Hartlepool Burn Road Harriers' Claire Earle and Jo Beddow complete Edinburgh Marathon

Both had trained well for the event, but both were plagued with injury and illness in the final four weeks of their training.

The race was Claire’s first attempt at a marathon, but Jo’s second.

They set off in cool, dry weather, but an hour and a half into the event, the sun came out and conditions became quite challenging.

The course took runners out of the city for 17 miles and then they make their way back to the finish area at Musselburgh race course, well away from the city centre start line.

This means runners pass each other for a few miles and Claire and Jo were lucky enough to spot one another and stopped for an encouraging hug before continuing on their mission.

Feeling good until the 20-mile mark, Jo dug deep and finished strongly for a new personal best time of 3:34:29.

Claire ignored a slight niggle in her shin and battled on to finish in a time of 4:44:36.

Hartlepool Burn Road Harrier Karl Edwards finished sixth overall in the Kirby Stephen 10km (41:14), which was hosted by Howgill Harriers.

The time would undoubtedly have been a sub-40 minute race if the route had been flat, but the route took runners up and down hills and along trails.

Hartlepool Burn Road Harriers claimed 16th overall in a very competitive field in the North Yorkshire Moors Athletics Club Relays.

Simon Bennett had the best run of the men, charging to the finish line in 4:56.

Gareth Foreman ran a 5:27 leg, with Carl Marchant next in 6:29 and Andrew Minister in 5:26.

The relays comprised a team of four, each running a mile lap around Stewart’s Park in Middlesbrough.

Runners began on a slight downhill, but this is then compensated for at the end when there is a climb to the finish line.

Leigh Owbridge finished 43rd overall in 1:40:26 when taking part in the Clumber Park Trailblazer Half Marathon near Royal Tunbridge Wells.

The race took runners through trails and forest in Clumber Park and Bedgebury Forest.

Last Sunday saw Burn Road Harriers running in various locations.

Closest to home, the Whitsun 10km Trail Run was staged by neighbouring club Billingham Marsh House Harriers.

Here runners race 6.5 miles around Wynyard Woodland Park.

Gareth Foreman had a fantastic run, holding off Karl Edwards in a race to the finish line, he placed fifth overall in 42:06.

Karl was next, sixth and first Vet 60 in 42:14. Pauline Ranson had a good run to cross the line in 60:18.

Further afield, Andrew Minister raced Keswick Athletic Club’s Helvellyn and the Dodds Fell Race.

An extremely challenging 24km run, with 4386 feet of climbing, Andrew did well to finish in 3:21:09.

Karl Edwards was back in action on Wednesday when he raced the Penshaw Hill race.

The race which is hosted by Sunderland Harriers has been going on for 26 years and is very popular amongst local runners.

A two lap route, the race starts at the base of the hill and heads up towards the Monument.

Runners then circle round the back of the monument, through the woods with a downhill then uphill stretch, before starting another lap.

Edwards finished first Vet 60 and 26th in exactly 20 minutes.