A 35-year-old army electrician popped in on his way to work to end hopes of local success in the Southend 10k road race yesterday.

Kenyan-born Haggai Chepkwony is based in Bristol but, discovering he was working in York in the coming week, scoured the athletics calendar to find a suitable event to compete in on his journey north.

A regular on the distance circuit Chepkwony left the rest of the field standing to win in a time of 30 mins 44 secs with Thurrock Harriers' 16-year-old Andrew Livingstone second and Southend AC's sporting teenage superstar Adam Hickey, the defending champion, third.

Hickey, only recently back in action after six weeks out with a foot problem, perhaps paid for trying to stay with the eventual champion - a feat he managed until around the three-quarters mark when he got a stitch and was forced to stop for a short spell.

Said Chepkwony: "The conditions were just right with little wind and I liked the course.

"It was pretty flat and we got some good support along the seafront. I'd certainly like to come back and run again if I can."

First woman home was Woodford Green's Grace Greenhalgh, while Southend AC had to content themselves with success in the children's 3k race.

The seaside club's Ben Hunter was the winner with clubmate Natasha Bailey first girl home.