On Sunday, the local community at Blymhill hosted the second edition of their “shotgun” 10k race, so named because the race is started by a man literally firing a shotgun. A small local village race, with the proceeds going to charities and the local community, this race has a very friendly feel, and the locals were out in good voice to support the runners. Exactly 100 people took part this year, and seven of them were members of Newport & District Running Club.
The course for the race is a tough, multi-terrain anti-clockwise 1-lap course, starting and finishing at Blymhill Village Hall. About half of the race is on road, with the other half on fields and agricultural tracks, and over 50 metres of climbing are featured. The recent dry weather had baked the wheel tracks of tractors into the ground, making for tricky conditions to run in, whilst the warm weather and stiff easterly breeze added to the challenge!
At 11am, the eponymous shotgun was fired from the balcony of the village hall, and runners set off on their way. NDRC’s Alex Millington ran a strong race, and finished second overall, only missing out on the overall win by 20 seconds, as he clocked a time of 39 minutes, 18 seconds. Neil Fairbrother was next, finishing 13th overall in a time of 48:31, whilst Dave Thomas completed the course in 52:58 for 28th place.
John Taylor, as well as helping to organise the race, finished 39th with a time of 54:06, whilst Ralph Humphries stopped the clock at 1:01:52 in 62nd position. Alison Hodson was 83rd overall in a time of 1:12:00, whilst Mattie Humphries (son of Ralph!) finished in 92nd place with his time of 1:15:18. Runners were rewarded for their efforts with a medal, and goodybag consisting of fruit, a smoothie, sweets and a slice of cake, which rounded off an excellent day and a wonderful community event.
Newport & District Running Club 