PAUL Whittaker ended an eight year absence from the Southend Half Marathon in fine style on Sunday.

Whittaker raced away from his closest rivals to win the 13.1 mile race in a time of one hour, nine minutes and 18 seconds.

And Whittaker was delighted with the dominant victory.

“I really enjoyed it,” said Whittaker, 34.

“I committed to a strong pace from the start, got a gap and just relaxed.

“It was a good tempo run for me to get done ahead of some more road races I have coming up this summer.”

Ian Butler finished second behind Whittaker in 1:11:02 while David Smale was third in 1:11:28.

And Whittaker was pleased to be reunited with the course which sees runners start and finish at Shoebury East Beach and complete two loops along the Southend sea-front.

“I last ran the race in 2016,” said Whittaker.

“I always find it to be a good course and luckily this year it wasn’t overly hot which helped.

“I also have an online running coaching business called PW Performance Coaching so it helps if I win races.”

Katie King was the first female finisher as she crossed the line in 1:22:37 while Rebecca Okill was second in 1:24:30 and Nikki Juniper third in 1:25:01.

More than 2,200 runners completed the race but the event was sadly marred by the death of a male participant.