THIS week Chard Road Runners were in action at Haselbury, Petersfield and Shave Cross.

Starting the action were 11 Road Runners braving the torrential rain on Wednesday evening at the Haselbury Trail 10k.

After a varied, hilly route and plenty of tussles, Wayne Loveridge took second place (39:56) with a great last-ditch push.

Close behind was Dan Cahill (40:55, third from 148), ahead of Kieran Chapman (57:08, 81st), Simon Hall (01:05:21, 110th), Helen Baxter (01:08:43, 121st) and Gary Wheaton (01:09:06, 123rd).

Claire Pomeroy finished in 01:16:02 (142nd) to come in ahead of Claire Gibbs (01:19:41, 143rd), Vicky Whitworth (01:26:14, 145th), and daughter and mother Lizzie and Nicky Smith (01:33:33 and 01:33:52).

Chard & Ilminster News:

TURNOUT: At Hazelbury (L-R), back row - Claire Gibbs, Kieran Chapman, Nicky Smith, Simon Hall, Helen Baxter; front - Gary Wheaton, Wayne Loveridge, Lizzie Smith, Dan Cahill, Claire Pomeroy, Vicky Whitworth.

***

THE next outing was in Petersfield, for the Midnight Marathon.

Paul Masters took on this trail race across the South Downs, heading out at 9pm.

Masters moved up to 30th at the halfway turning point, and although the strong breeze took its toll on the way back he stayed strong to finish at 1.30am, in a time of 4:30:03 (26th out of 204).

***

NEXT was a more local event, the Shave Cross five-mile (Mini Marathon) Charity Challenge trail run, which involved Chard Road Runners’ Stevie Potter, Celia Cohen, Simon Hall and Claire Pomeroy.

Potter found the conditions to her liking, taking to the front, and although she was overtaken with two miles to go she fought back to cross the line as first female (17th overall, in 35:26) – a fantastic win.

Next across the line was Cohen in 29th (37:51), followed by Hall (49th, 44:39) and Pomeroy (57th, 48:54).