Brecon Fans Races

We set up registration in wind and rain, preparing for a soggy day; but as the start time approached the clouds lifted and we were treated to some beautiful sunshine and a cooling breeze. The tops were clear. The benign conditions obviously worked for Rhian Probert who broke the FV50 record by 5 minutes, coming 8th overall in 43:55 - the outstanding performance of the day.

Wyndham Turner (Mynydd Du)  showed his good form by repeating Saturday's result, winning with a good margin over 2nd place Robin Woods (Builth & District). Jonathan Ford (Fairwater) was second at the summit, but lost his way, and his 2nd place, on the descent.

As well as smashing the V50 record, Rhian won the women's race by nearly 6 minutes, ahead of Nicola Richards (Mercia FR) and Debbie Stenner (Mynydd Du).

Although they didn't feature in the top three in either race, Eryri Harriers showed their strength in depth taking both the men's and women's team prizes, and Neil Hockley won MV40 and Helen Teasdale the FV40.

Pete Sowerby (Brecon AC), Paul Dodd (Chepstow) and Don Powell (Basingstoke & Mid Hants) took the Men's V50, V60 and V70 respectively, and a special mention should go to Gary Gunner who was only a few minutes behind Don, at the age of 76. There were no women in the V60 or 70 categories this year.

This year we added U19 and U17 categories for the WFRA Junior Fell Running Championships, and the juniors handled the demanding course impressively. In the U19, M and F winners were Freddie Bradford (Weston AC) and Efa Baines (Eryri) caming in 23rd and 24th overall. U17 winner was Iwan Froley (Cardiff Amateur AC) who finished an impressive 5th overall, in 41:56.

Overall prizes for the best performances over the weekend's races went to Wyndham Turner, who won both men's races, and to Nicola Richards, who finished 4th and 2nd.

As always, thanks to the marshals and helpers, and to all competitors.

Photos here

Full results here

Summary results and prize winners