THE CAPE Wrath Challenge dubs itself as the most challenging marathon on mainland Britain.

This is hardly surprising as Saturday’s multi-terrain marathon, held on 20th May this year, is the final stage of a six-day running festival. The marathon includes a 2,500 ft climb and two ferry crossings for good measure.

It is set in the most North Westerly point in Scotland, with the runners exposed to some of the most extreme conditions and stunning wilderness of any race in the British Isles.

Judy Mills has proven herself adept at conquering this brutal event, as she has been returning to these shores since 2006 in a 12-year unbroken sequence of appearances. This year she completed the out and back to the lighthouse in Cape Wrath in 5 hrs 33:59 mins in 88th place.

Less taxing than the Cape Wrath Challenge was Monday night’s Hogweed Trot 10k, through the winding and rolling country lanes near Yate. The race also served as the Avon Championships 10k race and often attracts some speedy runners from local clubs. The stand out performance was Ros Rowland, whose speedy time of 45:48 mins was a new PB and 2nd in VF50 age group, 13th female and 99th overall.

First finisher for the club was Matt Johnstone who finished 22nd and 4th in VM40 age category in 40 mins exactly. Nick Langridge was also 4th in his age category (VM60) and 66th overall in 43:47 mins. Liam Jones and John Watt were next over the line in times of 49:37 mins and 1 hr 01:47 mins in 161st and 349th place, respectively.

Chris Dawes ran his 72nd parkrun to finish 145th at Chipping Sodbury in 20:02 mins.

The triathlon season is slowly kicking into life and one of the races which has converted many a runner into a multi-sport devotee is the Westonbirt Sprint Triathlon. Sean Underwood embarked on his first triathlon and completed the 400m pool swim, 24k bike and 5k run in 1hr 23:53 mins ( 9:50 swim, 44:01 bike and 23:52 run ), to finish in 126th position.

Mike Bennewitz finished in the driving rain in 329th place in 1hr 39:47 mins ( 10:08 swim, 53:55 bike and 26:15 bike ).