On Sunday 1st March, five members of Newport & District Running Club took on the Millennium Way Ultramarathon. This run starts in Newport, and runs 41 miles along the length of the Millennium Way trail across Staffordshire to Burton Upon Trent.
Due to the recent storms and flooding this year, a couple of diversions were put in place for safety reasons, making the course just over 42 miles long.
Four of the runners completed this as their first ever ultramarathon. Sheryl Stuart was first back for NDRC in 8 hours and 48 minutes, claiming first place in her age group.
Next to finish were Kevin Phelps and Joanne Lutner, who ran together to finish in 9 hours and 14 minutes, with Kevin finishing in the top 20 of his age group in a tough category, and Joanne placing second in her age group.
The final first timer was Annabel Bolton, who ran with Ellen Deighton and they finished with a time of 9 hours and 53 minutes, with Annabel placing fourth in her age category and Ellen second. All four Newport women were in the top 20 female runners, in a race with almost 3 times as many men as women running.
Congratulations to all runners for undertaking, and completing, this challenging event.
Eaton Mess 10k: 8/3/20
The local spring race season seems to be well under way, and this year there was a new event on the calendar: the Eaton Mess 10k. Starting and finishing at Church Eaton Cricket Club, the one-lap course took runners through the village, then north, nearly reaching Gnosall, before returning south through Cowley, and back into Church Eaton from the west, on the Moreton Road.
186 runners took to the start line, and David Brown was the first Novaportan runner back, taking 11th place overall in a time of 42.22. Phil Dolding was next, in 16th place and clocking 43.27, and Darren Hesbrook-Edwards was 21st in 44.59. Phil Cross (27th) rana time of 47.28 and Ralph Humphries took 48th place with a time of 54.54.
After the race, participants were rewarded with locally produced ice cream, a medal and t-shirt, and the Novaportan participants were very complimentary about the event itself.
Knighton 20: 8/3/20
Another, more established race on the local running scene took place this weekend, the Knighton 20 Miler. Three members of Newport & District Running Club were in attendance this year, along with 3176 others, in a race which sees runners complete three anti-clockwise laps of the country lanes around Knighton and Adbaston, near the Staffordshire-Shropshire border.
The weather was near-ideal, despite some rain at times, and Neil Jones (121st, 2:45:39), Simon Yap (166th, 2:58:14) and Donna Hesbrook-Edwards (304th, 4:05:34), all successfully completed the long, challenging race.
A special mention also goes to Donna’s husband Darren, who, after completing the Eaton Mess 10k, arrived at Knighton in time to run the final lap with his wife.
Tatton Park 10k: 8/3/20
On Sunday, Nick and Sue Wylie, along with four other members of their family, went to Knutsford for the Tatton Park 10k. Despite the 9:00am start, they were rewarded with a brilliant morning, and were surprised by Nephew Taylor, who ran 50 minutes, despite no training!
Out of a field of 595 runners, Nick finished 381st overall, in a time of 1:00:41, and Sue was 419th with a time of 1:03:10.
