Trots get back in the swing with top-10 finish

AN invitation from Builth and District Running Club to take part in a virtual 15-stage relay was readily taken up by Taf Running and Orienteering.

Like all running clubs in the country, Trots have had a large gap appear in their race calendar over the last few months due to lockdown restrictions, as well as the disappointment of many cancellations of forthcoming races.

There may be some further easing of restrictions brought about by the coronavirus pandemic in the next few months, but a whole host of big events which annually attract thousands of runners have already been postponed until they return next year.

The invitation from Builth could hardly have come at a better time for the actionstarved club.

The event took place on a weekend that has traditionally been a busy one for the club for a number of years, with both the Welsh Castles Relay and the Man v Horse Marathon requiring a huge amount of involvement from club members.

Builth’s event provided more than welcome compensation for the cancellation of these two major events.

A total of 60 clubs from all over Wales took part in the 15-stage relay – as well as a number of English outfits – with each of the runners racing on their own home ground.

Each runner was required to run for one hour on the hour, and log his or her distance in the time allowed.

Trots finished a fine 10th with an aggregate distance of 123.5 miles, behind winners Aberystwyth AC who clocked up 140 miles.

Carmarthen postman Vincent Bailey, a man who is naturally accustomed to early morning starts, was first off at 5am, clocking 8.4 miles.

He was followed an hour later followed by Luke Evans, who completed just under nine miles in his 60 minutes.

Each of the runners then completed their solo time trial on the hour.

Dewi Snelson managed 8.07 miles, with Dylan Raymond running 8.73. Keith Powell managed 7.22; Julian Lewis 8.7; Mary Anthony 8.31; Martin Jones 7.8; Aled Jones-Davies 9.4; Richard Phillips 8.78, Ben Billingham 8.43; Kayleigh Bagshaw 8.2; Matt Williams 7.7; Becky Dilks 6.85 and finally Kevin Jenkins with 7.9 which concluded a good day’s work for the team.

The event was sponsored by Cardiff Gait.