TINA Oldershaw romped to her fifth Children's Mutal Tunbridge Wells Half-Marathon on Sunday on a day the race also took on a foreign feel.

German Florian Neuschwander led from start to finish in the men's race winning in the course's second-best time of 1:08:49, a minute and a half clear of Hassan Raidi (Belgrave Harriers), with James Baker of Chichester R&AC a few seconds behind. The latter two had a real ding dong battle with Raidi just coming out on top.

But queen of the event was once again Paddock Wood AC's Oldershaw. She repeated her victory of last year in 1:22:57, a minute and a half in front of Ruth Briggs (Tunbridge Wells Harriers), with Rosalind Kieran of Herne Hill Harriers another half a minute behind.

It was a remarkable victory for Oldershaw who was struggling with an ankle injury and only decided to race at the last minute.

Race director Sarah Russell was delighted with how the event panned out.

"The fact that Julian Rendall, a two times winner, was back in fourth but ran a minute faster than last year shows the standard of the race is improving every year.

"In all the race was a fantastic success with over 1,600 finishers compared to less than 1,000 three years ago. We had to close the roads and from the runners' perspective that was extremely successful and much, much safer."

For a full report, results and pictures see this week's Kent and Sussex Courier.