AS a resident of Olveston, Nick Williams was keen to establish local bragging rights at the Olveston Fun Run on October 15.

The three-mile course is contested mostly off road on the footpaths and bridleways of the village.

The young Westbury athlete James Harrod impressed earlier in the season at the Rockhampton Fun Run and gave Williams an early scare in the first mile of his local race.

However, Williams’ greater athletics experience began to tell as the race progressed and he pulled clear to win the contest in a very respectable time of 17:21 mins.

At Chipping Sodbury parkrun on Saturday, Kevin Cundy paced his son Spencer to a new personal best time.

Spencer finished in 29:34 mins with Kevin three seconds behind him.

Meanwhile on Sunday, Richard Jackson came home as the first Thornbury runner to finish at the 36th edition of the Stroud Half Marathon.

Jackson came through the finishing tape in 331st place in a good time of one hour 39:32 mins.

The Stroud course is deceptively difficult, with several long gradients and the windy conditions from the weekend would not have helped the runners at all.

Kevin Arnold was next in 372nd in one hour 41:01 mins, with Ian Evans in 480th in one hour 45:24 mins.

Sarah Newnes was the lone Thornbury female runner in the race and ran a very good time of one hour 51:40 mins.

The first Thornbury Running Club race of 2018 is now available to enter.

The Riverbank Rollick on January 14 will follow a nine-miles long route which is mostly off-road.

And, of course, the mud and a varied off-road course are the main ingredients of this enduring event, which is challenging and very rewarding for those that complete it.

There is the added bonus of a delicious array of cakes on offer for all the finishers too.

There are approx four hundred places in the race and, after only a few days, the Rollick is almost half full.

So the race is on to get an entry in before all the places go. Athletes wishing to run should go to at fullonsport.com/event/riverbank-rollick-2018/profile