MONROSS Trailblazers have put in the hard yards at several races in recent days.

In the second Hereford 5km series race at the city racecourse in midweek, Ben Humphries set off in wave 1 having cracked the 20-minute barrier in race one, and put in another excellent effort, finishing in 19mins 32secs.

Vanessa Ward also put in a cracking second lap of 11.01, to finish in 22.26, placing her third in the V35 women's class.

And Emma Humphries flew around the two-lap course to take seven seconds off her time in the previous race, setting a new 5km PB of 23.12.

The weekend also saw club members going the extra mile in the Eastnor Castle Backyard Ultra – an eight-hour solo event, where runners complete a 4.2-mile mixed terrain loop, before starting over again at the beginning of the next hour.

There were no official race prizes, but lap times were recorded on the day and there were some excellent performances by MonRoss runners.

Sam Harness has been building up his weekly miles and decided to enter on the day, setting a great pace in the early laps before finally calling it a day after lap six where he had completed the marathon distance.

Gavin Jones was fastest in the 20-39 category and second overall in 5.14.41, with Grant White fifth in 5.35.46, 2.20 ahead of club mate Martin Turner in sixth.

Rob Potter was also fastest in the 40-49 category close behind in seventh in 5.41.55, while Graham Bell, current trial member, was fastest in the 50-59 category in 6.11.42.

Looking to go that bit further as well, fellow Blazer Matt Webb took on the 49km Big Black Mountains Challenge hosted by Longtown Mountain Rescue at the weekend.

Featuring a lung-bursting 1,800m of elevation, he finished 22nd in 8 hours 7 minutes.

And on Sunday, Emma and Ben Humphries headed for the RUN Hereford – City Edition half marathon, running together, with the goal of achieving a new PB for the former.

And despite the heat, it was mission accomplished with the pair crossing in 1.46.22.

Club member Emma Davies also swapped trainers for pedals, cycling 100 miles from Cardiff to Tenby in the CARTEN100 2025.

And Celine Houareau also finished overall Canicross winner of the Scorpion run at Symonds Yat in 53.02 – a trail race of just over 10km, with a sting in its tail – a sharp climb over the final 1km.

More than 170 runners, and 29 with their faithful hounds, took part, Jamie Bell winning the men's race in 43.54, and Zoe Rimmer the women's race in 58.41.

Blazers' Lowri Bennett also completed the Welsh Super Series Sprint Triathlon at Llanelli at the weekend, finishing 12th out of 124 in her category and 197th overall.

And on parkrun duty, Luke Gray set a searing PB in Saturday's Ross run, crossing in 17.38.