Ruth ran well, but she didn’t ‘watch’ out for herself very well

However the 40 year-old speedster, who finished 18th in a high class field, felt she should’ve gone quicker after putting too much faith in her GPS watch.

Jones who clocked 39:35, but had been aiming for around 38:30, explained: “I stuck to my 6.10 pace for my goal 38:30 time and crossed the line in 39:35.

“The course measured 300 metres long according to my watch, so I’m going to ignore the watch in my next race!

“I’m so annoyed with myself for not just running to feel, but it’s been so long since I raced I felt I needed to check the pace on my watch so I didn’t go off too fast and die, or run too slow, which I obviously did.”

Jones is coached by Aaron Scott who made a late decision to race and did not make the same mistake as his charge, finishing sixth in 30:28.

Peterborough Nene Valley AC had a healthy contingent of athletes at Mallory Park with Kirk Brawn finishing 49th in 34:10 and Elisabeth Sennit-Clough clocking 42:16 to finish 33rd lady. Kay Riley finished 38th lady in a time of 50:45.

The Mallory Park meeting also featured a 5km race with James McCrae leading the Peterborough Nene Valley contingent finishing 16th in 14:55. Mark Popple was 85th in 16:41 with James Sadlier four seconds further back in 90th.

Chloe Findlay was the 42nd lady home with 18:44 while Maggie Skinner clocked 19:02 for 50th position.