ATHLETICS
The Taff Trail out of Merthyr Tydfil and embraced the heart of the Welsh Valleys.
The top Bridgend County performance came from Gary Adams, who came home 12th in the 10-mile event, clocking 67:30.
And his colleague from the Brackla Harriers club, Colin McQueen, came 16th in a time of 71:15.
Top female finisher in 18th position was Ceri Jones (Aberdare Valley AAC) 74:08 while other local runners to card decent times were Antony Phillips (Bridgend) 76:22 (21st), Andrew Fisher 82:31 (32nd), Alison Meredith-Jones 84:30 (third female 45-54 category) and Suzie Pugh (all Brackla Harriers) 93:42 (fifth female 45-54 category).
Simon Lewis (Pontypridd Roadents) won the 10-mile run in 53:48 while behind him came Joseph Reardon (Aberdare Valley AAC) 55:00 and Ben Butler-Madden (Pontypridd Roadents) 55:07.
Turning to the 20-mile run that attracted a turnout of 250 runners, Niki Puleio (Ogmore Phoenix) led the Bridgend County contingent home in 2:16:30 to secure 18th place overall and seventh in the 35-44 age bracket.
Other lofty finishes were achieved by John Lloyd 2:25:59 (2nd 55-64), Ian Ogilvie (both Brackla Harriers) 2:30:24 (7th 45-64), Julian Maine (Porthcawl Runners) 2:42:59 (7th 5554), Jane Ogilvie 2:43:41 (1st female 55-64), Lottie Vaughan (both Brackla Harriers) 2:58:15 (6th Senior Ladies) and Romana Maine (Porthcawl Runners) 3:03:07 (5th Ladies 55-64).
This event was won by Daniel Bodman (Pontypridd Roadents) in 1:52:22, and he was followed across the finishing-line by Owain Morris (Les Croupiers) 1:53:28 and Oliver Williams (Pontypridd Roadents) 1:55:44 – top female honours were claimed by Elizabeth Dimond (Llanwern Runners), who clocked 2:10:41.
He added: “We’ll endeavour to maintain regular open communication as and when situations develop.”
A similar line was taken last week by Parkrun UK, who also brought the curtain down on running with immediate effect.
However, they took what seems like an optimistic stance in stating events will only be cancelled until the end of this month.
That led last Saturday to local Parkruns at Porthcawl and Maesteg going on hold along with Bridgend Junior 2K Parkrun on Sunday.
Many Bridgend County runners then took to Twitter to advise followers on alternatives to their normal Saturday morning running fix.
Some exercised indoors while others who had big enough gardens did laps around their lawns.
However, the most popular choice seemed taking to streets and beaches to run in isolation with only music for company.
Despite feeling running alone to be no fun, the joint-founder of Just Run Penybont, Stephne Puddy, found it cleared the mind; kept her focussed and had reason to believe short-term pain would become long-term gain.
Former Wales rugby international and television sports broadcaster Lowri Morgan via her Twitter account backed running alone provided guidelines are followed.
“Going for a run or walk is fine, but if you’re with someone then keep a two-metre distance.
“In fact, given the circumstances we now find ourselves in, it’s probably beneficial for mental and physical health.
“People shouldn’t demonize activities that don’t spread the risk of the disease.’’
But for those who chose the isolation at home option, it was backed by Parkrun UK with a quiz that resulted in participation from around 2,200 Parkrun members.