Warrington Athletics Club's Graham Green breaks Wilmslow Half Marathon course record for runners aged 50-plus

He finished 19th overall but his times 1:13.21 (gun), 1:13.20 (chip), handed him the course record for an over 50s veteran.

One of the previous record holders was his brother Andrew, a two-times winner of the overall race (1994, 1995).

And he achieved his time despite finishing the race with an ankle injury suffered from stepping into a pot hole.

Green famously made headlines in 2015 at the London Marathon.

He and son Ben entered the Guiness Book of World Records for achieving the fastest aggregate time in a marathon by a parent and child.

Clubmate Steve Watmough was the fourth to finish on Sunday in the over 50s category, 84th overall, just one day after competing in the British Masters Cross Country Championships.

There were a good number of Warrington club runners taking part in the 13.1-mile event, which has been running since 1984.

Robin Muir, representing Spectrum Striders, was 55th overall.

First home for Warrington Road Runners was Mark Heavey, 88th overall and ninth in the over 45s veteran section.

Lymm Runners' highest-placed finisher was Lee Hughes, 156th out of 3,100 finishers and 28th in the over 40s category.

Peter Glover crossed the line 504th for Warrington Running Club, 68th in the over 45s reckoning.

Warrington Tri Club's first finisher was Kemmel Atkinson. He was 817th overall and 34th in the over 55s race.

First woman home from the Warrington clubs was Jenny Lamont from Spectrum Striders.

She was the 155th woman to cross the line and 56th in the open category.

A world record was broken at Sunday's event.

Shantelle Gaston-Hird from Irlam was aiming to complete the fastest half marathon by a woman - when running backwards!

She needed to beat 2hrs 46mins over the 13.1-mile course and did so comfortably, recording 2hrs 31mins 50secs.

The overall men's and women's race winners were Mohammed Abu-Rezeq and Fanni Gyurko, improving on their third-place finishes of last year.

Altrincham and District Athletics Club’s Abu-Rezeq took the men’s title for the second time, having also won in 2014.

His time, 66:27, was nine seconds slower than when he finished third last year and 21 seconds behind his triumph of three years ago.

Windy conditions along the 13.1-mile route heading out of the King’s Road start would not have helped his time but it was enough to edge out Sale Harriers’ Matt Bond, 66:31, while third-placed Stockport Harriers runner Andrew Davies was a further minute behind.

Abu-Rezeq is no stranger to race wins, having also been victorious in the Dewsbury 10K and Four Villages Half Marathon in Helsby this year.

And his half marathon successes in 2016 included Northwich, Leeds and Alloa.

Thirty-year-old Budapest-born Gyurko, who now lives in Scotland, claimed her first half marathon women’s title since Inverness 12 months ago.

Gyurko, once a top 30 finisher in the World Orienteering Championships, clocked 78:11, finishing more than a minute ahead of Oswestry Olympians’ Alison Lavender, 79:32.

In third place was Leigh Harriers’ Dionne Allen, 80:34.