Saturday morning saw Rod Wyatt flying the Spirit of Monmouth RC flag solo in the capital city and taking on the challenge of The Welsh Indoor Athletics Championships, reports VICKY ROBERTS.

Rod competed last year and wanted to beat his previous results.

He braved the indoor tracks against a tough field and gave all he had in the 60m sprint, finishing in 10.46secs, which proved to be the fastest in his age group.

That proved the fastest SoM time at the event, and in high spirits Rod returned to the arena on Sunday to take on the long jump.

After warming up to The Eye of the Tiger, Rod again put in brilliant effort flying the town colours in front of a huge crowd by jumping 3.53m, proving anyone can do it.

Chepstow Racecourse held their annual running festival on Sunday, put on by Run Through events.

The day consisted of a 5k- one-lap race, a 10k two-lap course and a half marathon, which saw runners run a gruelling four laps of the race course circuit.

Spirit were out in force with members taking part in the 10k and half marathon races.

Stuart Morris took on a challenge as a pacer in the 10k race, setting a sub-45 pace.

He did an amazing job keeping a consistent pace throughout to finish in 44.51, helping many participants to their target goal of sub 45.

The Spirit women ran well with Lauren Wilson coming first club female home in a brilliant time of 46.21 for third senior woman, knocking a fabulous nine minutes off her previous PB.

Trina Sami crossed the finish line next in 55.05for third in the W40 class.

Hollie Bolt returned to the course along with a friend from Forest of Dean Athletics Club, bringing the Spirit team home in 54.43 for a new course PB by four minutes.