On Sunday, four runners from Newport & District Running Club braved the rain to take on the Stafford 10k, an annual road race that started in 2016. This year, the route was modified from previous years, with runners starting on the Victoria Road bridge, then completing a lap of the town centre before heading out into the suburbs, taking in Riverway, Corporation Street and Beaconside, before heading back into town via the Isabel Trail and the Stone Road, finishing the race on the same bridge that they started on.

(Left to right): David Evans, Alex Cochrane, Neil Fairbrother

This year’s race was marked by heavy rain all weekend, which left the roads waterlogged and the athletes soaked to the skin. Alex Cochrane was the first to finish for Newport, spotting the clock at 43 minutes, 17 seconds to finish 134th in a field of 1,719 participants. Phil Link was next, taking 231st place in a time of 46:21. Neil Fairbrother clocked a time of 48:48 in finishing 360th, and he was closely followed by David Evans, who finished 402nd overall, in a time of 49:35.

Phil Link heads to the finish line