Saffron Walden runner Peter Thompson helped Great Britain to victory in the virtual European Masters 10k Championships.

With the main event cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, a series of races over different distances have been held virtually.

Each entrant runs their own course, recording their time on a GPS device and submitting their result to race organisers for scrutiny to check the distance was accurate and routes did not have descending gradients.

Each result that passed the checks was then posted to form a set of results for each age category and 62-year-old Thompson had already finished seventh in the European 5k Championships.

He chose to run his 10k in combination with a trip to Frinton-on-Sea, hoping a nice wide path by the seafront would make for a good course.

But by 10.30am it was already quite warm and a strong sea breeze was also far from ideal.

Thompson, a member of Cambridge & Coleridge AC, clocked an impressive 40.02 nonetheless, which saw him claim third place in the 60-65 age group, beaten only by runners from Holland and Romania.

And his effort also helped Great Britain to team gold in their age category, ahead of a trio from Finland.

Thompson, who runs Team Thompson Coaching with wife Clare, was delighted to finish in the top three in the individual rankings and equally pleased to be first British runner home in his age group.