THE Monross-Trailblazers have had a busy couple of months, starting with the Herefordshire Cross Country League which drew to a close on Sunday 7th February in the woods above Presteigne.

It was a tough season with a lot of injuries, however the team managed to gain some good positions overall. Laura Lelievre was third and Vanessa Ball was fifth senior women which, in a competitive league, are very good positions. Luke James flew the flag for the senior male team with a respectable seventh overall finish in the league.

The group was back out the following weekend competing in the Muddy Woody 6, which is a six mile race hosted by the Wye Valley Runners. Laura Lelievre came in third lady, which was a fantastic performance, and Vanessa Ball came in soon-after in 13th position. Richard Bevan was home first out of the Monross men, in a time of 51 minutes, giving him a 29th position overall. David Knapper 39th, James Fletcher 59th, Nigel Baker 62nd and Matthew Hall 72nd came in respectively under the hour. Mark Scrivens put an excellent performance in, and came 91st overall.

Meanwhile, Luke James took part in the Dursley Dozen. He managed to come in 18th place, out of 451 runners which is a reflection of some fantastic training over the winter months.

Then, on Sunday (21st February), team members Gavin Jones and Luke James took on the Hokka Trail race at Margam Park near Port Talbot. After six weeks off with a tendon injury, Gavin came in 160th with a time of 1:35:22. Again, Luke flew the flag for Monross and came home 18th out of 572 with a time of 1:18:51.

Monross-Trailblazers meet on Wednesday evenings alternating between Monmouth and Ross. Next training will be today (24th Febraury) at 6pm John Kyrle, Ross-on-Wye. Training sessions are suitable for all abilities.

For more information visit www.monross-trailblazers.co.uk, Facebook, or email [email protected]