DAVE’S BRECON HIP ENDS HIS STREAK

Sunday 14th November 2021 saw the second instalment of the Gwent Cross Country League at Parc de Pugh, Brecon. However, one name not on the list of finishers is the legendry, Dave Hughes. Missing his first Gwent League fixture after an unbroken run of 131 due to a very unfortunate accident in which he broke his hip. It won’t be long before he stands on the start line again. His run lasted approximately a quarter of a century!

Dave Hughes & Jack Ayoub

The weather was stunning and you could have been fooled into thinking it was a summer’s day until the sun dipped behind the line of trees later in the afternoon. It was a great setting full of autumnal colours.

Both the senior women and men lay in division two this season and at the start of the day the women were in a close 2nd, with the men sitting in 7th place. It was great to see so many Bridgend AC runners attend the event along with their children and dogs, some running, some spectating, some looking forward to their turn to put on their spikes or trail shoes in a few years’ time.

The course was mostly flat and mud-free and was pretty much grass all the way, some lumpy, some well-trodden following the River Usk out to the east before meandering back towards the start. The women had a small loop followed by a large loop which was close to 3 miles, and the men had 2 large loops and one small to deal with.

Georgie Dando half a mile from the finish

The women started at 12:20 with 6 Bridgend AC members taking part out of the 291 starters. Georgie Dando was the highest ranked again in 44th position at a time of 30:20 and was 7th in her age category.  She was followed by Leigh James (position 57, time 31:09), Sophie Moore (80, 32:19), Gina Hardman (81, 32:21), Helen Andrews (151, 35:33) and Krista Humphrey (199, 38:46) who finished ahead of Jack for the first time.

The men’s race was at 14:15 and saw 10 Bridgend AC runners out of 395 starters.  Lloyd Manning-James was the highest ranked in 63rd and a time of 38:00. The other men were as follows: Joe Thomas (75, 38:23), Richard Dando (98, 39:13), Nick Grinnell (118, 39:53 and 2nd in age group), Ryan Bowen (215, 43:42), Nick Stocker (235, 44:13), Rob Hunt (266, 46:12), Stephen Summers (279, 46:53), Dan Morgan (280, 46:54) and Steve Brace (323, 50:58). Gareth Hardman unfortunately had to pull out after his warm up tester didn’t go to plan. There were season debuts from Lloyd, Joe and the two Nicks and it’s definitely not too late for anyone else wishing to join in the XC fun.

Jack Ayoub ran in the women’s race finishing in 23rd out of the 31 65+ Masters and 2nd 70 year old with a time of 39:54.

LLoyd Manning-James

These results have meant both teams have gone up a place. The women are now top of division two 201 points ahead of San Domenico. So, we need as many as possible in to run in the final three fixtures to keep our title hopes alive. And the men are up to 6th with Westbury Harriers topping their group.

The club team spirit was in abundance with plenty of support out in the races, some shouting encouragement, others taking photographs capturing the smiles and grimaces of the runners wondering how many laps or how far from the end they were.  All in all, it was another great Cross County day, and with 3 fixtures yet to come we hopefully will be looking to boost the numbers and thus the push for promotion to division one continues…

Next fixture: Pembrey Country Park, Saturday 4th December.

Writing and photography – Nick Stocker.