THORNBURY Running Club’s first race of 2018, the Riverbank Rollick, was an overwhelming success with a fully booked field of 352 runners completing this challenging 9-mile off-road race on Sunday.

The race starts near Thornbury Castle and finished back at the Mundy playing fields with a short stream section and steep hill to the finish.

In between, the runners enjoy a mix of bridle paths, water logged fields, a long effort along the riverbank and some technical trails through the woods.

Race Director, Jo Emerson, and her finely honed team of 70 TRC club members drew widespread praise for the efficient and very friendly atmosphere in which it was held.

The team must be doing something right as the race sold out in record time this year and judging from the reaction afterwards, next year promises to be an even hotter ticket.

Extravagantly dressed race marshals lined the route to encourage the runners through some of the trickier parts of the course.

Mr Blobby made a welcome return after last year’s star turn on the riverbank and was joined by some new characters, including a ‘traffic cone man’ and frog.

The course was firmer compared to some of the muddier Rollicks of years gone by and the runners responded with some blistering times.

The top three male runners swept into the finishing section within seconds of each other, with the long striding Marcus Mumford of Evesham Vale RC taking top honours in 57:25 mins, only three seconds ahead of Westbury Harrier’s Anthony Glover and his teammate David Hobbs who was third in 57:40 mins.

Bristol & West AC’s serial front-runner, Annabel Granger, made easier work in the women’s race with a convincing 2 minute victory in 1 hour 1:36 mins (10th overall), ahead of Lliswerry Runners’ Sandra Chipper in 1 hour 3:22 mins (15th overall) and in third place Sophie Voller of Westbury Harriers in 1 hour 5:28 mins (20th overall).

Thornbury’s Nick Williams and Rob Cowlard were expecting an evenly matched race for the club’s first place and they were amongst the leading runners from the start.

Williams opened up an early lead after two miles through the muddy bridlepaths leading up to Cowhill, but the more experienced Cowlard reeled in the younger runner on the long riverbank section and created a small gap which he managed to maintain to the end.

Rob finished in 5th place overall and 2nd MV40 in an exceptional time of 58:19 mins, with Nick gamely clinging on to only finish 5 seconds back in 6th place.

The top Thornbury woman was Lizzie Williams who ran a quick time of 1 hour 15:58 mins in 77th place overall.

Other Thornbury results on the day was the fast improving Ian Evans in 78th place 1 hour 15:56 mins, Martin Smith 107th 1 hour 20:37 mins, Stephen Isles 168th 1 hour 29:37 mins and Maite Roche 231st 1 hour 39:54 mins.

Cathy Watkins was chaperoned to the finish by Mr Blobby in 314th place in 1 hour 54:04 mins, followed by Suzy Cundy 317th 1 hour 54:54 mins and Magda Johnson 2 hours 3:28 mins.

As well as hosting the race, the Rollick serves as a fundraiser for Brain Tumour Support, who are Thornbury RC’s chosen charity in 2018. A team of cake makers baked up a fantastic selection and raised nearly £500 for this very worthy cause.