Phil and his Peterborough Nene Valley team were pipped at the post in virtual five mile race

Turner ran his five-mile course in 24.41 with Martin just five seconds slower.

Martin chose a snow free Lynch Wood Business Park for his run, which consisted of five laps of the mile long Harrier League loop. He was joined by his team-mate Alex Gibb.

Gibb set off the faster of the two, and had gained an advantage of over 50 metres after a couple of miles.

Martin ran consistently with his mile splits all between 4:55 and 4:59, and with Gibb slowing slightly Martin caught and passed him in the last mile. Gibb clocked a time of 24:58 to finish third in the virtual race.

It was quite the running festival at Lynch Wood on Saturday morning, with the two Frostbite racers joined on the course by Helpston Harrier Aaron Scott who was using the flat, traffic-free circuit for a 20 mile training run.

Peterborough Nene Valley boasted four of the five fastest runners in the Frostbite race with James McCrae fourth in 25:04 and Kai Chilvers fifth with a time of 25:34.

There were also good runs from Simon Fell, who finished 14th, and Kirk Brawn, Michael Moore and Dan Lewis who placed 16th, 17th and 18th respectively

Given their dominance in the men’s virtual race it was perhaps a little surprising that Peterborough Nene Valley were beaten to first place by Hunts AC.

This was down to the Hunts AC ladies filling three of the top five positions in the ladies race, which was a big plus with the way points are allocated.

Lucy Mapp of Hunts won in 30:52, and despite the dominance of her club, the Peterborough Nene Valley’s ladies also put in a fine showing.

Maggie Skinner finished third in 31:39, Maddy Long was 17th with a 34:26 clocking, and Elisabeth Sennitt-Clough placed 15th in 34:20.

Kayleigh Draper of Yaxley ran well finishing 12th with a time of 33:38, while Becky Witton of Bushfield’s time of 35:25 was good enough for 21st position.

Werrington Jogger Ethan Nottle was the leading local in the junior 1.5 mile race finishing 8th in 8:36.

It was the girls who took top local billing with Erin Walker of Werrington clocking 8:56 to finish as first girl. Evie Hemmings of Peterborough Nene Valley was runner- up in 9:02.

After four races Yaxley, who finished sixth on the day, are fourth in the standings, with Peterborough Nene Valley sixth.

The Embankment-based club were third in the junior race and are now fifth overall.

Werrington Joggers are still the leading local club in third position after placing fourth in the weekend fixture.

In total 695 athletes braved the chilly and windy conditions. There were 121 juniors and 574 seniors out over the two days of the race.

The fifth race in the six-race series is scheduled for March 13/14. Seniors run five miles on a course of their choosing and juniors run 1.5 miles.