Nick and Alex clock up the miles

Watts has completed his first marathon while Cochrane has ran his first half marathon.

Watts took part in the Chester Marathon and saw all his summer training and hard work pa off as he hit his target time.

The raced started and finished just outside Chester Racecourse, with sections winding through the city centre, before heading out of the city south into the countryside. At its furthest point from the start, the course takes runners to within a few miles of Wrexham, before returning back northwards towards the Roman city, and included over 200m of elevation changes.

Ward clocked three hours, 46 minutes and 46 seconds to finish in 839th position out of a total of more than 2,400 runners.

Cochrane made an impressive debut in the Shrewsbury Half Marathon.

The race started and finished at the Shropshire County Showground and featured around 150m of elevation changes. The route took competitors north-west up the Berwick Road. After approximately 5k, runners turned and ran back to the Showground, where they run a lap of the grounds, before repeating the out-and back road section. On their next return to the Showground, they were greeted by the finish line.

Alex’s finishing time was one hour, 40 minutes and 23 seconds, which saw him finish 62nd out of almost 500 runners.