GOOD Friday (April 2) brought the return for Chard Road Runners to racing after a year of virtual activities for most club members.

Heading down to Exeter were Molli Riley, Wayne Loveridge, Liam Whyte, Neil Adams, Jack Dickenson and Ashley Spurrell, and the scene was set at Exeter Racecourse for the ‘Fast Friday 10k’.

This was a well organised, Covid-secure event organised by City Runs - a big thank you goes to everyone associated with the race organisation.

The course for this race was three laps around the horse racing track, and while the horses appear to make light work of the slightly undulating course, the runners could see that the going was to be tougher than expected.

With a headwind on the finishing straight and two slight hills repeated three times, fitness was definitely going to be key.

To ensure the races met strict guidelines, the event was split into time-related waves.

First up was Molli Riley in the first wave of the 10k race.

She ran well, battling the morning wind and fought hard to finish strong in the wave, with her hard work paying off as she achieved a 10k personal best (PB) of 47m 56s.

In the next wave Wayne Loveridge represented CRRs and raced well against a top class field.

The first lap really set Loveridge towards the frontrunners, and keeping fantastic pace soon had him in the top 10.

Ultimately Loveridge finished in sixth place overall, with a time of 33m 42s.

The next wave held the larger of the CRR contingent, with Liam Whyte, Neil Adams, Jack Dickenson and Ashley Spurrell all setting off.

Whyte quickly found himself at the front of the group and raced well to finish in the top five of the wave, achieving a 10k PB of 39m 00s.

Adams set with good pace and only got stronger as the race went on, passing more runners every lap, before setting a massive PB of 44m 51s.

Dickenson and Spurrell set a sound game plan from training and swapped places a few times throughout the 10k (6.2 miles).

Dickenson made a firm push towards the end, and there were just seconds between them - Dickenson finishing in 46m 45s and Spurrell in 46m 59s.

Chard Road Runners’ Tuesday and Thursday evening club runs are back, with 7pm starts at Chard Cricket Club.

To comply with Covid-19 requirements, groups will be limited to six runners, setting off at intervals; groups will be arranged to cater for all runners’ pace.