THREE Spirit of Monmouth runners travelled to the Welsh capital to run the Cardiff Bay 10k, taking in the area’s iconic landmarks, reports VICKY ROBERTS.

Starting and finishing in Roald Dahl Plass, the Sunday, March 26, race passed the Wales Millennium Centre, Mermaid Quay, the Pierhead Building, Senedd, Porth Teigr and the Cardiff Bay Barrage.

Stuart Morris had a fantastic run averaging 7.07-minute miles and came in at 44mins 12secs for a new PB, knocking four minutes off his previous time.

Rachel Waters described the race as enjoyable but a little tricky on the barrage with a strong wind, but managed to grab herself a PB of 48mins 51secs.

Trina Sami-Brown was third Spirit home with a time of 52mins 51secs for another PB, and said: “It was a really enjoyable, mainly flat race and I felt strong throughout.”

Meanwhile Spirit runner Nick Sloper took part in the Bath skyline 10k night race – a hill-top tour taking in woodland trails, open meadows and iconic landmarks high above the city.

The trails themselves are a mix of solid woodland trail, a few sections of more natural woodland and some long open sections across grass.

Nick had a brilliant race coming 36th out of 97 runners and seventh in his age category while taking in some fantastic night time views over the city.

Saturday, March 25, also saw lots of Spirit of Monmouth members, taking part in 5k Park runs, including supporting Monmouth’s very own parkrun – Chippenham playing fields and The Forest of Dean at Five Acres. Ian King, Spirit’s recent C25K graduate, returned to the parkrun to earn himself another PB of 36m 37s.

Meanwhile, three brave Monross Trailblazers took on the gruelling Llanbedr to Blaenavon Fell Race.

The classic, grassroots race took runners from Llanbedr over Crug Mawr, to the Sugar Loaf and then over the Blorenge and into Blaenavon Rugby club to finish.

Laura Lelievre was 22nd overall and second fastest woman, in a time of 2 hours 48 minutes, while Barry Davies was 42nd in 2.58 and Sam Harness 53rd in 3.06.

Two Monross members and their fluffy companions also took on the Magnificent 7-Canicross Race, hosted by Ledbury Harriers. Dan Gray and Penny came first in 49.44, with Tony Davies and Bear fourth in 56.33 and first V50.

And Richard Cronin was first in North Gloucestershire Orienteering club’s Ross Map run, which also saw Lucia Demkova and Sophie Williams take part.

Four intrepid members also took the journey to Merthyr Tydfil to take part in the San Domenico 10 and 20 mile races along the Taff Trail.

In the longer version, Vanessa Ward finished 109th and Sophie Williams 111th, both in 2 hours 59 minutes.

In the 10-miler, Gavin Jones finished in eighth in 1 hour 3 minutes, while Emma Davies crossed in 1 hour 27 minutes.

If you’d like any more information about Monmouth’s parkrun visit https://www.parkrun.org.uk/chippenhamplayingfields/

Anyone interested in running and fancy joining a local club can take a look at Spirit of Monmouth’s running club website https://spiritofmonmouth.co.uk/ or contact [email protected].

A spokesperson said: “Spirit are a friendly and fun club – with a nice competitive edge, and a great social heart.

“Also Spirit of Monmouth are affiliated to Welsh Athletics and cater for a wide range of running abilities.

“So, whether you’re an experienced marathon runner, 5K lover or you prefer to just run for fun, you’re very welcome to join.”