Runners take on Ups and Downs

The third and final race in the Spring Treble Series, hosted by Stone Master Marathoners, saw runners take on a five mile ‘two-lap lollipop’ course that started and finished at Oulton Cricket Club, and featured a prominent steep downhill mile to start.

After two very hilly laps of Barlaston Downs, the runners headed back up the last mile back to the finish line – an extremely tough way to end the series and race, which features around 220 metres of climbing.

Brown was the first Newport runner to finish, as he has been all series, and signed off with 43rd place in a time of 39 minutes, 45 seconds.

Oliver Stokes was 94th in 47:50, despite it being his third race of the week, and Selwyn Plant was 103rd in a time of 49:41. Bernie Holbrook took 109th in 51:16, and Ralph Humphries completed the NDRC set with his time of 54:25 to take 112th place.

The series also ranks runners for their overall performance across the three races, if they opt into results for the whole series.

Brown was 20th overall, and third in category), Oliver Stokes was 48th, Selwyn Plant 57th, and Bernie Holbrook 65th.

Three runners from NDRC were in midweek action as they took part in the DK10K, a 10k road race organised by Dudley Kingswinford Running Club.

The slightly undulating course started and finished at Dudley Kingswinford Rugby Club, and featured a ‘lollipop’ style route run around the lanes between Greensforge and Enville. A total of 557 runners took part on a sunny May evening.

Stokes was the first NDRC runner to complete the race, finishing 156th overall, with a time of 48 minutes, 31 seconds.

He was followed by Humphries, whose time of 58:06 secured 373rd place, and Oliver’s dad John, who finished 531st in a time of 1:12:00.

Meanwhile, There was a strong ‘home’ contingent in the Market Drayton 10k race.

A total of 53 Market Drayton Running Club members took part in the event, which was exceptionally well organised and sponsored by Muller and Palethorpes.

David Kynaston was the first Drayton male runner to cross the line in a phenomenal time of 39 minutes, 25 seconds.

The first female was Joanna Mason, who clocked a fantastic 48:34.

There were some incredible personal bests for a host of the club’s runners, some of whom were returning from injury while others were enjoying their first outing in club colours.

The crowds cheered all runners on and their support was massively appreciated.

Two members – Sophie Murray and Kelly Crank – sacrificed their times to help a fellow runner who had fallen ill midway around the course and needed putting in the recovery position.

The club also organised a fun run for children aged three to 14 years old, sponsored by Palethorpes and supported by McDonalds. The race was brilliant, with some fantastic running and some very competitive youngsters.