By Matthew Kiernan

Croydon Harriers put the finishing touches to their Surrey cross-country championship preparations by filling four of the first five positions at the Lloyd parkrun on Saturday.

Peter Chambers notched his sixth win at the event triumphing in 17 minutes, 32 seconds. He was ably supported by Mark Plackett (third, 17:41), Joshua Haasz (fourth, 19:53) and Alan Burn (fifth, 19:57).

Robert Spalding (ninth, 20:39) and Kartik Iyer (12th, 22:32) were also in action.

On Christmas Day, Omar Harhara was the first U14 home at the Brueton parkrun in Solihull in 19:01.

At the Serpentine 5K, Sophie Bates was third in the women's race in 20:18.

This Saturday, Croydon will help to host the Surrey championships at Lloyd Park across eight age-group races, with more than 25 Harriers set to run.

Their sprinting club colleagues are also set to turn out in large numbers at the SLAN indoor open meeting at Sutton Arena on Sunday.