THE leading three runners were separated by just one hundredth of a second in the closest ever finish to the Forest of Dean Trails Half-Marathon.

Oliver Williams (Les Croupiers Running Club) just got the better of Stephen Francis (independent) and Peter Ryder (Cardiff AAC) in a blanket finish. Oliver's winning time was 1:16.33.

This was the second time organisers had battled to get the event on, with ice and snow forcing the original postponement.

The weather was kinder on Sunday, but predictably numbers were down. A total of 980 made it to the start from an original entry of close to 3,000 – but around 800 runners transferred their entry to either this year's September half-marathon or next year's spring run.

Race director Chris Hammersley said: "Things went smoothly and the trails dried up a lot. The marshals were outstanding, they really make the event."

The leading female runner was Katherine Matthews of Chepstow Harriers in 1:27.46.

Behind her were: Nicola Gething (Parc-Bryn-Bach); Petra Vymetalova (Almost Athletes); Anna Rudgley (independent) and Hayley Winters (Gloucester AC).