A NUMBER of Ryde Harriers athletes crossed The Solent to excel in various competitions. 

Matt Sharp and Chris Newnham travelled to the West Country for the very popular Bath Half Marathon, with both coming away from it with personal best efforts.

Matt, a full-time electrician with limited time to train, sparked into life from the gun and was soon in the lead pack, going shoulder to shoulder with a British international with a relentless pace. 

The group narrowed to three athletes, but it was not until the last hill that Jonathan Escalante-Phillips just sprinted ahead to take the victory, with Matt just three seconds behind in a very fast 1hr 4mins 28secs to take second place.

His PB placed him in the top 20 in the UK.

Despite  suffering a stitch in the latter stages, Chris (1.11.31) came 36th.

Joe Wade competed in the Oxford Half Marathon which attracted more than 13,000 runners — putting in a storming run to finish in 1.10.37 and come eighth.

Pete Young went to Derbyshire to compete in the British Masters Cross-Country Championships — an event which acted as a trial for England selection for the Home International this winter.

Running over an undulating 6km course in the veteran men’s 75-79 category, Pete finished third from a strong field. 

A number of Harriers travelled to Southsea for the Great South Run — one of the world's largest ten-mile road races.

Leading the way home was Daniel Eckersley (third in the 35-year age category), who finished an outstanding 21st in 50.49.

As part of the Great Run series, Will Newnham raced more than 5km on the Saturday morning to finish an excellent third in 16.02.