Shropshire Star

Clarke is the top Newport runner at Phoenix Flyer

David Clarke led the Newport & District Running Club charge in the Phoenix Flyer.

Published

A total of 22 club members took part in the 5K event, the second race in the Sexarathon series, hosted by Telford AC.

The Phoenix Flyer, which takes its name from the nearby Phoenix School, saw runners take in three laps of Dawley Town Centre.

This year saw the race run in two parts – an ‘elite’ race for runners who were expected to finish in under 21 minutes, and then a second ‘masses’ race. And Clarke was the first NDRC member to finish, taking 31st place overall in a time of 17 minutes, 46 seconds.

Robin Guy followed in 46th, and second in his category, with a time of 18:15. David Brown was 133rd in a time of 21:01, just ahead of Alex Cochrane, who ran a PB of 21:21 to finish 134th.

In 140th position was Phil Link, who clocked a time of 21:25, as did Phil Dolding in 146th. Andrew Wilmot stopped the clock at 21:44 for 149th place.

Other Newport finishers were; Oliver Stokes (23:00), Graham Rogers (23:13), Kirsty Greenhead (23:20), Carrie Stokes (24:45), Ralph Humphries (26:03), Helen Mason, (26:09), Louise Patterson (26:57), Emily Pope (27:29) and Tom Pope (27:30), Mathew Richards (27:51), Anne Richards (29:38). Matthew Humphries (30:23), Steve Cannon (30:27), Anne Strowger (31:07) and John Stokes (33:24).

The Sexarathon continues on Wednesday 14th June with a 4-mile race at Granville Country Park.

Photo: Team NDRC at the Phoenix Flyer.

More photos from the 2023 Phoenix Flyer here (courtesy of Martin Murdoch)

Meanwhile, Newport’s Ellen Deighton was clocking up the miles again as she took on another gruelling challenge, the Back in 10 Mynds ultramarathon.

Starting and finishing in Church Stretton, runners climbed up Carding Mill Valley first, then worked their way around the Long Mynd over a series of 10 different ascents and descents, and finished by coming back down through Carding Mill Valley again.

The race covered most of the Long Mynd, which is about seven miles long and three miles wide, and runners travelled 42 miles over the course of the event, with about 2,700m of elevation. Although there was some cloud cover in the early morning, that quickly disappeared and the sun made the route even more challenging.

Despite the heat, Deighton was really pleased to complete the course over an hour quicker than she did last year, finishing in a time of 13 hours and 28 minutes.

Manchester was overtaken by a sea of orange tops as 20 Market Drayton Running Club members took part in the Great Manchester Run – 14 in the half marathon and six in the 10K.

Jane Davis, Rob Boffey and Laura Pitcher completed their first half-marathons, while Christina Yianna recorded a half-marathon personal best after clocking two hours, 10 minutes.

Two Drayton runners even crossed the line with GB legend Mo Farah.