JOANNE Emmerson, of Thornbury Running Club, travelled the short distance to the Old Severn Bridge on Saturday to take part in Dragon Seeker 60k, which was contested in sweltering conditions.

Unusually for a Welsh race, it was a flat course, starting on the English side of Severn Bridge and along a sun-baked route all the way to Principality Stadium in the centre of Cardiff.

Joanne slayed the Dragon Seeker course and the rest of the opposition to come first overall, beating all the male and female competition. Her finishing time was six hours 51 mins.

Meanwhile, the Orna family had a highly successful weekend of racing with two wins from two races.

Married couple Henry and Laura Orna swept all before them with two great performances.

On Saturday, Henry posted a new personal best at Thornbury parkrun in finishing first in 19:50 mins. Laura was first female and ninth overall at the Run the River race on Sunday, which was set in the Avon Valley over a 15k multi-terrain course.

Laura was minutes ahead of the other women on the day in a time of one hour 15:18 mins.

Nick Langridge and Judy Mills were the only Thornbury Running Club members brave enough to compete at the Dursley Peaks race on Wednesday night. A little over 10k and including 318m of ascent, the course is a non-stop roller coaster of steep hills and rapid descents.

Both Nick and Judy had solid performances to finish second in their age categories, M65-70 and F60-65 respectively, in times of one hour 1:03 mins and one hour 15:48 mins.

Nick was still feeling the after-effects of Dursley Peaks in his legs when he travelled to Fairford 10k near Cirencester on Sunday.

Nick was 77th overall and 3rd V60 in 45:18 mins and was full of praise for the event and the Fairford Festival which the race was a part of.

Jon Greenwood was the lone Thornbury runner at the 5k Filton Flyer on Tuesday night. Jon finished in 33rd position and third V60 in 23:03 mins.

Malcolm Carr ran 27:35 mins at Thornbury parkrun, followed by Peter Blenkiron 28:32 mins and Karen Carr 29:06 mins. Jay Bartley ran 26:48 mins at Ashton Court parkrun.

Thornbury RC’s second ‘Introductory Course for New Runners’ is scheduled to start on Tuesday 3July 3. The last course was highly successful with nine of the 12 participants now club members.

Spaces are going fast for this six-week course so email beginners@thornburyrunningclub.co.uk for more details and a registration form.