WESTBURY Harrier Matt Ellis raced to victory in Sunday's Forest of Dean Half Marathon.

Matt's winning time was 1hr 13mins 20secs, which put him 21 seconds ahead of nearest rival Nicolas Sailard.

Julian Hatcher, winner of the previous two Forest half marathons, came third in 1:14.43.

Organiser Chris Hammersley said: "All of the runners returned safe and sound and there were no dramas. It was just a great day and we had 1,834 finishers.

"The course changes we made this year were beneficial and the feedback we got about them was positive. We'll settle on this course now.

"We also had the canicross runners this year, ahead of the main field, and they added something extra too."

Lydney boxer Chris Higgs never even trained for the event, but still came 26th overall in a fantastic time of 1:22.58.

He wasn't the first Forest-based man home though, that honour went to Lydney's Jim Maynard who was 20th in 1hr 22mins.

The ladies race was won by another Westbury Harrier, Robyn Golding, in 1:25.41. Stroud's Rachel Felton was runner-up in 1:27.22, with Chepstow Harrier Louise Summers third in 1:30.48.

Sue Thomas, also of Lydney, was the first Forest female finisher. She came 49th in the ladies' race in 1:42.56.

Leading the way for the Forest of Dean Athletics Club were MV40 runner Martin Steel, who was 94th in 1:29.59, and MV50 Simon Dimmer, 138th in 1:33.25.

Rally driver Stuart Akers left his car at home to run through the woods on this occasion, completing in a respectable 1:39.28.

Jill McGill dominated the FV45 class in a time of 1:33.33, but Janet Dimmer was third in this class in 1:39.16.

Pat Curtis (Hogway Trotters) came first for the FV50s in 1:35.18, with Carol Cowley (Tewkesbury AC) the top FV60 runner with a time of 1:46.06.

Forest runner Helen Campion was seventh in this section in 2:10.28.

Forester editor Viv Hargreaves – who has been training for the event for a year – did well to come home in a time of 2:37.16. She also reached her target of raising £1,000 for the 1Rifles. Last but not least was Lee Wright in 3:49.13.