Sandstone Trail Race Tests Runners Endurance A gruelling 17.1 mile race tested several EPRC runners to the limits on Sunday as the Sandstone trail race was held. The tough multi terrain race which starts in Duckington and climbs up Bickerton Hill ascending along the ridge to Rawhead then follows quiet tracks and fields above the village of Burwardsley through the Peckforton estate to Beeston where 7 miles has elapsed and the B Race starts, the merged races cross the Gowy valley in flat but often claggy conditions and enters the outlying parts of Delamere Forest and follows a Roman Road to climb over Edisbury Hill, the last long climb before running down to Delamere Forest to finish at Barnes Bridge Car Park.

First runner home for Ellesmere Port was Matt Whitfield who showed great endurance and determination after falling head first into a brook filled with Nettles after approximately 9 miles of the race gone to finish in 24th position in a time of 2 hours 17 minutes and 32 seconds. Steve Crowe who was running alongside Matt up until the 12th mile but suffered badly due to lack of training for the distance was next runner home for EPRC finishing with very sore legs in 2.20.59 for 34th position. Steve was followed within a minute by Danny Legg who may have pushed harder had he knew that Steve was suffering, Danny crossed the line in 2.21.48 for 41st position.

Steve Blaylock was the next runner to complete the challenging course which feels more like a marathon due to the terrain it’s run over, Steve finished in a time of 2.40.00. Finally, fresh from the Berlin Marathon only the previous weekend John Jennings did eventually complete the race after suffering numerous aches and pains, perhaps something to do with the excessive amount of Marathons and Half Marathons John has competed in so far this year!

The second race along the Sandstone trail is the B Race which starts at Beeston and is a mere 10.1 miles to the finish. First runner back for the club was Alison Macdonald who had originally entered the longer race but dipped out at the last minute and instead ran an excellent shorter race finishing in 1 hour 24 minutes giving Alison 4th lady. Alison was followed shortly after by Paul Welsh who kindly handed Matt running the ‘A’ race an energy drink as the fortunate few ‘A’ race runners passed the start of the ‘B’ race before it got underway.

Three Ellesmere Port runners made the trip to Mold on Sunday for the Flintshire 10K.
First runner home for the club was Simon Jeffs who took over a minute off his personal best to finish in an excellent 36.51 for 26th position out of a strong field of 315 runners. Les Fleetwood was next runner home for the club after negotiating the course in a time of 42.52 for 81st position. Finally, Kevin Curtis took over a minute off his time from last weekends Sutton 6 race by completing the course in a satisfactory 45.59 for 133rd position.

Paul Robertson opted to race the Macclesfield Half Marathon on Sunday and gave a good performance on the back of little training to finish in 1.28.08 for 47th position and 11th in the M40 category.

The final runner in action on Sunday was Denis Duret who competed in the Cheshire Corporate Cup 5K and tackled the course in 17.24.

On Saturday 2nd October Chris Marshall headed to the hills again for the 10 mile Autumn Leaves fell race in Saddleworth, the course with it's 1250 feet of climbing again proved challenging and he finish in 41st place in a time of 1:24.19.

A week last Tuesday saw the staging of the 4th and final Wirral summer multi terrain race held around the fields and through the woods of Arrow Park.

Ian Cooper was first runner home for the club and second only to overall winner Jon Mellor of Liverpool Harriers on the night giving the club and Ian their highest ever individual finish in the Men’s series. Ian completed the course in 25.31 and finished the series 3rd in the Male 40 age category behind Chris Davies of Buckley Runners and Gary Withers of West Cheshire respectively.

Dave Sargent who is easing back into racing following a lengthy lay off through injury was next runner home for the club in 13th position in a time of 26.44. Tony Hyland followed Dave to complete the course in 27.40 for 22nd position followed by Matt Whitfield in 28.50 (43rd).

Tony Smith put his racing trainers back on for the first time in a while and tackled the course in 29.56 for 55th place and was quickly followed by the improving Gary Richards who crossed the finish line in 30.00 (58th).

Roy Traynor was next to follow finishing in 30.42 (68th) and finally Paul Welsh just managed to hold off the late starting Les Fleetwood to finish in 31.17 for 75th place with Les a second behind in 31.18 for 76th position.

The results gave Ellesmere Port ‘A’ a finishing position of 4th place on the night and 5th ‘A’ team overall.

On the ladies team Nicky Bird cruised to victory on the night finishing over a minute ahead of Ruth Isaacs of Pensby Runners in a time of 28.04. Alison Macdonald was next runner home for the club securing 8th position in 32.24 and this was good enough to give Alison the Runners up prize in the Under 40’s category for the overall series.
Finally, Tracey Ellis secured 28th position in 38.47 and her effort helped the ladies team to a very respectable 4th position on the night.