A TEAM of 12 Thornbury runners were in fine form at Bristol 10k on Sunday with a host of new personal bests recorded, writes Matt Johnstone.

Andrew Darton took full advantage of the perfect running conditions, finishing an impressive 119th out of over 13,000 runners in a new personal best of 37:48 mins. Phil Lucker was next to finish in 202nd in 39:06 mins. Paul Harrod started further back but navigated his way through the crowds to reduce his previous best by over a minute and dip under 40 mins for the first time, finishing in 275th in 39:56 mins.

Kevin Wood ran over a minute quicker than last year in 880th place in 44:14 mins, followed by Paul Thomas in 1728th in 47:47 mins. Chris Lee was running in his second 10k in 2 weeks and finished in 3266th in a new best of 52:43 mins, followed by Christopher Pritchard in 3403rd in 53:03 mins.

Rachael Underwood was the first Thornbury woman to finish in 3999th in a new personal best of 54:40 mins. Liam Symonds-Barry was next in 4377th in 55:35 mins, followed by John Fox in 509th 57:27 mins and Valerie Knight in 5188th in 57:30 mins. Kathy Willott finished in 7960th in 1 hour 6:43 mins.

Over the Bridge in Newport, the second running of the Newport Wales 10k and Newport Wales Marathon attracted 6,000 runners looking to take advantage of the flat and fast course. Jay Bartley took part in the 10k and ran a very well-paced race, speeding up over the second half to finish in 616th place in 51:51 mins. In the marathon, Matt Johnstone and Neill Roff were flying the Thornbury RC flag. Matt started brightly but paid the price in the final 10 miles for the over-ambitious pace in the first half and finished in 281st place in 3 hours 23:20 mins. Neil finished in 1881st in 5 hours 23:45 mins.

Saturday’s parkrun results included a sub 20 min effort from Paul Saville in Cardiff, finishing in 19:58 mins. Experienced parkrun duo, David and Anne Palmer, ran the Prudhoe Riverside course in Northumberland for the first time, David finished in 26:56 mins and Anne finished in 33:59 mins.

William Hamilton was second overall at Thornbury parkrun in a new personal best of 21:32 mins, followed by Hannah Kinloch-Haken in a new personal best of 21:32 mins. Hannah was also the first woman to finish. Kevin Arnold ran 23:26 mins, followed by Henry Orna in 23:34 mins, Colette Jackson 24:31 mins, Mike Bennewitz 25:48 mins, Martin Smith 27:45 mins, Rebecca Twyman 31:47 mins, Richard Illingworth 32:59 mins and Carol Mosses 39:40 mins.

After recently moving to Sweden, Angela Bushell ran 26:37 mins on the Skatas course in Gothenburg.