Last weekend saw the annual Stafford Half Marathon take place, an event that is always popular with Novaportan runners, it being the nearest half marathon to Newport.
This year, Newport & District Running Club was represented by 18 runners, and despite the inclement weather that had affected the local area in the week preceding, the snow had melted and the rain stopped in time for the 10:00am start time on Sunday. Despite this, the wind made conditions tough for running on a challenging course.
For this year, the start and finish lines had been moved from the town centre due to renovation works, but the majority of the route stayed the same as in recent years. Runners started just outside the town centre, before making their way down the Newport road, along West Way through Highfields before heading back up the Wolverhampton Road and the A34 before tackling Radford Bank.
From here, the route took runners down Baswich Lane before heading to Beaconside and climbing towards the Stone Road. The final stretch saw runners hit the Isabel Trail, follow the River Sow into the town centre, then loop around to finish on the road bridge by Victoria Park.
A field of 1,750 runners took to the streets of the county town, and Newport’s first runner back was David Clarke in 50th place, who clocked a time of 1 hour, 24 minutes, 19 seconds.
Robin Guy was next, 93rd overall, in a time of 1:28:15, just ahead of Ashley Moore, who ran a time of 1:30:54 to finish 148th. Richard Bennett was 251st in 1:38:00, just ahead of Phil Dolding, who took 277th position in a time of 1:38:46, and Andy Wilmot, who finished 306th in 1:39:40.
Next up was Liz Bennett, 321st overall with a time of 1:39:55, followed by Neil Fairbrother, who stopped the clock at 1:44:49 for 417th position.
Jonathan Pierce was next for Newport, taking 426th place in 1:45:08, whilst Alex Cochrane was 455th in a time of 1:46:31. Aaron Nicholas took 453rd overall with his time of 1:46:44, and David Brown ran a time of 1:54:05 to finish 659th.
John Metzger placed 894th in 1:57:34, whilst Rodney Jones took 1,151st spot in a time of 2:08:43. Tracey Powell finished in 1,249th place with her time of 2:12:08, just ahead of Catherine Hawksworth and Ralph Humphries, who both clocked a time of 2:12:52 to finish 1,243rd and 1,244th. Maff Wellman finished 1,336th overall in a time of 2:18:18.
Photo (left to right): Back: John Metzger, Ralph Humphries, Catherine Hawksworth, Richard Bennett, Liz Bennett, Ashley Moore, David Brown, Aaron Nicholas, Jonathan Pierce. Front: Phil Dolding, Neil Fairbrother, Alex Cochrane
