AN action-packed week of racing for Irvine Running Club saw members taking part in a number of events.

Ultra-runner John Miller stepped down in distance to take part in the Stranraer half marathon on Saturday.

It proved to be a successful outing as he recorded a new personal best of 1:33:27 for the 13.1 mile distance which was an excellent effort on this hilly course.

John is used to running much longer distances and in 2016, he completed the triple crown of the three races on the West Highland Way; the Highland Fling which is 53 miles on the southern end from Milngavie to Tyndrum, the Devil o' the Highlands, the 42 miles from Fort William to Tyndrum as well as the full West Highland Way race from Milngavie to Fort William. Additionally, last year he also ran more than 100 miles in 24 hours when competing in the Glenmore 24-hour race.

The Hillbilly 10k on Sunday proved to be a successful outing for two Irvine runners. The race is a relatively new one in the running calendar and takes place on trails starting in Dalmellington and as the name suggests, is not one for the faint-hearted as this is a challenging course on a route which includes two long and punishing climbs.

The stunning scenery particularly on a warm spring morning made the course more bearable and there was a fine run from Paul Lafferty who finished in second place in a field of nearly 140 runners in a time of 40:19. Not far behind in 11th place was Alan Douglas who completed the course in a time of 44:23.

A number of Irvine runners took part in the Eglinton Parkrun on Saturday morning. First home for the Marress club was Stephen Daye in second place, in a new personal best time of 17:03, closely followed by Paul Lafferty (18:11), with Alan Douglas (20:11) not too far behind.

A trio of Irvine runners, George Irving (21:07), male points table winner Jim Sneddon (21:08) and John Surgenor (21:23) finished in a tight group with junior athlete Euan Rhodes (25:51) next to follow. Liz Colquhoun (28:20), Susan Rhodes (32:17) and Ian McManus (34:47) all had good runs to complete the Irvine participants in the 5k run.