April highlights

Yes indeed, it was the start of marathon season..we said goodbye to cross country and hello to road (and trail/fell obvs carried on). For the complete weekly breakdown, head over to our facebook account!

Kicking off with..the London Marathon! (one of the most sought after races of the year)

The 2025 London Marathon was another fantastic day out for our San Domenico runners. The heat made for really tough running conditions but it was an emotional and amazing day nonetheless.

Our first time visitors to London all performed well with Cat running a brilliant 3:35 whilst raising money for The Alzheimer’s Society. Cat showed that she could run her next marathon faster again!

Rachel ran it in 5:02 and enjoyed the incredible support from family, friends, Brain Research UK and complete strangers on course as well as the post race event hosted by the charity.

John had the club ballot space and ran 4:48 whilst raising additional funds for Cure Parkinson’s. John also had a moment running alongside Rachel with neither party realising until the photos came out.

Ian D ran 3:38 to get a PB after a few months of PBs on shorter distances so will be out for a few more months of challenging himself to faster times.

Matt T got his sub three that he wanted was a comfortable 2:58, even with some showboating…

Delyth showed her pedigree as a very accomplished marathon runner after yet another solid time of 3:14, whilst Andy ran 2:48 to help both secure a GFA time for next year alongside Matt and Cat and a few others in the club.

There was good support on the course from Karen, James D, Paulina and Toby, as well as a few shout outs from local clubs.

And more Marathon news..

Two marathons over the same weekend were Manchester and the Shakespeare marathon in Stratford-on-Avon.

Niall and Alistair ran in Manchester, with Alistair initially trying to sneak under the radar. Niall came in at 5:01 whilst Alistair finished in 3:21. They advised Manchester was great, fast course & very well organised with tons of space on the route.

Both struggled in the last 6 miles but both have lots of positives to take away for their next races.

The Shakespeare Marathon in Stratford on Avon was a fabulous experience for Simon, who ran with daughter Daisy and helped her achieve a massive PB with 4hrs 19mins.

Meanwhile in Newport...

The ABP Newport Marathon Festival was a brilliant event again.

We had runners in each race performing well!

IN the 10k, Ian O was first home in 34:54 with Paul J behind in 35:14, obtaining another PB.

John L (39:47) and Dan L (39:59) snuck under the 40 minute mark with Kev (40:17), Alex S (40:50) and Tony (41:12) not far off.

Cat continued her London Marathon build with a solid 43:04 for another PB with JP running 43:50.

In the Half Marathon, Owen successfully took on the 90 minute pacer role and helped a number of people break the barrier with his 1:29:42.

Hywel was over a minute under in 1:28:39 with Rowena & James running together for a fantastic 1:39:57, with Rowena breaking 1:40 for the first time whilst taking first V50!  

Dexter ran a slight PB (1:46:26), Dan F (1:50:34), Tom B (1:53:13) after his recent ultra and Niall (1:53:50).

Renee did 1:57:35 after her Prague effort last week with JC sneaking under 2hrs in 1:59:55. Arthur did 2:33:07 and enjoyed showboating to his fans!

In the marathon, George made it look easy with a 2:46:37 with Harry S doing 2:47:55.

Jack H did 3:12:54, Nadine ran 3:50:18 and Nick Hayward snuck under 4 with 3:59:16. Lechy completed his first marathon in 5:27:16 with reports of losing a leg somewhere on the course.

Thanks to Meg & Ron for helping on the water station.

And in the world of Fell running..

There are two fell races in the last week to report on. It was the Gilwurn Grunt on Easter Monday and Cwmyoy Horseshoe fell race on Saturday.

Harry T ended up doing both and said the Gilwurn Grunt was unlike anything he’s ever done before! It was a race which included every terrain you could think of including what can only be described as a “volcano” at the end.

Apparently it’s bad form to slide down on your backside, but that’s what Harry did and he enjoyed it.

The Cwmyoy Horseshoe fell race was a more typical fell race with a steep climb up Hatterall Hill ridge followed by some stunning ridge running. Chris M and Harry T turned up for this one.

It was a pretty decent day and they experienced a nice breeze on the tops. Despite tumbling over a stile, Harry came in 8th while Chris M wasn’t too far behind in 17th.

Chris’s finish photo was taken by Ruth Pickvance whilst Harry’s other ones come from Tosh Simpkins

April saw the first of the club handicap race series

A big up to Hannah for taking on the club handicap summer series.

A massive turnout for the first of six events over the next few months. Thanks to Hannah for taking it on from Ron who couldn’t resist helping

A small army of marshals consisting of Dan & Phil R, Sue, Mel, Karen, Lechy & Huw S also helped on the course and at the end.

The victory went to new member Rebecca S, followed by Ian B’s fantastic return to running, then Tom F. Last year’s winner, Armanda, was just behind in fourth.

Next month’s race will be in Thornhill, returning to the course tested out last year for the first time.

Race 1 at Sophia Gardens

The first weekend of the month..

Tom B enjoyed 53k along the River Avon when he took on the Bristol Ultra. Chris M ran the Llanbedr to Blaenavon Fell race and made it to the end with some navigation help.  

James H ran the Medieval Backyard Ultra at Cosmeston. It was a ‘last one standing’ race where he completed 24 laps equating to 100 miles. He finished 6th overall.

Kev, Craig and Tom F ran the Vale Half Ultra in great spring weather.

Owen and Renee chose to run the Prague HM which is one in the superhalf series. Renée managed a 21 minute PB.

On Sunday, Cat ran the London Landmarks HM as part of her London training plan.

Natalie and Simon took on the Berlin HM which is also part of the superhalf series. Simon managed to get a PB.

Sarah ran the lovely hilly Gorseinon 10k. This race was won by Dewi Griffiths, a week after winning the San Dom 20.

James S was 7th at the An Res Hellys 10 in Cornwall after getting lost due to a lack of marshals and missed out on two places.

Bru, who has recently joined the club, ran the Kymin Dash and enjoyed it despite a minor tumble.

Dexter ran at the Bristol Track 5k where he missed out on his target time by a few seconds.

And at Parkrun

A full breakdown of Parkruns are on the club's facebook pages (thanks Andy for updating ALL the time, appreciated).

And finally...

We'll be opening up some different routes now that the lighter nights are here: training sessions as normal, and as always run at your own pace, enjoy the city's routes and get some miles in those legs!

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