On Sunday, Newport & District Running Club were well represented at the Stafford Half Marathon, a popular annual road race that takes place every March in the county town itself. Featuring a slightly changed route to previous years, the race takes runners from the start line by Victoria Park into the western suburbs of the town, taking in a lap of Rowley park, before cutting through to the traditional climb up Radford Bank, and eventually the long slog up Beaconside, where participants this year were greeted by a headwind!
Eventually, the route turned back towards town via the Common Road and the Isabel Trail, before completing a lap of the town centre and finishing on the bridge over the river Sow next to Victoria Park. The start was delayed by 25 minutes this year, due to a backlog queue of runners collecting their numbers. Alex Millington was the first Novaportan runner to finish, taking 12th place overall in a field of well over 2,300 runners, with a rapid time of 1 hour, 16 minutes, 6 seconds. Alex Cochrane was next, and beat his previous personal best by around 8 minutes, taking 104th place in a very fast time of 1:25:50.
Phil Dolding was next for Newport, taking 414th place with his time of 1:39:10, followed by David Evans, who was 829th in 1:50:14. David Thomas ran with his daughter, who was doing her first half marathon, and he got round in 1:53:07 for 956th position. Philip Hill was next, taking 975th place in 1:53:22, followed by Sheryl Gray, who finished 1,118th in a time of 1:56:33. Jonathan Pierce clocked a time of 2:00:38 in 1,301st place, just ahead of Phil Cross, who was 1,333rd in a time of 2:01:24.
Neil Fairbrother walked the race in 2:25:56 (a walking PB) to finish 1,999th, whilst Stephen Mansbridge ran a time of 2:34:39 to finish 2,113rd. Donna Hesbrook-Edwards, making her return after four and a half years, following a nasty fall at the 2021 race, finished 2,219th in 2:51:50, which included a stoppage to help a fellow participant who had collapsed on the Isabel Trail.
Jonathan Pierce said afterwards: “Great weather this year for the Stafford Half. The change of route this year made some parts challenging. New speed ramps at Rowley park drive took down a few runners. I had to take it steady this year as I am trying to recover from 3 months of plantar fasciitis, so a relaxed 2h 0min run for me. Still a good local race, but a shame it clashed with Ironbridge Half this year.”
Newport & District Running Club 