SATURDAY saw three Chard Road Runners head off to the wilds of Dartmoor for the 20th Dartmoor Discovery, a 34-mile Road Ultra Marathon, with nearly 4,000 feet of elevation.

Heading out of Princetown, Paul Masters, Nina Wagstaff and Bernie Genge were quickly into their pace with a good half mile of downhill running.

This race is renowned for its tight cut-off times and so all CRRs were focused on hitting the 13.5-mark at Ashburton to give a margin for the more hilly section towards Widecombe.

The long hills and the sun coming into play allowed for CRRs to make up more places.

With the next time limit at 26.2 miles it was all good news for CRRs, with the trio keeping great pace.

Postbridge was reached and crowds of supports gave runners a real boost for the final four miles, finishing down into Princetown, and first in for CRRs was Masters in 6h 3m 37s (103rd out of 211) Next coming in was Wagstaff (6h 21m 54s, 117th), with Genge alongside (6h 21m 55s, 118th).

The club’s next outing was a local race, the Crewkerne 10k.

This hilly road race had a good turnout of CRRs, with Mike Egan, Matt Baker, Kieron Chapman, James Musselwhite, Claire Gibbs, Miranda Elsie, Lizzie Smith and Emma Male setting off towards Merriott.

Chard & Ilminster News:

TURNOUT: From left, Kieron Chapman, Mike Egan, Claire Gibbs, Lizzie Smith, Miranda Elsie and Emma Male, in Crewkerne.

Egan, Chapman and Baker were quick to get into their stride, and with the first hill being a time trail they were quickly joined by Musselwhite and Gibbs.

Egan streaking ahead as the race pushed through Hinton St George and towards the finish in Crewkerne.

First for CRRs was Egan, followed by Baker, and in a last tussle Chapman just pipped Musslewhite.

First CRRs lady was Gibbs, ahead of Elsie, Smith and Male.