This weekend, four Newport & District Running Club members took part in the first edition of the Wellington 10k, a new road race taking place in and around Wellington, Telford. The route starts and finishes at Charlton School, and follows a 1-lap clockwise course, taking in the settlements of Wrockwardine, Admaston and Dothill, as well as Wellington itself, whilst featuring around 80 metres of elevation changes.
In a field of nearly 400 runners, Mandy Purves was the first Novaportan runner to finish, taking 60th place overall, and 1st in her category, with a time of 45 minutes, 48 seconds. Simon Smith took 106th with his time of 49:46, and Ralph Humphries was next, his time of 53:23 securing 166th position. John Stokes took 354th overall by stopping the clock at 1:14:05.
Simon Smith said of the race afterwards: “The route was initially over part of the school playing field, so I got slightly wet feet from the dew on grass. The very well marshalled course undulated quite a bit with lots of turns, keeping it interesting, plus spectators cheered runners on the whole way around the course.
9/10/22: Shrewsbury Metric Half Marathon
Last weekend, Newport & District Running Club’s Ashley Moore was one of the first people to take part in a metric half marathon in the UK. Afterwards, he was kind enough to write us this report:
On Sunday 9th October the first ever UK metric half marathon took place. 13.1km or 8.14 miles, an unusual distance to test all that took part. A relatively small field with representatives from all local clubs and independents looking to bridge the gap between 10k and the full half marathon distance.
We set off 10 minutes after the half marathon runners but along the same route. It was quickly apparent there was a group of approximately 10 competitive paced runners at the front of the field. I held 3rd place for the first loop of the course running at target 10k pace but managed to find a bit more up the hill on the first pass and went into second. On the run into the end of the first lap downhill I was overtaken and found myself in 3rd again.
With 3 miles to go and another uphill my legs had more to give and the runner in front began to fade. His legs had gone and I opened up a gap and came into the end with a comfortably uncomfortable 2nd place finish. Greeted with water and banana and a can of beer it was a race well run and the distance enjoyable.
16/10/22: Great South Run
The Great South Run took place at the weekend in unseasonably warm conditions. Starting in Southsea, the race attracted more than 20,000 runners who took on this 10-mile road race starting in the shadows of Southsea Castle and taking in many of the local sights, including the Spinnaker Tower, HMS Victory and the Mary Rose in the Naval Dockyard, before continuing down to Southsea and then back along the seafront in humid conditions to the finish.
Newport & District Running Club’s Toni Ireland competed in the race, her fourth Great South Run, finishing in 1 hour 52 minutes and 1 second. She said after the race: “A great flat and scenic race to do if you’re looking for a PB!”
16/10/22: Amsterdam Marathon
Last weekend, Newport & District Running Club’s David Clarke travelled to Amsterdam to take on the city’s annual marathon. David has been a prolific racer of late, and continued his excellent form on the continent. After he returned, he was kind enough to send us a few words about his experience.
The Marathon starts and ends at the Amsterdam Olympic stadium. The route is a relatively flat one and runs through Vondel park, the Rijks museum and follows alongside a large section of the Amstel River. Apparently there are plenty of windmills along this section but I must have been running with my head down.
Conditions on the day were perfect for running and it was well supported with enthusiastic spectators. There was also the option of running an 8k or a half marathon on the day. I managed to complete it in 2 hours 57 which I am delighted with. I’d highly recommended the Amsterdam Marathon to anyone.
