ELY Runners entered a record seven teams in the 10th Hereward Relay on Sunday. A team calling themselves Muddy Mucky Munkeys A won the four-stage 38.4-mile race from Peterborough Cathedral to Ely City Football Club. Their time of 3:45:53 was 3mins 4secs f

ELY Runners entered a record seven teams in the 10th Hereward Relay on Sunday.

A team calling themselves Muddy Mucky Munkeys A won the four-stage 38.4-mile race from Peterborough Cathedral to Ely City Football Club.

Their time of 3:45:53 was 3mins 4secs faster than second-placed Stowmarket Men's A.

The first Ely team home was ER Men A. The team, made up of Glyn Loveday, John Crisp, Ian Day and Peter Gipp, were fifth of 127 finishers, in 3:56:53.

ER Men B were not far behind in 12th place with 4:11:25, with ER Men C 18th in 4:2318.

ER Woman A were the first Ely ladies team to finish. They came 101st overall in 5:26:35. Natalle Etches was a star performer in the team and was the first female finisher in the second stage of the race. She recorded 1:24:02 for the 11.6-mile run from Whittlesey to March.

The Hereward Relay is organised by March Athletic Club and is widely seen as one of the biggest races in the East Anglian running calendar.

Club chairman Peter Jackman devised the race to promote the scenic Hereward Way.

He said: "Conditions were perfect with a cool breeze helping the runners along and the times were very fast.

"For the last nine years the race has finished by Ely Cathedral but we decided to change this for the first time this year and finish at the football club because of the traffic in the city centre.

"The new venue was a big success so I want to thank Ely City FC chairman Robert Button and everyone else at the club for being superb hosts.