09/02/2008 by Gerry.

On a beautiful sunny day at Brecon, Chepstow again showed their potential with some excellent performances in the fourth Gwent League fixture of the season. Let’s start with our ladies team. Not only did they maintain their lead in Div Two they increased it to 338pts, over nearest rivals Bridgend. With only one race to go they are almost certain of promotion to the top division. Well done to everyone who turned out. Leading home the team was Sam Mulligan with a 9^th place finish, closely followed by Becky Merriman in 14^th. Team Captain Lou Summers in 32^nd and Sain Edwards in 60^th place completed the team who ended up 5^th overall out of all the teams on the day.

Following on from the excellent women’s effort the Men’s team showed the same spirit, led home by Philip Matthews. Phil was 10^th on lap one and slowly worked his way up the field and finished an amazing 5^th place, the highest placing by any Chepstow Harrier ever in this League .Behind him we some storming runs by Martin Pengilly 31^st Steve Harris 77^th and Ivan Teed in 96^th place. Behind them came the battle to be our 5^th scorer with Bill Savage just easing out Mark Jefferies on the last lap with positions of 123 &135 respectively. Ably backing up the front runners was Syd Wheeler and ever improving returnee Dick Finch in positions 190 and 191. With an overall 10^th placing on the day the Men’s team hold on to 3^rd place in their division.

On the individual front both Phil and Sam are in fourth place and only a couple of points behind the first 3 runners in their categories, with an excellent chance of a Top Three Finish at the end of the season. Already in line for a Top Three Finish is Becky Merriman who currently holds 3^rd spot in her age group.

With only one fixture to go it looks like a good season in the Gwent League for Chepstow but we still need as many as possible to turn out at Bristol in March.

Eric Bailey

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09/02/2008 by Gerry.

There were three Chepstow runners who took part in this event, part of the Winter League Short Fell Race Series. Colin Prosser is getting better event by event. I felt leaden and then a “Superman” trip on the way down left me with a grazed knee and stomach! Sue was chasing me (I got past her due to her navigation error). She ran over my prostrate body with hardly a break in her stride. I chased her down the hill, finishing under a minute behind. Fast and furious - not for wimps! Sue won her age category (and a bottle of wine). She is trying to hold on to her Welsh Championship for another year.

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