A PERFECT sunny morning heralded the start of the fourth Ross 10k in support of Acorns children’s hospice.

A record 160 runners assembled with seven Monross Trailblazers among them.

With the start sounded, the front runners set a fast pace, the front two forming a good lead on the chasing pack within the first mile.

Up to the two-and-a-half mile point and the runners had reached the old Backney bridge rail crossing and the start of the races only climb.

A welcome descent through farm tracks followed, when the race re-joined the old railway line and riverbank back to the finish.

Monross delivered great team and individual performances, with five runners placing in the top ten.

Sam Harness ran well until the reoccurrence of an injury forced him to the beer tent.

Gavin Jones had a great race, finishing in fifth place with a time of 39.03, Barry Davies sixth in 41.08, returning Monross Trailblazer Mike Caulfield seventh 41.45, Phil Thomas ninth 42.21, David Knapper tenth 42.32, James Fletcher 20th 45.28 and Gerald Meredith 28th 46.06.

If you enjoyed running in the event or would like to train for future cross country races, join Monross trailblazers for one of their Wednesday evening training sessions. The club can be contacted through monross-trailblazers.co.uk or their Facebook page.