THERE were a lot of training runs happening over the weekend, with the luckier athletes choosing Saturday for their efforts, but just a few Tavistock Athletic Club members showed up for weekend races.

One race that was de-scoped due to the heavy rain and gale force winds was the 'Fast 5000', a pancake-flat 5km race around the Torbay Velo Park organised by City Runs. Although seven TAC athletes were registered to run, only club junior Jack Anthony turned out to compete.

He performed extremely well in the challenging conditions, completing the race in a time of 19min 20s, finishing first in his MU13 age category and 36th overall out of 200 runners.

Over in London, Sunday's weather was much more benign for the London Winter Run 10k. This extremely popular race, round the closed streets of London, is run in support of Cancer Research UK.

This year, on its 10th anniversary, it attracted a record 25,000 participants making it the largest 10k event in the UK.

TAC's Sarah Prior was one of those enjoying the mild and cloudy conditions with just a light breeze. Competing in the F50 age category, she ran a great race, finishing in 56min 22s and achieving a Personal Best time over the distance.

Joining her in his very first race since recently being encouraged to take up running was her husband Matt. He completed the event in the capital in a very creditable time of 1hr 6min 43s, in spite of incurring a calf strain in the last quarter of the race.

TAC training sessions are held throughout the week with Tuesday nights the best night for new faces to get involved, taking place at Tavistock College, Crowndale Road.