ON Saturday 4th January, Chepstow Harriers kick started their winning ways by beating Cardiff's Les Croupiers Running Club at the Kymin fell race.

The short but gruelling race involved four extremely muddy miles of running and 1,150 feet of ascent.

From the bottom, at the Offa's Dyke Path in Monmouth, the runners ran almost to the top of the Kymin, before descending steeply through a series of fields and woodland paths, before a long, gradual climb back up to the top of the Kymin.

The final descent was on a pleasant and easily runnable trail to the finish. The two running clubs cajoled as many of their members as they could to take part in the race as every runner counted for points in the Mob Match.

Chepstow had 31 finishers and Les Croupiers 24. Chepstow therefore won the Mob Match for the 2nd year running with 825 points to Les Croupiers 713.

There were some impressive individual performances for Chepstow too, with Jane Horler 1st Female, Niki Morgan 2nd Female, Vanessa Lawson 4th Female, Judith Austerberry in 6th place taking the 1st Senior Female prize, Joc Dodd 1st Female Veteran over 60, Matt Stott 3rd Male. Steve Caldwell, David Williams, Matthew Lawson and Paul Lidgett were also in the top 10 out of a total of 116 runners.