New Year

Members of Newport and District Running Club have already started their
New Year by participating in several races.

Ian Atkinson ran the Helsby Four Villages half Marathon along with over
1500 others and did well to complete the course in 1hr 36m 08s and gain
410th place. This also served as good training for his attempt at the
London Marathon in April.

Last Sunday, Helen MacDonald-Jones took part in one of the toughest races
in the fell running calendar when she ran the 11.5 miles and 5000feet of
ascent in the Long Mynd Valleys race from Church Stretton. Conditions were
good on the day for the 166 runners and Helen did well to finish second in
her category, and even with a slight navigational error which lost her a
little time, she completed the course in 2hrs 55mins.

At the same time Mark Deighton and John Brown travelled to Stourbridge for
the ten plus miles of the Stourbridge Stagger, a multi terrain race with
the route taking runners over fields, through woods and over a few rolling
hills.
The frost kept the going firm and the bright sun shone on the 470 athletes
as they kept up their efforts towards the finish line.
Mark Deighton kept up a steady pace to complete the event in 132nd
position in a time of 1hr 22m 50s. John Brown also did well in his over
60's age group to come in 332nd in 1hr 39m 50s.

Mark Deighton
Newport and District Running Club