THERE were plenty of runs at the Rose Bowl on Wednesday evening but not one of them had anything to do with cricket.

Hampshire's cricket headquarters was a welcome new venue for the popular Road Runners Ten series which is staged throughout the summer.

There may have been a change in venue but there was little difference in the front runners as New Forest athlete Lee Rodriguez claimed yet another first place to keep him on top of the men's table.

In a slower start than usual, he stayed with a group of fellow New Forest Runners before breaking away for an easy victory at the Rose Bowl finish line. Clubmates Chris Olden and Phil Mosley were next over the line.

The women's race saw a first win for junior Hayley Pointer of Hardley Runners who came home streets ahead of the rest of the field.

But she was not let down by her teammates with Sue Sleath finishing in third place just ahead of Jane Morgan who took fourth.

The new venue proved popular with the runners, despite the many hills. There were more than 200 men finishers and, for the first time ever, more than 100 women completed the race.

The men's team league is turning into a battle between New Forest Runners and Winchester AC. They both returned their five scoring runners in the top 11, with New Forest emerging victorious.

Southampton RC are the only other club in contention, but they once again failed to turn out any of their top runners, relying instead on packing finishers in between tenth and 30th.