THORNBURY'S early New Year “mudder” which is described by the organisers as “not for the fastidious or fainthearted” was not going to disappoint after a few weeks of consistent wet weather moistened the course.

The race had a strong turn-out of 20 athletes from Dursley Running Club many of whom had one eye on the Dursley Dozen.

After a cold and sunny Saturday the runners were treated to a misty morning, the weather then worsening with heavy showers swept in by a biting easterly wind.

Dan Anderson was one of those runners with an eye on the Dozen. He started cautiously and he gradually moved from fourth place up to first, showing his strength in the extremely difficult conditions, a despite a tumble in the last quarter of a mile he won the race in 58:30 20 seconds.

He crossed the line ahead of Anthony Glover and one and a half minutes ahead of local rivals Stroud AC’s Lee Rankin who placed fourth.

Rankin has in the past placed second at the Dozen so this bodes well for Anderson.

Behind him Dursley had strength in depth across the age categories, Brad Johnson was second in for Dursley and 10th Senior Male Tony Freer showing the benefits of specivity placed 6th MV50 and was pleased with his pacing, Dave Wood three minutes behind and 8th MV50.

Kim Bird led the Dursley women home in 01:19:18 and was an impressive 5th Senior woman, she was not far in front of Margaret Johnson and Alice Lewis, over whom it would appear a blanket can always be thrown when they race at Thornbury. Johnson was 6th FV45 and Lewis 4th FV55 with a mere five seconds separating them on the line.

Dursley runners continued to stream into the finish with Katherine Sealey finishing 10th senior woman comfortably under 90 minutes.

Audrey Harris cruised around today accompanying her good friend Becky Court, both doing it for the first time.

They both stayed upright and smiled for all the photos! They were followed by Debbie Seal, Julie Froggatt and Claire Searle.

Debbie Seal said she enjoyed the race despite falling over and Julie Froggatt said she enjoyed it after having soaked off all the mud and warmed up! Carolyn Thraves said she was so cold at the finish, her lips were the same colour as her top!

It was great to see Karen Eadon and Sue Davies finish a challenging course and smiling as they crossed the finish line... a great achievement! Margaret reported that the “ladies changing room afterwards was not a pretty sight, I am sure the men's was even worse!” although she may have been of the culprits as she also reported “I showered myself and then my shoes”.

Apart from the fantastic win for the club and great category positions another big result is a number of the athletes declaring that they have much have greater confidence going into the Dozen having experienced the energy sapping mud and hills of the Rollick and all did well to finish in extremely testing conditions.

Dan Anderson 1st , 58:30; Braddan Johnson 22nd 01:06:02 (10th SM); Tony Freer 44th 01:10:29 6th MV50; Dave Wood 67th 01:13:26 (8th MV50); Dave Halford 01:16:22; Kim Bird 116th 01:19:18 (5th SW); Karl Rust 137th 01:22:19; Margaret Johnson 01:22:47 (6th FV45); Alice Lewis 01:22:52 (4th FV55); Katherine Sealey 191st 01:28:06 (10th SW); Mark Owen 197th 01:28:56; Audrey Harris 319th 31st; Becky Court 323rd 01:48:13; Debbie Seal 341st 01:54:11; Julie Froggatt 349th 01:55:52 (13th LV50) Claire Searle 351st 01:55:59 (14th LV50);Carolyn Thraves 372nd 01:59:52;Karen Eadon 393rd 02:13:55; Sue Davies 395th 02:14:22

New club member Tara Truman was at the Skyline 10K in Bath on the same day, having completed in Kingsway Parkrun the day before. A trail race with a variety of terrain including technical sections and a significant climb that have to be negotiated twice, Truman was 115th in a time of 01:00:54, sneaking into the top 20 of the women’s category, with the top 10 clearly beckoning.

The previous weekend between the January 9-11, Andrew Truswell took part in the Spine Challenger. At 108 miles, this is the baby brother of the 268 mile long Spine Race.

The race follows a "challenging and extremely technical section of the Pennine Way, which is a physically and psychologically demanding route that demands concentration, good physical fitness, resolve and respect."

Compulsory kit includes a sleeping bag, bivvy bag or tent, stove, and two days food, as there is only one checkpoint with bunks on route and it is expected that competitors may have to bivvy out overnight.

Some runners were supported by crews that could meet them at road crossings.

Conditions were extremely wet underfoot, especially across the peat hags and fields. There were heavy showers throughout Saturday, which didn't help matters! Truswell got to Checkpoint 1 at Hebden Bridge at around 10pm on Saturday night, where he stopped for about 4 hours to get some food and a bit of sleep.

Late Saturday night there was a fall of wet snow, which settled in drifts up to a foot deep, making it hard to make out where the trail ended and the bog began!

Sunday was a better day, but cold, and luckily the snow forecast for the Sunday night didn't come. It was a cloudless night, so the snow that had fallen refroze in awkward lumps, and the roads and rocks were covered in a layer of ice.

Truswell found Malham Cove and Pen-y-Gent in these conditions and at night “especially interesting”, he didn't sleep at all on Sunday night, as he had hoped to finish before dawn. Truswell started to difficulty with his left knee on the last stretch from Pen-y-Gent to Hawes (including along the Cam Road!), which slowed him down a lot; as did taking the wrong path and doing an extra loop only 1km from the finish!

He completed the event in 49.5 hours (there is a 60 hour time limit), finishing 19th overall from 37 finishers (and 69 starters).

Nine Dursley runners competed in Parkrun at Gloucester Kingsway and Chipping Sodbury, with Richard Pitts quickest over the weekend with a 21:09 over the “long” and grassy Kingsway course, he and Tara Truman both first in their categories. Mike Hanman was 6th in a very competitive MV60 Category. There were no PBs although Garry Strickland came close just 1 second down at Chipping Sodbury.

Gloucester: Richard Pitts, 6th, 21:09, (1st VM50-54); Tara Truman, 27th , 23:41, (1st VW40-44); Mike Hanman, 76th, 28:38:00, (6th VM60-64); Sara Eden, 116th 33:17:00; Emma Boxall, 125th, 34:25; Cara Zoglowek, 147th, 37:50; Sarah Willcox, 155th 39:01.

Chipping Sodbury: Garry Strickland, 40th , 22:14, (4th, VM50-54). Dewsbury: Nigel Sankey 31st, 24:47.