Last Sunday, Newport & District Running Club were represented by six runners at the Ironbridge Half Marathon, a popular local race which takes place in the spring every year. Starting and finishing in Telford Town Park, the route takes participants down the Silkin Way before completing a clockwise lap which takes in Madeley, Coalport, Ironbridge and Coalbrookdale, before returning up the Silkin Way to the finish. The race features over 200m of climbing, most of which is completed in the second half of the race, and runners cross the famous Iron Bridge just after the 12k point.

(Left to right): Richard Bennett, Liz Bennett, Jo Lutner, Helen Mason

In a field of 521 runners, Liz Bennett was the first Novaportan runner to finish, stopping the clock at 1 hour, 40 minutes 23 seconds, which earned her 85th place overall, but also gave her the win in her category! Liz’s husband Richard was not far behind her, taking 96th position in 1:41:43, just 16 seconds ahead of Phil Link, who took 99th position. Jonathan Pierce was next for Newport, 11th overall in a time of 1:43:18, whilst Jo Lutner took 316th place in 2:07:45 and Helen Mason clocked 2:17:13 to take 388th position.