Leith-al Hill proves no problem to 
Habib on weekend decimated by snow

Kenilworth Runners’ Sara Habib could not escape the cold, but at least she avoided most of the snow when she travelled to Dorking to take part in the Leith Hill Half Marathon.

The almost entirely off-road race begins in Dorking and heads to the top of Leith Hill at 294 metres above sea level, before returning to the start

The event is billed as an ideal marathon preparation run and was voted England’s top half marathon in 2012 by readers of Runner’s World magazine.

Returning to the event where she broke two hours in 2012, Habib again ran well to finish 133rd in 2:04:08.

The winner of the race was Ross Macdonald of Swansea Harriers in 1:22:21, while the first lady was Kelly Jarvis (East Grinstead Triathlon Club), who came home in 1:46:51.

Spa Striders’ Stuart Lee was delighted to complete the three-day 78.6-mile Jurassic Coast Challenge from Lyme Regis to Studland, near Poole.

With day three made even longer due to coastal slippage forcing detours through farmers’ fields, Lee said times were “irrelevant” and admitted “just finishing was a challenge”.

Coventry parkrun 161 was run in bitterly cold conditions with the 5k course run on a mixture of compacted snow and slush where grit had been applied to the pavements.

Kenilworth Runners’ Matt Dyer finished third in 20:32, 80 seconds outside his course PB and just 38 seconds slower than his time in better conditions a week earlier.

Following Dyer was Jack Blakemore, who finished fifth in 21:11. The other Kenilworth Runner was Gary Dilnot, who clocked 25:25.

There were just 98 finishers in an event which has been averaging well over 300 runners since the turn of the year.