NORTH Norfolk Beach Runners' cross-country specialists were undaunted by a freezing morning at Horsford for the second race in the Norwich Road Runners series and turned out in force on a long, muddy course.

NORTH Norfolk Beach Runners' cross-country specialists were undaunted by a freezing morning at Horsford for the second race in the Norwich Road Runners series and turned out in force on a long, muddy course.

The ladies' race is run over three laps and was won comfortably by Dena Parfitt in a spectacular time of 36:56, over two and a-half minutes ahead of her nearest rival. Dena's win was made all the more remarkable by a bad fall in the difficult conditions.

The Beach Runners' other lady entrant, Clare Donavan, ran a strong race for eighth place in a time of 47:55 whilst the men, who had to struggle though four laps, were well-represented by the Kett brothers.

Andy Kett just got the better of his brother Robert, finishing in 45:26 for a magnificent third place in the senior men's race, 26 seconds ahead of Robert.

Darren Neale and club coach, Kevin Parfitt had their own battle only a little further down the field. Kevin ran superbly but could not match the younger man's tremendous ability to accelerate in the second half of a race and crossed the line 13 seconds down, yet still took third place in the highly-competitive 45-49 age group.

Other Beach Runners splashing through the mud were Jeremy Bolam, John Leach and Terry Quigley, whose excellent time of 53:16 gave him second place in the over-60 category.