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Pen-y-Fan, 3.5m / 1930'

Conditions were good for the first race of the weekend; a short, steep, climb to Corn Du, along the ridge to Pen-y-Fan followed by a dive off the summit back to the start at Llynbedw. Descent times make interesting reading as many places are traded. The winner Martin Shaw from host club Mynydd Du finished in 34'05". Andy Mason, 1st Strider home reached the summit in 34'25", coming home 39th in 51'59". Other Striders were John Williams, 41st in 53'02" and Neil Bradley 43rd in 53'38". The 75th and last runner finished in 1h37m, taking some 44' on the descent.

Fan-y-Big, 10m / 2200'

This race starts at Llanyfrynach, with a mile or two of gradually rising cross country running. Climbing up the ridge to Fan-y-Big the weather deteriorated, and we were running into a fairly strong wind and rain, with visibility down to 100m or so. After several miles around the ridge in these conditions emerging from the cloud onto the long, grassy descent was especially welcoming, even if the mile on tarmac at the end was not. The winner was Peter Ryder from Cardiff AC, in a new record time of 1h11m41s, some 6' clear of second place. Neil Bradley was pleased  to be 1st Strider home, 60th in 1h44m55s, followed by Andy Mason, 65th in 1h47m32s and John Williams, 77th in 1h53m08s. There were 96 runners, the final runner home finishing in 2h44m55s.

There will doubtless be another trip to Brecon for these challenging races next year. More immediate trips to the hills planned in the coming weeks include days out to the South Downs for the Jack & Jill 5mile race on Sunday 25th, and back to South Wales for the Sugar Loaf fell race (7m/1725'), near Abergavenny on Saturday 14th August. If interested in these or other races keep an eye on the fell section of the chatboard.

Gary Chandler finished an impressive fourth overall and took the vets prize with a strong run. Ben Heighton and Tim Brockington joined him in the silver winning team with newcomer Craig Puncher anonymously the fourth Strider over the line.

Kate Mills took third overall and second O35 prize with Nikki Brockbank not far behind.

27 Striders finished from a field of 317 runners with newcomers Chris Snowdon, Des Gilmore and Donna Hallfremont all running well. They can only get better when they sport the club colours next time out.

Dave Game came up with two very convoluted courses from Langford Village Hall but his excellent instructions matched the challenge.

Jamie and Tracey Woodyard were the only finishers under the hour and at times their local knowledge was a hindrance as the course took some unexpected turns. Tim Brockington came third for a Strider clean sweep.

In the shorter four mile event Mark Waine romped home though he already had some prior knowledge of the course as he had finished 5th in the longer race. Karen Chapman chalked up her first ever win and Dawn Potter was third in the ladies event.

Four Striders ventured out for the High Ongar 10km just missing out on the mens team prize, being pipped into 2nd place by a mere 2 points. Paul Anderson finished 6th in 38.10 , Siddy Bowring was 12th in 39.48, Stuart Raven 17th and a pb in 40.23 , and Des Gilmore was 28th in another pb at 44.58 .

John Daly ran the Battersea Park 10 mile race at 08:00 on Saturday morning, part of the run and become series. Flat throughout plenty of drink stations and a nice early start. He was disappointed with his time of 1.16.

Several Striders ran the Race for Business on Wednesday evening. Advertised as 3.5 miles but closer to 3.25, known Strider times are
Paul Anderson - 19:38
Chris Purse - 20:08
Ian Cardy - 20:13
Dave Slawson - 22:22
Nigel Probert - 22:49
Rob Mills - 25:29
Dave Littleson 26.59

Oh and yes it's Monster fartlek on Tuesday.