IAN Keeble retained his title at the annual Joe Cox ten-mile road race, staged from Stowmarket on a bright and breezy Sunday morning.And just 16 seconds separated the top two in the ladies' race, with Jennie Roberts pipping Tamara Jordan over an undulating rural course out to Onehouse and Harleston.

By Carl Marston

IAN Keeble retained his title at the annual Joe Cox ten-mile road race, staged from Stowmarket on a bright and breezy Sunday morning.

And just 16 seconds separated the top two in the ladies' race, with Jennie Roberts pipping Tamara Jordan over an undulating rural course out to Onehouse and Harleston.

Keeble repeated his victory from last year, although like most of the field, his time was slightly slower due to a head-wind over the closing miles.

The 32-year-old stopped the clock at 57mins 16secs, finishing 42 seconds clear of runner-up Ian Liffen, an over-40 veteran from Great Yarmouth Road Runners. Keeble recorded 56.52 last year.

Colin Pitts, also running for the host club Stowmarket, was third and the leading over-45 veteran in 58.15, followed by Carl Prewer, of Lowestoft Road Runners, and Mark Armitage, of Halstead Road Runners.

Only seven of a field of 217 ducked under the hour mark, and the top two in the ladies' event finished an excellent 15th and 16th overall.

Roberts, a 32-year-old from Ipswich Jaffa, clinched victory in 63.10, just ahead of former champion Jordan (winner in 2003), who registered 63.26 in second slot.

It was Jordan's first race since the birth of her second child, and she celebrated by joining Keeble and Pitts in the winning Stowmarket team.

Among the male veteran categories, there were top spots for the Jaffa duo of Ray Hill (over-55) and Geoff Everitt (over-60), while Reginald Woodard retained his over-65 crown.

Armitage took the over-40 award, with Les Heath, of Saint Edmund Pacers, winning the over-45 section and Richard Newland the over-50 group.

In the ladies' equivalent, the prizes were spread around the clubs. Mary Narey, of Stowmarket, was third behind Roberts and Jordan, with fourth-placed Wendy Jones winning the over-40 accolade in 72.50. She finished just ahead of Pacers' club-mate Julia Jepson, who was fifth.

The Essex duo of Lyn Foster (Great Bentley) and Anne Gower (Tiptree Road Runners) were first in the over-50 and over-60 categories respectively, and Newmarket Joggers' Julia Midleton (over-55) and Gillian Powell-Davies (over-45) were also individual winners.

All profits from the race will go to the Muscular Dystrophy charity, in memory of Joe Cox. The event was sponsored by Dale Sports.

Results from the Joe Cox Ten

Top 40 men: 1 I Keeble (Stowmarket Striders) 57.16; 2 I Liffen (Great Yarmouth RR) 57.58; 3 C Pitts (Stowmarket) 58.15; 4 C Prewer (Lowestoft RR) 58.27; 5 M Armitage (Halstead RR) 58.53; 6 J Entwistle (Felixstowe RR) 59.19; 7 P Liguori (Cambridge & Coleridge) 59.22; 8 L Heath (Saint Edmund Pacers) 61.22; 9 J Crisp (Ely Runners) 61.23; 10 N Stephens (Stowmarket) 61.34.

11 R Chenery (Ipswich Jaffa) 61.48; 12 D Copland (Ipswich Tri Club) 62.06; 13 K Harper (Witham RC) 62.56; 14 C Bailey (Thetford AC) 63.07; 15 P Helliwell (Colchester & Tendring) 63.34; 16 S MacSephney (Jaffa) 64.10; 17 M Cobbold (Pacers) 64.28; 18 D Green (Great Bentley RC) 64.33; 19 A Buck (Sudbury Joggers) 64.42; 20 G Moore (Unattached) 64.48.

21 S Green (Stowmarket) 65.00; 22 K Short (Framlingham Flyers) 65.08; 23 A Lowe (Un) 65.11; 24 S Mills (Campus 7 AC) 65.44; 25 R Hayes (Un) 66.05; 26 A Steele (Ripon Runners) 66.17; 27 D Judd (Sudbury) 66.45; 28 K Peirce (Ipswich Harriers) 66.46; 29 R Mackenzie (Framlingham) 66.54; 30 R Smith (Woodbridge Shufflers) 67.00.

31 J Smith (Sudbury) 67.11; 32 C Green (Gt Bentley) 67.19; 33 R Hill (Jaffa) 67.25; 34 R Ackerley (Wooodbridge) 67.46; 35 N Dable (Jaffa) 68.18; 36 A Doig (Stowmarket) 68.39; 37 B Kingaby (Waveney Valley AC) 68.48; 38 D Jay (Halstead RR) 69.16; 39 D Chenery (Jaffa) 69.18; 40 M Nelhams (Pacers) 69.24.

Top 30 ladies: 1 J Roberts (Jaffa) 63.10; 2 T Jordan (Stowmarket) 63.26; 3 M Narey (Stowmarket) 71.49; 4 W Jones (Pacers) 72.50; 5 J Jepson (Pacers) 73.28; 6 V Quantrill (Gt Yarmouth RR) 73.40; 7 A Henry (Sudbury) 73.42; 8 S Golding (Pacers) 74.37; 9 J Midleton (Newmarket Joggers) 74.41; 10 H Suttle (Stowmarket) 75.36.

11 G Powell-Savies (Un) 76.29; 12 M Roberts (Woodbridge) 76.37; 13 M McCarthy (Pacers) 77.08; 14 B Jack (Stowmarket) 78.52; 15 C Fowles (Stowmarket) 79.30; 16 M Constable (Jaffa) 79.43; 17 T Belsom (Stowmarket) 80.37; 18 E Price (Framlingham) 81.45; 19 S Bethell (Ely) 81.50; 20 C Lambert (Un) 81.53.

21 L Mills (Stowmarket) 81.54; 22 S Whyand (Pacers) 81.59; 23 P Gooch (Un) 82.06; 24 S Cornish (Un) 82.24; 25 A Potterton (Un) 83.00; 26 C Geraghty (Stowmarket) 83.19; 27 C McEniery (Cam/Col) 83.51; 28 G Sparkes (Stowmarket) 84.15; 29 C Prance (Stowmarket) 84.31; 30 A Fish (Stowmarket) 84.47.

Male veterans, over-40: 1 Liffen, 2 Armitage (prize-winner), 3 Stephens. Over-45: 1 Pitts, 2 Heath (prize-winner), 3 Bailey. Over-50: 1 R Newland (Ipswich Tri) 70.45; 2 M Marriott (Un) 71.36; 3 J Wharton (Bungay Black Dog) 74.31. Over-55: 1 Hill, 2 Kingaby, 3 C Monks (Blackheath) 72.55. Over-60: 1 G Everitt (Jaffa) 76.03; 2 R Hobson (Woodbridge) 77.11; 3 P Coughlan (Belgrave) 80.23. Over-65: 1 R Woodard (Un) 72.38.

Female veterans, over-40: 1 Jones, 2 Golding, 3 Suttle. Over-45: Powell-Davies, 2 Roberts, 3 McCarthy. Over-50: 1 L Foster (Gt Bentley) 88.27; 2 H Bexon (Stowmarket) 93.25; 3 S Browne (Stowmarket) 100.06. Over-55: 1 Midleton, 2 Fish, 3 M Brown (Stowmarket) 89.59. Over-60: 1 A Gower (Tiptree RR) 87.08.

Team: 1 Stowmarket Striders (Keeble, Pitts, Tamara Jordan).