THE 269TH running of Queen Elizabeth Country Park Parkrun on Saturday saw 116 people run, jog and walk the course.

Twenty-eight were first timers, 26 recorded new personal bests and representatives of 30 running clubs took part.

The first runner home was Simon Gill from Tone Zone Runners, who finished first for the third time in three attempts and set a new personal best time of 17min 38secs.

The first female finisher was Liz Avery from Liss Runners, who finished in 27th place overall in a new personal best time of 24min 29secs. Ben Coles led home the junior runners, and he finished in 19th place overall in a time of 22min 54secs.

Graham Clarke from Denmead Striders equalled his own age category record. His time of 26min 11secs equated to a 70.08 per cent running in the VM70-74 age range.

The event was made possible by 14 volunteers who helped out on the day – they were Marie Wiles, Melanie Hunt, Phil Henderson, Dwayne Bartram, Penny Johnstone, Tony Baker, Chris Smart, Pippa White, Tanya Roberts, Harriet White, Wendy Cooper, Natasha White, Martin Groom and John Roberts.

Queen Elizabeth Country Park Parkrun takes place at the park next to the A3 every Saturday at 9am. The event started in May 2013.

Parkruns are free to enter, weekly events run at the same venue over 5km and they are open to athletes of all abilities. Visit www.parkrun.org.uk/queenelizabeth for more information.