Saturday 9th April saw the return of a local race, the “Eaton Mess” 10k, a race taking in the roads around the village of Church Eaton in Staffordshire. Starting and finishing at Church Eaton Cricket Club, runners follow a triangular route which leaves the village on Cowley lane towards Gnosall, turns left at Cowley, then left again back towards Church Eaton at the crossroads.
Runners cross the Shropshire Union Canal twice as they follow the scenic route which is almost fully on country lanes. After a 2-year Covid-induced hiatus for this event, runners were greeted with a pleasant sunny morning for the race.
First back for Newport was Matthew Walley, who took 6th place overall, and 3rd in his age category, with a time of 38 minutes 22 seconds. David Brown was 13th overall with his time of 43:40, whilst Bernie Holbrook and Ralph Humphries’ had a tight battle to the finish, Bernie just about taking the honours with 66th place in 56:20.
Ralph’s time of 56:22 secured him 68th spot. Mark McEvilly knocked a huge 5 minutes off his personal best to finish in a time of 1:01:09 for 89th place, while Tracey Powell was 94th, and first NDRC female runner, in 1:02:06.
Not far behind was Tracy Hartridge, her time of 1:02:47 taking 98th place, whilst Maff Wellman took 102nd place with his time of 1:03:11. Sally Morgan took 106th place in a time of 1:03:53, whilst Liz Holbrook finished in 1:04:37 for 110th position. Elizabeth McEvilly’s time of 1:05:47 secured 117th place, not far ahead of Toni Ireland, who was 119th overall, and 3rd in her age category, with a time of 1:06:58.
10/4/22: Millennium Way Ultra
On Sunday 10th April, NDRC club member Ellen Deighton took part in the Millennium Way Ultra for the fifth year in a row. The Millennium Way is a trail running between Newport and Burton on Trent, using old railway lines, canal towpaths and public footpaths to travel 41 miles across Staffordshire.
The day started out cold, but soon warmed up, with sunshine all day to keep the runners going, along with plenty of food at the three checkpoints along the route.
This was Ellen’s first race back after having covid, so she was happy just to be back at a running event, but was also pleased with her time of 9 hours and 33 minutes.
16/4/22: Manx Mountain Half Marathon
On Saturday, Newport & District Running Club’s Chas Bickford-Smith took on the Manx Mountain Half Marathon, a tough point-to-point race on the Isle of Man, starting in St. John’s and finishing in Erin. Chas was originally intending to do the full-length Marathon, but had to change to the Half, which follows the same route as the second half of the Marathon, when he broke some ribs a few weeks before the race.
As the name suggests, this mostly off-road race features a large amount of elevation change, with over 3000 feet of climbing overall. This includes visiting the summits of mountains such as Slieau Whallian, South Barrule, Cronk Ny Arrey Laa and Lhiatee ny Beinee, before the descent to the finish at sea level.
Part of a field of 109 runners, Chas was pleased to finish in a very creditable 2 hours, 40 minutes, 44 seconds, which bagged him 41st position overall.
17/4/22: Telford and Wrekin 10k
Sunday saw the launch of a new event in the area - the Telford and Wrekin 10k. Not to be confused with the long-running Telford 10k, which takes place every December in Telford Town Park, this new event takes in roads around the town centre as well as Old Park and The Rock.
Starting and finishing in Southwater, runners first complete an anti-clockwise lap of the roads surrounding the town centre, before heading west to complete a couple of loops which take in Colliers Way, Old Park Way, and part of the ring road. They then retrace their steps around the outskirts of the town centre, before finishing back at Southwater.
For this inaugural event, runners were greeted with a glorious morning, and nearly 400 runners made up the field, including Newport & District Running Club’s Gary Mountford. Gary ran a strong race to finish in 93rd position overall, as well as 6th in his age category, with a time of 48 minutes, 21 seconds.
