butcher finishing third, in as many successive years, at the Holy Island Marathon (4:01.51).

At the Tay Ten event in Perth, Andrew Wright, in a new club record of 54:54, finished second, with Mike McConnell placing sixth in 56:58, while Kevin Hughes and Malcolm Hammond, in 1:05.47 and 1:11.36, were the third V50 and first V70 runners respectively, ensuring PH have the UK's top two runners of the distance this year.

There was also a fourth place at the St Cyrus 10K in Aberdeenshire for Gary Pirie (39:19), while Alan McGowan (39:31) placed 13th at the inaugural Thornhill 10K.