Runners out and about for a racing fix

The event features races at 5k, 10k and half-marathon distances, as well as a children’s race.

Purves took on the 10k and ran a very strong race to finish in a time of 49 minutes, 22 seconds, which placed her 43rd overall, out of 304 runners and first in her category.

She was also the sixth female runner overall, and said afterwards: “It was a well-run course, and I was happy with my result.””

Six NDRC runners competed in the Manchester Marathon.

Starting and finishing in Salford, the course took runners on a loop around the Greater Manchester area, including visits to Stretford, Altrincham, Sale, Timperley and Manchester city centre. Newport’s Jon Pierce described the race as “A great run, well organised, with great support and perfect weather.”

Lauren Turley was the first Novaportan runner to finish, beating the three-and-a-half hour mark with a time of three hours, 29 minutes, 41 seconds, which placed her 3,985th overall, in a field of over 18,000 runners.

Andrew Wilmot was next, taking 5,052nd place in 3:37:54, just in front of Jonathan Pierce, who was 5,393rd in 3:40:26. John Taylor was 9,383rd in 4:04:06, while Sheryl Gray took 11,404th position in a time of 4:20:17. Annabel Bolton rounded out the Newport contingent in 13,534th place, stopping the clock at 4:39:27.

Two NDRC members continued their participation in the Spring Treble series, and this time it was the turn of the Kibblestone Klamber.

Taking place in and around the scout camp at Kibblestone, near Stone, the brutal three-lap course featured almost 250 metres of climbing over the 4.5-mile mostly off-road route.

It wasn’t all plain sailing for Newport, as Selwyn Plant injured himself warming up before the race and had to withdraw, while Alex Millington overcame a twisted ankle to finish eighth overall in a time of 39 minutes exactly. Ralph Humphries clocked one hour, 31 seconds.

Meanwhile, Market Drayton Running Club’s Sophie Murray completed the London Marathon. She ran the 26.2 mile course around the capital in 6:22:57, raising funds for Alzheimer’s Society along the way.