Athletics

Thornbury Running Club news

A SMALL but defiant group of cross country stalwarts made it to the final race of the Gwent Cross Country league in Llanelli at Pembrey Country Park on Saturday.

In the men’s race, Mike Willis and Nick Langridge engaged in another ding-dong battle on the Welsh turf.

Willis came out on top in 42.31mins and third in MV60 age category (145th overall).

Langridge followed in 154th place in 43.17mins and capped a very consistent season by scooping top prize in the MV65 age category.

In the women’s race, Clare Watt produced another strong run and crossed the line in 80th place in 30.54mins.

Angela Bushell competed in her sixth race for the club this season and finished in 35.04mins.

Garry Slater paced himself around the Chipping Sodbury parkrun in 20.16mins for 16th place.

Paul Thomas finished in the top ten (seventh place) of Kingsway parkrun in Gloucester for the second week in succession in 20.20mins.

A couple of years ago, a lone Thornbury runner came home from the Mendips telling stories about a very testing 15 mile off-road race with over two thousand feet of climbing.

Ever since, the numbers of people looking to take on ‘The Big Cheese’ has steadily risen.

It starts and finishes in Cheddar and includes an assortment of rocky paths, muddy forest trails, soft mossy fields and a succession of hill climbs over a variety of gradients.

That terrain makes the run a real challenge for everyone who competes in it.

This year a team of six Thornbury runners encountered what seemed like four seasons in one race on Sunday morning.

Foreboding dark clouds gathered over the start line which soon turned into rain as the runners ran up the first and longest rocky hill.

This was followed by a hail storm and a constant, tormenting wind which sapped the strength of all concerned.

The finish line was bathed in sunshine, which seemed a fitting end to the ordeal that the athletes faced.

However, such a daunting prospect was no problem for Joanne Emerson.

She has a proven track record over hilly courses and showed her class again by making the women’s podium in third place overall in two hours 19:11mins.

She was presented with a huge piece of Cheddar for her effort.

Rob Watkins is another who likes the going tough and was the first male finisher from the club in two hours 05:15mins to cross the line in 24th place.

Matt Johnstone collapsed over the line in two hours 10:18mins in 32nd place, with only the complimentary coffee and cake greeting every finisher keeping him going in the final few miles.

Rob Hopkins was back for his second crack at the race in two hours 14:50mins and finished the course in a very good 48th place, which was much slower than his previous effort but given the conditions this was no surprise.

Dave Beard and Roger Denton kept pace with Joanne Emerson and finished in times of two hours 19:08mins (59th place) and two hours 19:16mins (62nd place), respectively.