Rob Walker held off his two rivals in a hard-fought contest to clinch victory in the Highbury Fields parkrun for the 26th time.

Walker found himself under pressure from Rob Smyth and visiting runner Karl Lee, but held firm on the final lap to cross the line in 17 minutes 13 seconds, ahead of Lee (17:20) and Smyth (17:34).

Caroline Kelly (20:32) maintained her recent form by heading the women’s contingent for the 13th time, with Becky Barraclough just under a minute behind in 21:31 and Sarah Roudebush third in 21:45.

Roudebush was just one of 32 runners among the field of 105 who set personal bests, including 19 first-timers over the five and a bit laps at Highbury Fields.

Adjusting for age, the best performance of the day came from Leo Burningham, who was the first veteran home as he finished 10th in 18:45 with an age grade of 76.18 per cent.

Walker (75.31 per cent) and Lee (74.42 per cent) had the second and third best age grades respectively, while there was a wide range in age from Under-14s to two runners in the 55-59 section.

Parkrun takes place every Saturday and is open to runners of all ages and abilities, free of charge. Visit www.parkrun.org.uk/highburyfields/ to register or for further information.

Saturday’s parkrun was organised by volunteers Alisdair Tozier, Danny Olive, Mark Guven, Sarah Broughton Micova and Martin Black. Anyone who would like to help out can get in touch at highburyfieldshelpers@parkrun.com