Snow and ice may have brought running events to a standstill in and around Hertfordshire but there were still events to be had - if you travelled a bit.

One Garden City Runner who travelled a lot was Russell Morris who was in Italy for the Pisa Marathon.

He had been taken aback when he received word from the World Marathon Majors organisation that his Frankfurt Marathon time had scored highly in the age group rankings and a second similar performance at a 2022 qualifying event could result in an invite to run in the World Championship at Chicago in 2023.

The practical option was Italy and a flat route cancelled out the rapid training reschedule following his efforts in Germany.

The finish was in front of the Leaning Tower and the surroundings plus the weather helped him to a PB of three hours one minute 52 seconds, almost 10 minutes quicker than his run in Frankfurt.

Jen Denman meanwhile headed to the Winter Woolley 10k, a trail run in Woolhampton, Berkshire.

With only two miles on lanes, three punishing hills and significant icy patches, the course was tricky but the rural scenery kept the spirits high and she finished in a satisfying 1:00:00 chip time, good enough for 68th overall and 18th lady.

Lee Wood took on the Portsmouth Coastal Marathon while Donna O’Toole tackled the 5k at the same event, battling through a niggling knee injury to finish in 34:51.

Wood had ran every marathon at the event bar one since 2014 and decided the tough course would be even more difficult in the conditions.

He therefore dropped down to the half and clocked 1:56:54.

Parkruns were few and far between but Dan Pudner still managed a fifth in Southampton while Alex Faulkner was the fifth lady at St Albans, an event which also saw GCRs Andrew Holt, Jamie Rose, Fredi Gilberti and Valerie Levison taking part.