A BRAVE band of Chard Road Runners tackled the mud and hills of the Axminster Challenge over two distances at the weekend.

Neil Plumridge set the pace for CRR in the ten mile event, finishing an excellent 11th in a 96 strong field.

Paul Masters was 29th after a great three-way sprint to the line providing entertainment for the spectators.

Pushing the pace all the way and taking seven minutes off last year’s time was Andy Mear in 51st spot, closely followed by Gavin Wyatt.

Another to beat last year’s time was Addie Douglass, demonstrating her clear race commitment no matter what the ground condition.

And with husband Simon chasing close behind, Addie was not going to give any ground easily.

A committed Simon Hall followed the CRR’s mantra of ‘can do’ with a full three minutes off his last Axmouth Challenge time.

Axmouth Challenge: 10 miles – 11th Neil Plumridge (1hr 10m 38s), 29th Paul Masters (1hr 16m 41s), 51st Andy Mear (1hr 25m 41s), 58th Gavin Wyatt (1hr 27m 15s), 69th Addie Douglass (1hr 32m 17s), 70th Simon Douglass (1hr 32m 57s), 72nd Simon Hall (1hr 33m 33s).

Taking on the challenging five mile route were Sarah Atkins and Gary Wheaton who gave their all in the mud and water.

Atkins was 12th of the 21 runners in 59m 9s and Wheaton 14th in 59m 45s.

n CRR’s Wayne Loveridge took to the tank training area at Bovington Army Camp for the mix of running and cycling that is a duathlon and finished a superb third in a field of 50.

The race consisted of a 5k run, a 20k cycle route and then a final 5k run to finish.