CHARD Road Runners heading off to Stanton Drew near Chew Valley for the Rok the Stones Trail Marathon.

The Runners were greeted by a bright, sunny morning with just a light touch of frost to add to the atmosphere that comes from the Neolithic stone circles and cove that was the heart of this race.

This being the inaugural Rok the Stones Race there was much anticipation from all runners of what to expect.

It did not under-deliver. Apart from a few miles the route was off-road, with a mix of tracks, footpaths and open exposed headlands there was one common feature – mud, and lots of it. This was a self-navigation race and losing sight of the runner ahead brought pearls of sweat to the brow.

Heading CRR’s assault on the trail was Richard Clifton who kept with the leaders and looked odds-on to take the race.

But the trail took its toll at 21 miles when his legs started to tire.

Even so Richards continued to battle for second place which resulted in a rare dead heat.

His time was 4hrs 5m 27s – well outside his normal runs around the three hour mark – which gave testament to just how tough the race was.

Following behind for the Runners were Paul Masters and Bernie Genge who were taking the delights of the race, featuring three different loops, at a more relaxed pace.

This allowed Masters to show his running partner that the maps issued were useful.

Keeping the steady pace going was a challenge in itself with mud building up as the many runners trampled it in.

But this was all put to rights when they crossed the line together after 5hrs 25m 25s to a spread of food second to none at any marathon the Runners had tackled.