Off Road and uphill!

Last Wednesday over 120 hardy souls attempted to race up the Wrekin fromthe Forest Glen, all the way to the trig point at the summit and then backto the bottom again at breakneck speed.John Brown of Newport and District Running Club took on this notinconsiderable challenge and did well to finish in 92nd place in 28m 20s.This was also good enough for him to finish 3rd in the MV60 category.Helen MacDonald-Jones was only just behind him in 95th place and chasedhim all the way to the line to cross it in 95th place in 28m 31s and takerunners up spot in the FV50 category. The following night Helen was racing yet again along with Mark Deighton inthe last race of Stone Master Marathoners Spring Treble series atKibblestone Scout camp.This race of approximately five miles was probably the toughest of thethree in the series. Not because of the three laps the runners had tocomplete on the course, but due the 150 plus uphill steps they had toclimb on each circuit.Around 80 runners took part on the night and set off on the scenic courseat a good pace. Once they hit the steps, however, they soon became morestrung out as the uphill climbs slowed all but the very fastest andfittest of the athletes.Mark Deighton finished 34th on the night in 38m 35s. This was enough togive him 3rd place in the MV45 category for the series.Helen MacDonald-Jones was 70th in 47m 48s, which was a good resultconsidering her race from the previous evening. She was also runner up inthe FV50 category for the series.