Heavy overnight rain made going very wet in places, and may have put off a few faint-hearted runners when it was still hissing down at breakfast time.

41 started the long haul up from the showground, with a largish contingent from Cardiff’s Les Croupiers who had nominated the event in their off-road championships.

It was indeed a Cardiff man who led the charge back into the arena, but Ben Moon is a Mynyddwyr de Cymru member. Second-place Richy Johnson is by contrast a member of the rival South Wales fell club, Mynydd Du. From somewhat further afield, Wesley Smith of Launceston was third.

Record-holder from 2008, Fairwater’s Angela Jones was 14th overall, and led in Les Croupiers’ Caitlin Pearson and San Domenico’s Marcia Gouveia.

Age group winners also included George Harris, Carl Brancher, Rona Davies, Gill Murphy and Mike Murphy.

The organiser is indebted to the Chepstow Harriers who journeyed all the way to the Ewyas Valley to help put on such a successful event: Sue and Gerry Ashton, Jane and Geoff Bayliss, Joc and Paul Dodd, Rob Hook, Vanessa Lawson and Rob Brown. And of course to Hanneka van der Werf who mountain-biked over from the Herefordshire side of the mountain to marshal on the very top!
Dick Finch