The World Bog Snorkelling Championships?!

The World Bog Snorkelling Championships took place over the Bank Holiday at Llanwrtyd Wells and Mark Deighton of Newport and District Running Club decided to have a go and help raise some money for local charities.
The event took place in a 60 metre by 4 foot deep trench cut out of a peat bog, and contestants, equipped with snorkel and flippers had to complete two lengths of the bog without the aid of conventional swimming strokes - only doggy paddle.
Not really knowing what to expect, Mark entered the water, blindly going where few had gone before, since the water was really more of a muddy soup, he set off up the bog. He had to raise his head on a couple of occasions in order to check his direction, but persevered and kept a steady pace after the turn around to finish in a time of 2mins 51secs, about halfway down the field of around 200.
The winner finished in the magnificent time of 1min 35s and earned a trophy along with a £40 prize, but a fun time was had by all with the charities coming out the real winners.

The penultimate race of this year's Sexarathon series organised by Telford AC took place last Wednesday in Telford Town Park. This 5K course is generally recognised as a quick one and so it proved to be with Tom Humphries from Cannock and Stafford AC and Chris Davies from Telford AC battling hard at the front of the race and leaving all others in their wake. Tom Humphries was eventually the victor in a stunning time of 13m 46s with Chris Davies only eight seconds behind him.
Newport and District Running Club also had every right to be pleased as they put out 43 runners on the night in a field of almost 220, far more than any other club present and a good reflection of the gaining strength and popularity of the club.
First home for Newport on the night was Andrew Bentley in an excellent 13th place in a very good time of 16m 39s with Robin Guy not far adrift in 23rd place in17m 20s. Noel Hogan showed that he can still be very competitive in 29th place in 18m 06s and Maurice Reid's 18m 42s was good enough to earn him 39th position.
First lady home for Newport was Lindsay Ferguson who took 46th place in 19m 12s with Steve Fowles chasing her to the line just two places behind in 19m 15s. Graham Rogers kept up his challenge in the series to be 52nd in 19m 22s and Ian Kevan was 56th in 19m 30s.
Steve Wootton came back from injury to run well for 70th place in 20m 08s, having a close race with Sandy Mackenzie and and Ben Frankley who finished 72nd and 75th in times of 20.11 and 20.13 respectively.
Other Newport runners on the night were:
Juliet Hoad 86th 20m 56s
Glenn MacDonald-Jones 88th 21m 01s
Trevor Harper 95th 21m 12s
Roger Kerr 101st 21m 30s
Richard Guy 102nd 21m 30s
Claire Benbow 120th 22m 30s
Oliver Stokes 124th 22m 36s
Graham Tate 125th 22m 36s
Susan Marshall 137th 23m 00s
Kevin Nicklin 138th 23m 00s
Sandra Pattinson 142nd 23m 20s
John Brown 143rd 23m 20s
Pauline Newton 147th 23m 35s
Helen MacDonald-Jones 148th 23m 35s
Mark Deighton 149th 23m 42s
Judy Clayton 151st 23m 44s
Edward Christie 155th 23m 56s
Nigel Cooper 156th 24m 00s
Jo Coombes 159th 24m 12s
Ceri Christie 162nd 24m 37s
Paul Grubert 167th 24m 49s
Sonya Phillips 176th 25m 57s
John Stokes 180th 26m 03s
Ann Strowger 182nd 26m 13s
Nigel Martin 183rd 26m 24s
Tony Hall 185th 26m 29s
Paula Holloway 188th 26m 57s
Gary Bowness 196th 28m 08s
Amanda Ingram 198th 28m 22s
Dympna Howells 208th 30m 20s
Zoe Furniss 210th 30m 28s
Toni Ireland 211th 30m 28s

The final race in the series takes place at Madeley on Wed 5th Sept when several members of the Newport club stand a chance of earning prizes in the different age groups.

Cannock Chase 5 mile

Last Wednesday over 400 athletes congregated at the visitor centre on Cannock Chase to take part in a 5 mile race on a multi terrain course. Newport and District Running Club put out 9 runners on the night which was good considering that many of the club were on holiday at the time.
Tom Humphries of Cannock and Staffs AC set off at a stunning pace that no one else could match and was almost two and a half minutes clear at the finish to cross the line in a new course record of 24m 32s.
First to finish for Newport was Nick Cooper, who pushed on in the warm conditions to be 83rd in a time of 34m 21s. Not too far behind was Mark Deighton in his first race in the V50 category, to finish 102nd in 35m 04s. He was chased all the way to the line by Ian Atkinson, who pushed on to be 112th in 35m 13s and John Taylor was not far behind him in 122nd place, crossing the line in 35m 39s.
Andrew Kay had a good run to finish in 38m 54s and gain 206th place with John Brown showing many younger runners the way home, finishing 259th in 41m 18s and Frank Forest kept up a steady pace to finish 270th in 42m 00s.
Nigel Cooper and Tracy Taylor kept each other company throughout the race and came in 319th and 320th respectively in the the same time of 44m 57s.