ON Saturday Chard Road Runners’ Paul Masters took on Buckinghamshire’s Chiltern Challenge, a 32-mile Ultra trail marathon through the Chiltern Hills.

Masters settled into a steady pace, but having not been able to train for nearly a month, he struggled to the finish – crossing the line in 5:47:13 to finish 85th from 250 competitors.

The club’s second event was closer to home, as Rachel Bird, Martin Holley and Stevie Potter went to the Weymouth Triathlon.

Bird and Holley were in the middle distance event (1.2-mile sea swim, 56-mile cycle and 13.1-mile run), while Potter opted for the Olympic distance event (1,500m swim, 40km bike and 10km run).

The swim started in ideal conditions, and Bird posted 28:30 (10th position) with Holley managing 37:41.

Bird pushed hard on the bike and her time of 2:52:56 kept her in contention for the overall lead in the ladies competition, with Holley up to 2:49:36 overall.

Bird’s overall time of 5:07:14 gave her the prize for second best lady (20th overall from 94 competitors) – a fine display in her first outing over this distance.

Martin put in a solid run to finish in 5:13:37 (27th out of 97 competitors) and record a personal best.

Potter was consistent across her three disciplines, and posted 2:31:46 overall for 39th place – fifth in her age group.

Chard & Ilminster News:

HALF MARATHON: Matt Baker in Frome.

In Frome, Matt Baker took on a road half against a big field.

He started the 13.1-mile race well but the hill took its toll in his time of 2:02:13.

Finally, Ryan Hebron-Wheatley and Celia Cohen competed in the Dorchester Dash Triathlon, a 400m swim, 24k cycle and 5k run event with a hilly route.

Both had good transitions and moved up the field, before Cohen finished in 1:21:28 (28th out of 112 and third woman) and Hebron-Wheatley in 1:35:00 (65th).