WITH Sunday's big East Coast run 10k race looming and a field which may well exceed 400 runners, this weekend promises to be quite an eventful one - though this is nothing new to those involved in the local running scene, with races far and wide and over a wide variety of terrains and distances.

WITH Sunday's big East Coast run 10k race looming and a field which may well exceed 400 runners, this weekend promises to be quite an eventful one - though this is nothing new to those involved in the local running scene, with races far and wide and over a wide variety of terrains and distances.

Great Yarmouth Road Runners have been to the fore in many of these events.

Last Sunday, for instance, saw nearly 250 runners at Holt for the seven-mile race organised by the North Norfolk Beach Runners.

Leading the way home in an impressive time was John Hartley, with Stephen Etherington and Stephen Dady in close attendance.

Leading lady was Carole Spong and then came someone who has not figured on the local road-racing scene for quite some time but is still well-remembered for some of his past exploits, not least his sponsored charity run around the grounds of the James Paget Hospital - Ira Smith.

It is to be hoped that this was just the first of many more appearances for the club.

Making up a quite sizeable contingent were Sylvia Dady, Denise Etherington and the evergreen Jim Spong.

An even bigger contingent was at RAF Barnham near Thetford the previous Wednesday for the first race in the 10-race EACCL League.

Here there was a good mixture of the new and the old with the youngsters from the East Norfolk Sixth Form College taking the lion's share of the honours, in particular Damian Rogers who was first overall in the race after a thrilling first-lap tussle with team-mate James Jackson who was forced to drop out with a painful ankle injury.

Damian was followed by brother Micah, fresh from his half marathon exertions the previous weekend, with Jordon Reed and Stephen George making up the first team.

The second team was made up of Ryan Chapman, Stephen Etherington, Jack Taylor and Tim Harris; and even those not scoring for teams on this occasion were more than happy to pick up individual points. So too was Josie French, the sole female representative and a highly commendable 18th in her race.

Race two in the series is at Easton on November 4, a new venue for this league which has started strongly after a well-attended general meeting before the first race.

One runner who will be soon to make an appearance in the midweek cross-country league is Neil Sibley who was more than pleased with his time and place in the Leicester Marathon in early October. Likewise Stephen Etherington who ran the Loch Ness Marathon the week before.

They will be among many of the Road Runners on marshalling and other duties for Sunday's big race, a must-see for local residents as it gets under way from 10.30am onwards. Start is in St George's Park.

Results, Holt 7, Sunday October 18

Road Runners finishing positions and times: 17 John Hartley 45 minutes 09 seconds, 26 Stephen Etherington 46:47, 36 Stephen Dady 48:37, 133 Carole Spong 59:06, 145 Ira Smith 60:24, 187 Sylvia Dady 65:27, 234 Denise Etherington 74:03, 240 Jim Spong 78:00.

EACCL Race 1, RAF Barnham, Wednesday, October 14. Positions, points and team scores: 1 Damian Rogers 200 points, 13 Micah Rogers 188, 14 Jordon Reed 187, 18 Stephen George 183. Total team A 758.

19 Ryan Chapman 182, 24 Stephen Etherington 177, 26 Jack Taylor 175, 41 Tim Harris 160. Total team B 694.

42 Gary Stanley 159, 44 John Bone 157, 47 Paul Westgate 154, 52 Mike Spragg 149, 18 Josie French 183.

Leicester Marathon, Sunday October: Neil Sibley 3-5:00.

Loch Ness Marathon, Sunday October 4: Stephen Etherington 3-13.