Last Thursday saw the completion of the Spring Treble Series with the running of the “Barlaston Ups and Downs”, a 5-mile race which starts and finishes at Oulton Cricket Club, just outside Stone. As befitting a race in this series, the course is a tough one, with the first mile being a very steep downhill, followed by two hilly laps of Barlaston Downs. To finish, runners must then return to the start by climbing back up the steep mile-long hill that they ran down at the start, before enjoying the end of series presentation and refreshments in the pavilion.
As per the rest of the series, Newport & District Running Club were represented by three runners, but this time the lineup was slightly different, with Ralph Humphries sitting this one out, and Ollie Stokes running, having been unable to attend the first two races. Graham Rogers was the first Novaportan finisher, taking 52nd place overall with a time of 42 minutes, 56 seconds. Ollie Stokes was next, clocking a time of 49:34 in 80th position, followed by Selwyn Plant, who finished 90th in 54:17.
Having completed all three races, Graham and Selwyn were eligible for the overall series standings, with Graham taking 29th place, and Selwyn finishing in 57th overall, out of the 64 runners who finished all three races.
Newport & District Running Club 