Thornbury Running Club news

RACE entry fees range from the sublime to the ridiculous.

And the relatively low price of the Midnight Man, coupled with the novelty of racing in the night-time, drew Thornbury Running Club’s Jo Plumbley to Dartford for the challenge.

It was a full-length triathlon, with a 3.86km open-water swim, 180.25km bike and full-length marathon (42km), and although there was a half-distance option, Plumbley has never been known to take the easy way.

If she was going to bother driving to Dartford, she might as well do the whole thing.

With an overall time of 12 hours and six minutes, she was the second-fastest lady of the event, but she was just as pleased to complete the run in three hours 54minutes, a huge achievement to finish in under four hours after the swim and bike.

Rob Hopkins was also competing in an arguably extreme event.

He took part in The Big Brutal Swim, a race of 10k in the waters of Llyn Padarn in Snowdonia where he finished in 37th place in three hours 36.54minutes.

Although five competitors chose to swim without wetsuits, the majority opted for a little more protection – and buoyancy.

Hopkins was among them, though he, like Plumbley, is rarely associated with the easy option.

Back to mere mortals, Angela Bushell was the sole Thornbury representative at the Standish Woodland Chase on Sunday.

This is a tough, mainly off-road race of nearly 10 miles, and her time of one hour 34.54minutes shows she is track for a good performance at the flatter Severn Bridge half marathon which will be on August 28.

Most of the club parkrunners went to Chipping Sodbury where there were new course Personal Bests for Malcolm Carr (26.20minutes) and Carole Bishop (35.13minutes), finishing alongside husband Graham. Paul Thomas ran the 5k in 20.43minutes with Karen Carr completing in 27.47minutes.

Becky Griffin had her first run at the Burnham and Highbridge venue with one of her best parkrun times yet: 28.52minutes.

Places are still available for the Oldbury Power 10-miler on September 11, and if not full beforehand, entries will be accepted on the day. Full details can be found at thornburyrunningclub.co.uk