Tim Gardner took part in his first championship race for Highgate Harriers and was part of the triumphant men’s ‘four to score’ team at the London Cross-Country Championships on Saturday.

Gardner, a 33-year-old Hampstead resident, returned to athletics in 2008 after a long break and was eighth out of 279 finishers at Parliament Hill Fields, clocking 34 minutes 56 seconds.

With his team-mates Henry Dodwell (34:04), Ryan McKinlay (34:51) and Richard Scott (34:51) coming fourth, sixth and seventh respectively, the combined placings of Highgate’s top four scorers totalled 26 – easily the lowest out of the 26 clubs.

Serpentine and Thames Valley Harriers were next with 80, ahead of Victoria Park & Tower Hamlets (91), Herne Hill Harriers (103) and London Heathside (126).

Peter Downie was 20th in 36:16, while Over-40s veteran Chris Beecham came in 27th in 37:13. Chris Bailey was the first Over-50 competitor to cross the line, coming 96th overall in 40:36.

In the women’s event, Becky Penty came second out of the 130 finishers in 22:48, while Katie Meredith won a titanic struggle up the home straight to clinch third in 23:14.

The other two scorers were were Alexia Trafford, who was 28th in 25:53, and Louise Faherty (41st in 26:51), leaving the team third out of 11 clubs with 74 points.

Serpentine came first with 38, and they also boasted the individual winner, Andrea Clements (21:50).

Highgate’s Sophie Sheldrake was 47th in 27:14, while Natasha Cendrowicz was 81st in 28:49 and Alex Goodwin clocked 31:39.

Elsewhere, Over-45 runner Stephen Whiting was the first veteran to cross the line in the Brighton 10k road race on Sunday.

Whiting’s time of 33:27 was only 10 seconds off his lifetime personal best of 33:17, which he ran in 2008. He also beat all of the 40 to 45-year olds in the race, and was 27th overall out of over 2,000 competitors.