Fifteen members of the Monross-Trailblazers, made up of runners from Ross-on-Wye and Monmouth, took part in the North Wales Trail Marathon and Half-Marathon, on Saturday, June 18th. The race is held over a 26.2 mile and 13.1 mile tracks of the well-known Coed Y Brenin forest, in the Snowdonia National Park.

This unique marathon and half-marathon is established as one of the finest; and hardest events in the Trail Running calendar. Runners get the chance to enjoy some spectacular views, forest paths, and some single ‘technical’ tracks. The half and full marathon both follow the same route until mile 13.1, where the marathon runners then carry on to complete the second half.

The team had a great weekend with Barry Davies coming home first for the club and an overall position of 27th, with a time of three hours 54 minutes. Luke James came in close behind with a time of three hours 56 minutes. Frequent guest runner with the club, Eluned Malone came in second lady overall with a fantastic time of three hours and 58 minutes.

Sam Harness followed in 4:44, with Gerry Meredith finishing in 4.57 not far behind. Minutes later, club runner Laura Lelievre crossed the line with a time of 5:08, and James Fletcher managed a 5:16.

Brothers Jamie and Scott Harris, Monross-Trailblazer guests worked hard together to finish in 5:34, closely followed by Mark Scrivens on his debut marathon in 5:35.

The marathon route adds over 3,400ft of accent to the 26.2 mile course. This presents a real test of endurance for the 312 finishers.

Unfortunately, club members Andrew Stephens, Gavin Jones and Matt Hall had to pull out of the marathon due to injuries. However, they all managed to complete the half-marathon in reasonable times.

David Knapper and Vanessa Ball completed the half-marathon in 1:55 and 2:14 respectively.

For more information about training with the group, visit their website: www.monross-trailblazers.co.uk, or contact them via: [email protected].