Eighteen Watford Joggers were on the start line for the Finchley 20-mile road race on Sunday as the club’s runners near the end of their preparations for April’s London Marathon.

Three of the contingent had to pull out but 14 crossed the finish line with Dave Dixon fastest home in a personal best time of 2.16.49.

Marcus Edwards (2.36.17), Richard Phillips (2.54.29), Rustum Khedkar (2.54.39), Stuart Borill (2.55.02), Panos Fellas (2.55.24) all made it within the three-hour mark.

Khedkar and Fellas were both making their club debuts and it was also the first Joggers race for Tom Harland (3.00.15), Natalie Smith (3.09.40), Sue Defoe (3.35.15) and Douglas McQuaid (3.58.19).

Also finishing the event were Manisha Gajjar (3.02.07), Mark Nichols (3.22.07), John Henke (3.26.14) and Sarah Coltman (3.48.20) while the experienced Brian Ashford smashed the club record for the MV70 age group with a time of 4.23.20. Elsewhere, Scott Goodwin ran the Worthing 20-mile race in a fine time of 2.27.40.