A plethora of athletes descended on St Albans for an extravaganza of running events.

The St Albans Half Marathon proved the centre-piece, the route featuring a small loop by the hospital after the start in Verulamium Park before heading out into the lanes towards Bedmond.

However, back at base in the park there were other events taking place, from a 1.5-mile fun run to a 5k blast.

And the home clubs of St Albans Athletics Club and St Albans Striders had a whale of a time on home soil.

There was a sea of blue and gold in the 5k race as a number of AC's youngsters took part, with two of them winning overall.

Adam Healey took the male prize with a time of 18 minutes 17 seconds, beating team-mate Isaac Gibson-Dunt into second, while Ella Pinder was the female winner with 21:23.

Eliza Nightingale took third in that race with more than 20 athletes from St Albans on the start line.

Oscar Loveday continued the success in the half marathon, winning the U20 category in what was his debut half and coming 11th overall.

His time was 1:19:24.

The Striders carried most of the adult participation and they enjoyed some great results too.

Paul Adams continued his impressive form by putting himself on the third step of the podium in a time of 1:14:19, and on the top step for the 40-49 male group.

Matt Cooper was just 25 seconds behind in fourth, while AC's Jonathan Lee was sixth.

Heather Hann also excelled as she came in second with a time of 1:24:19.

Back in the 5k race, John Logan led the Striders group home in 11th with a time of 20:04.

A spokesman for the Striders said: "We mustn’t forget all the pacers that worked hard to keep the momentum going, the volunteers that worked tirelessly to make it a fun and enjoyable day for all and also the supporters that kept the runners’ spirits up.

"They all contributed together to make the St Albans Half the superb event it was.

"Overall a very good day at the races with countless PBs."

The club's weren't exclusively at the event though with others venturing elsewhere.

Elsewhere, and by no means any lesser of an achievement was the weekender Welsh Castles Relay where Striders finished 21st in the open category and 25th out of 60 teams with a podium for Meg.

To top it all they also raised £580 for the track at Westminster Lodge.

AC also had teams heading away from home base, including some at the South of England Championships, held in Windsor.

Sam Jones ran a tactical heat safely through to the final where he picked up a bronze medal and Henry Stewart broke the club record in the 400m, finishing in an impressive 48.09.

The Hertfordshire Schools Track & Field championships were held in Hemel with the success earned hopefully helping some of the St Albans athletes earn English schools selection.

The Watford British Milers Grand Prix was bathed with evening sunshine on Saturday where James McMurray, Dillon Smith, Sophie Jacobs and Keira Stern were out to impress.

The next meet is the Southern Athletics League event on Saturday in Peterborough.