IN the current climate in which veterans tend to dominate the road running scene, it made a refreshing change for a member of the young guard to triumph at the annual Martlesham 10km road race.

IN the current climate in which veterans tend to dominate the road running scene, it made a refreshing change for a member of the young guard to triumph at the annual Martlesham 10km road race.

Teenager Carl Convey blitzed the field by more than a minute on his way to a commanding victory in 32mins 57secs.

The Suffolk College student, who is coached by Steve Benson at Northgate Stadium, Ipswich, was never headed from start to finish.

"I took it on from the early stages because the pace was a bit slow," said 19-year-old Convey.

"Conditions were good. The rain stayed away until the end, but I reckon that I can run a minute faster at least.

"My only other 10K on the roads was at Langham a couple of seasons ago, when I clocked a similar time," said the Stowmarket-based runner.

A member of Ipswich Harriers, Convey is most at home on the cross country circuit. He regularly competes for Suffolk and has twice represented East of England at the European Trials in Margate. He trains with fellow

county runner Tom Sharland and the young quartet of Sam Jacobs, Matt Barnes-Smith, Ben Spashett and James McNally, who recently won the South of England road relays at Aldershot.

At Martlesham, Convey was pursued by a pack of veterans. Colin Pitts, of Stowmarket Striders, continued his gradual return to form with second spot in 34.13, followed by the Saint Edmund Pacers duo of Alan Dawson (34.53) and Chris Cooke (35.05).

Gail Pryke has become used to

winning over the last few months, and the Ipswich Jaffa veteran was again in pole position at Martlesham.

Pryke, fresh from 10K wins at Framlingham and Langham this Autumn, again found the distance to her liking as she took first spot for the women in 40.09.

She has obviously been spurred on by her fine showing at last month's Great North Run, where she was in the elite ladies' field. The result was a personal best of 1.26.52.

Pryke followed this up with an even better performance at the Great South Run, staged over ten miles at Portsmouth the previous weekend. She clipped three minutes off her PB to stop the clock at 63.52.

Martlesham 10K results

Top 30 men: 1 C Convey (Ipswich Harriers) 32.57; 2 C Pitts (Stowmarket Striders) 34.13; 3 A Dawson (Saint Edmund Pacers) 34.53; 4 C Cooke (Pacers) 35.05; 5 S Smith (Unattached) 36.25; 6 N Smith (Un) 36.33; 7 V Calver (Felixstowe Road Runners) 36.37; 8 T Hod (Stowmarket) 37.37; 9 S Hicks (Ips/Harr) 37.46; 10 C Jones (Waveney Valley AC) 38.06.

11 D Sandford (Pacers) 38.09; 12 R Blake (Gt Yarmouth RR) 38.15; 13 R Benjamin (Felixstowe RR) 38.31; 14 S Green (Stowmarket) 38.39; 15 D Jelley (Ripon Runners) 38.47; 16 M Elmy (Un) 38.48; 17 A Roper (Pacers) 38.49; 18 R King (Woodbridge Shufflers) 39.01; 19 R Price (Pacers) 39.08; 20 R Allard (Pacers) 39.19.

21 A Page (Pacers) 39.26; 22 J Hender (Ipswich Tri Club) 39.47; 23 P Lennard (Woodbridge) 39.49; 24 N Thomas (Cambridge Tri Club) 39.55; 25 S Benson (Ips/Harr) 40.01; 26 N Warner (Pacers) 40.24; 27 R Ackerley (Woodbridge) 41.10; 28 R Judge (Woodbridge) 41.13; 29 R Short (Pacers) 41.14; 30 G Slack (Stowmarket) 41.16.

Top 20 women: 1 G Pryke (Ipswich Jaffa) 40.09; 2 C Baldrey (Woodbridge) 41.18; 3 J Griffiths (Felixstowe RR) 42.38; 4 H Suttle (Newmarket Joggers) 42.49; 5 A Stach-Kevitz (Newham & Essex Beagles) 43.23; 6 J O'Brien (Woodbridge) 43.25; 7 L Bowditch (Un) 43.55; 8 C Marsh (Woodbridge) 46.31; 9 E Broughton (Stowmarket) 46.36; 10 S Pearce (Felixstowe RR) 46.43.

11 K Nash (Stowmarket) 47.19; 12 G Dean (Jaffa) 47.50; 13 R Lancaster (Woodbridge) 49.12; 14 J Goodridge (Newmarket) 49.27; 15 A Fellingham (Stowmarket) 49.39; 16 J Grimwood (Newmarket) 49.45; 17 K Best (Un) 50.22; 18 K Goodwin (Stowmarket) 50.24; 19 A Fish (Stowmarket) 50.45; 20 R van der Merwe (Stowmarket) 51.31.

Male veterans, over-40: 1 Pitts, 2 Dawson, 3 Cooke. Over-50: 1 Blake, 2 Roper, 3 Price. Over-60: 1 C Weight (Pacers) 45.25; 2 H Bennett (Felixstowe RR) 53.42.

Female veterans, over-40: 1 Pryke, 2 Griffiths, 3 Marsh. Over-50: 1 Fellingham, 2 Fish.

Men's team: Saint Edmund Pacers (Dawson, Cooke, Sandford).