as if running 10 hot miles hadn't been enough, the runners then had to undergo the ordeal of being attacked by Susan's marker pen . . although I'm sure the smile that followed more than made up for it . .

the finish area, as always, was full of Very Important People ensuring that all the times and positions were correctly recorded - which is why I rarely stop there for long as I only get in the way . .

and for as long as there were runners out on the course, there were other runners waiting to cheer them to the finish line . .

 . . where even the last man standing had a good choice of t-shirts to pick from . .

there was lots of room for everyone to wait patiently for the results to be processed . .

although of course, as usual, everyone wanted to see the results all at the same time . .

but it wasn't all that long before all the results had been collated and checked and we could begin the presentation, first of all with the prizes for the Harlow 10 itself, and then with the Essex 10 mile Championship prizes . .

beginning of course with the ladies . .

and followed by who else but the men . .

and then the Essex County awards were presented . . maybe not the biggest medals ever cast but you could tell from the winners' facers that it meant something to win a County Championship award . .

and then, once all the medals and trophies and been presented, most of us could head for home . .