The hot conditions continued for those racing the following day and among them was Robert Richards who ran the Gloucester City Marathon.

Here, due to a road safety issue, the race organisers had been forced to replace the usual course with a gravel track event in the nearby beautiful Forest of Dean.

The race consisted of four laps of a forest trail on gravel tracks which did, however, give some shelter from the hot sun, but with over 2,500ft of elevation it was considerably hillier. Robert took this all in his stride and completed the marathon in five hours.

Two other Okehampton runners took part in 10k races on Sunday, with Andrew Vernon running the Totnes 10k. Hosted by the Teignbridge Trotters, the race was nearly all off road and mostly flat, following the beautiful River Dart on tarmac, grass, and trail. Andrew has run this race before, but struggled in the heat, completing in 45 minutes 11 seconds.

Hayden Bond went further afield to take part in the inaugural Barry Island 10k in South Wales, where a course on fully closed roads took in all of the town’s most scenic seaside spots and recognisable landmarks. Again the scorching temperatures were not appreciated by the runners, but Hayden ran a good time, completing in 42.07.