Henry Orna was the lone Thornbury entrant in a field of almost 200 runners in the 16.5-mile Bristol Epic 3 Peaks Race on Saturday, writes Matt Johnstone.

The race is a new addition to the bustling local off-road racing scene, and its circular route through the South Bristol countryside includes the three peaks Knowle Hill, Maes Knoll and Blackberry Hill. Henry produced a great run on a tough course, finishing in second place overall in 2 hours 22:12 mins.

The Tour of Tameside is a four-day festival of running in north west England, which Nick Langridge returns to each year. Some choose to race on one of the days, but many, like Nick, take on the challenge of running every day with the chance to win overall and age group prizes.

Nick started the defence of his V65 crown on Thursday in wet conditions in the X-Trail 10k. The last 3k was muddy and water-logged, and the descents were becoming more precarious as successive runners churned up the course. Nick finished in 108th out of over 600 runners and 1st V65 in 45:51 mins. Friday’s evening race was a 4-mile test of endurance on the steep slopes called ‘Hell on the Fell’. After a congested start, the runners climbed over 1,000ft in the next 3 miles, before descending down the same hills in 1 mile. Nick emerged unscathed after the helter-skelter descent in 107th place and 1st V65 again in 50:43 mins.

Stage 3 on Saturday was the Hero Half Marathon. The quick turnaround after Friday’s hill run is a real challenge and the swirling winds on the course kept the runners facing strong resistance all the way around. Nick kept a steady pace as several of the other runners fell by the wayside, he finished in 102nd and 1st V65 in 1 hour 43:07 mins.

The final stage was the Dr Ron 7, which was started by marathon running pioneer and founder of the original week-long Tour, Dr Ron Hill. Nick wrapped up another successful Tour with a clean sweep of 1st places in V65 age category and 116th position in 52:05 mins. Nick’s overall V65 winning time was 4 hours 12:15 mins and of the runners who completed all 4 races Nick finished in 76th place

Thornbury RC’s Brian Godsman now resides in Sweden and when he’s not taking part in the local parkrun enjoys long bike races. Brian competed in the 300k Vätternrundan last Saturday around the Vättern, one of the many gigantic lakes scattered around Scandinavia. Brian completed this impressive feat of endurance in 12 hours 40 mins.

Elsewhere, this week’s TRC parkrun results included Carol Mosses in Bolton, who completed the course in 42:15 mins. On the Thornbury course, Natalie Bennett was the first lady to finish in 22:55 mins, followed by Peter Blenkiron in 26:36 mins, Jeremey Clothier 26:51 mins, Malcolm Carr 27:33 mins and Katherine Adams in 30:43 mins. Garry Slater ran Wotton in 21:11 mins and David Beard ran Severn Bridge in 32:01 mins. At Chipping Sodbury, Kevin Wood finished in 22:12 mins and Pamela MacLeod ran 34:24 mins.