THIS week three Chard Road Runners set off to south Devon for the Salcombe coastal marathon.

Rod and Stuart McLean and Gavin Wyatt set off on this fell race with more than 4,500 feet of elevation in the expectation of a hard race, and it didn’t disappoint.

Following the South West coast path from Torcross to Bantham Rod, Stuart McLean forged ahead, while Gavin Wyatt got into a good rhythm.

Rod and Stuart stuck together and were picking up good places as the route headed into Salcombe and the halfway point.

Keeping great focus, Rod and Stuart McLean crossed the line in 4h 20m, and Gavin finished in 5h 15m.

***

NEXT up was the Glastonbury 10k, a road race with a challenging uphill start attended by Wayne Loveridge (running his first race representing Somerset), Andrew Leeson, Adrian Male, James Musselwhite and Helen Baxter.

As the race hotted up, Loveridge made good progress in the top 20, and Leeson and Male had moved on well up the field too.

With the finish straight approaching Wayne Loveridge had pushed hard and crossed the line in an amazing 10th place in this Top Cross County event in a time of 35m 18sec.

Results
10. Wayne Loveridge - 00:35:18
65. Andrew Leeson - 00:40:59
160. Adrian Male - 00:46:47
273. James Musselwhite - 00:51:19 (10k PB)
431. Helen Baxter - 00:58:42

***

THE next CRR event was the North Dorset Villages Marathon starting in Sturminster Newton, a hilly road marathon attended by Paul Masters.

Starting off from the back of the field Paul made a steady start, and as the hills took their toll Paul started to make good progress up the field.

With the final 1.5 miles turning onto the flat cycle path it was all about keeping strong and focused.

Masters finished in 3:42:10 (70/240).