On Sunday, Newport & District Running Club’s Alex Cochrane took on his first ever race over the half marathon distance. For his half marathon debut, Alex chose the Shrewsbury Half Marathon, a race which starts and finishes at the Shropshire County Showground, just north of Shrewsbury itself.

Alex Cochrane (right) at the Shrewsbury Half Marathon

Featuring around 150m of elevation changes, the undulating route takes competitors out of the showground and from there they head north-west up the Berwick road. After approximately 5 kilometres, runners turn and run back to the Showground, where they run a lap of the grounds, before repeating the out-and-back road section. On their next return to the Showground, they are greeted by the finish line.

Alex (left) during the race

Alex’s finishing time was 1 hour, 40 minutes 23 seconds, a very quick time which meant that he finished 62nd overall out of almost 500 runners.

Alex tackles another section of the course