Owls' Mark Powell stepped away from marathon training to lead home a record Leicestershire Road-Running League field at the Barrow 6.

And Kate Ramsey, of host club Barrow Runners, continued her recent spell of form with victory in the women's race.

In cold but windless conditions that were ideal for running, the 30-year-old Powell headed a strong 545-strong entry, clocking a useful time of 31min 3sec.

He got home 13 seconds ahead of 41-year-old Gordon Lee, the top-ranked British veteran over 10 miles in 2008, with up-and-coming Ashley Sabin, 22, another 11 seconds back in third place.

Powell, who will be trying to regain the County cross-country crown he won in 2007 when the championships take place at Brooksby College on Saturday, was buoyant after his run.

He said: "With Gordon and Ash in there, it was quite competitive, so I was pleased.

"I had the flu like almost everyone else at the beginning of last month and it knocked me for six, but things have gone well since then."

Powell had been planning to tackle the Flora London Marathon in April in his first attempt at 26 miles 385 yards, but has now switched attention to the Edinburgh Marathon on May 31 after losing some valuable training during November because of a foot problem.

"I didn't really ease down for the Barrow race," said Powell. "I had a high-mileage week but next weekend's more important with the County championships, so I'll maybe taper back a bit for that. But I did feel strong."

Powell got away just before the first-mile marker and maintained the gap between him and Lee to the tape.

Lee went into the race as the defending champion and showed that his recent decision to pick his races more selectively was paying off with a clocking that was 41 seconds quicker than his 2008 return.

Having recently switched from Owls to Leicester Coritanians, he spearheaded a dominant show from the city club's men's squad, who put their eight counters in the top 28.

Interestingly, seven of their counters were veterans, including fourth-placed Phil Makepeace, a former GB international in the World Half-Marathon Championships who was making a rare appearance on local roads.

With other vets like Gareth Deacon, Rob Sheen, Andy Hart, Craig Sabin and Dave Pearce in attendance, the top-end quality was stronger than for some time at league level. The race attracted 166 women finishers and leading them home was former GB senior international Ramsey, who is battling back after a well-documented problem with a back condition.

Wearing for the first time the type of shin compression socks favoured by world marathon record-holder Paula Radcliffe, Ramsey moved to the front after two miles and held on well to cross the line in a respectable 35.32.

The 40-year-old won by 24 seconds from Charnwood's Debbie Marsden, with Birstall's Zoe Fleming third in 36.40.

"I just kind of went for it," said Ramsey. "Debbie and Zoe went out fast at the start but I caught Zoe just before the one-mile marker and then caught Debbie just before the second.

"I felt okay and just kept it going. Two years ago, I suffered a bit of numbness in my leg going up the long hill to the finish but I decided to wear the compression socks for the first time and didn't have any numbness, even though my legs were tired at the finish.

"It was nice to win on home soil but I was really pleased that Gemma Steel (the defending league champion) wasn't there as she's really flying at the moment." Leading details:

Men (379 finishers): 1 Mark Powell (Owls) 31.03, 2 Gordon Lee (M40, LC) 31.16, 3 Ashley Sabin (LC) 31.27, 4 Phil Makepeace (M40, LC) 31.52, 5 Mark Couldwell (Ch) 31.54, 6 Chris Southam (M40, Stilton) 31.55, 7 Steve Platts (M40, Owls) 31.57, 8 Martin Lewis (Ch) 32.15, 9 Ally Watson (Herm) 32.34, 10 Nathaniel Walker (Leic Tri) 32.46, 11 Gareth Deacon (M40, LC) 32.47, 12 Jason Williams (Owls) 33.21, 13 Rob Sheen (M45, LC) 33.30, 14 Andrew Robinson (Harb) 33.32, 15 Carl Sommer (Hunc) 33:35, 16 Richard Brown (Ch) 33.39, 17 Tom Hughes (Leic Tri) 33.46, 18 Richard Whitelegg (Hk) 34.06, 19 Tim Hartley (M40, Bar) 34.08, 20 Tim McDowell (Leic Tri) 34.09, 21 Paul Gregory (Herm) 34.11, 22 Karl Beardall (F&K) 34.22, 23 Andy Hart (M40, LC) 34.26, 24 Neil Carter (Owls) 34.29, 25 Glen North (M45, Ch) 34.32.

Leading teams – Men's League 1: 1 Owls 303pts, 2 Barrow 425, 3 Hermitage 443, 4 Wreake 580, 5 Stilton 735, 6 Ivanhoe 833, 7 Birstall 884. Men's League 2: 1 Huncote 527, 2 Fleckney 670, 3 Hinckley 889, 4 Roadhoggs 1139, 5 Shepshed 1291, 6 Beaumont 1676. Men's League 3: Leicester Coritanians 110, 2 Leicester Tri 309, 3 Charnwood 367, 4 Nuneaton 794, 5 Harborough 888, 6 West End 1106. Men Vets League 1: 1 Barrow 77, 2 Huncote 91, 3 Wreake 132, 4 Stilton 138, 5 Owls 157, 6 Ivanhoe 180, 7 Roadhoggs 286. Men Vets League 2: 1 Leicester Coritanians 14, 2 Nuneaton 141, 3 Hermitage 179, 4 West End 189, 5 Hinckley 318, 6 Fleckney 339, 7 Desford 360. Men Vets League 3: 1 Harborough 162, 2 Birstall 316, 3 Sth Derbys 332, 4 Leicester Tri 360, 5 Whetstone 364, 6 Charnwood 399, 7 Shepshed 402, 8 Beaumont 573.

Women (166 finishers): 1 Kate Ramsey (F40, Bar) 35.32, 2 Debbie Marsden (Ch) 35.56, 3 Zoe Fleming (Birst) 36.40, 4 Catherine Draper (Bar) 36.50, 5 Nicola Clay (Stilton) 36.56, 6 Clare McKittrick (Ch) 37.14, 7 Liz Cocks (Birst) 38.18, 8 Eleanor Greenfield (Nun) 38.28, 9 Nicola Roder (Leic Tri) 38.52, 10 Sally Newman (F45, Wrk) 39.10, 11 Rhona Makepeace (F45, Leic Tri) 39.29, 12 Gina Vaughan (F45, Leic Tri) 40.11.

Leading teams – League 1: 1 Birstall 41pts, 2 Barrow 49, 3 Wreake 130, 4 Huncote 140, 5 Fleckney 157, 6 Barrow B 176, 7 Hinckley 228, 8 Owls 300. League 2: 1 Charnwood 62, 2 Leicester Tri 62, 3 West End 110, 4 Stilton 147, 5 Roadhoggs 202, 6 Ivanhoe 243, 7 Birstall B 250, 8 Hermitage 320.