Penarth and Dinas Runners in action (From Penarth Times)

Penarth and Dinas Runners in action

7:10am Thursday 16th August 2012 in Sport

PENARTH and Dinas Runners had a brush with the law when they competed in the Merthyr Police 10km race on the weekend.

Seven club runners took part in the race on Sunday (August 12) which also served as a club championship race.

A total of 204 runners particpated in an ‘out and back’ route, which started from Merthyr College and took in parts of the Taff Trail.

Gary Brown, who currently leads the club championship, followed on from his recent success at the Brecon 10 Mile Road Race to again clinch first position for the local runners, with a time of 38.32, finishing 9th overall in the race and 7th in the Senior Men’s division.

He was followed by Richard Jackson-Hookins, who is set to join the Penarth and Dinas running club in the next few weeks, who achieved a time of 42.02, in 27th position overall and 15th in the Senior Men’s division, in his first attempt at a 10k race.

Andrew Jones also achieved a personal best (PB) time by completing the race in 43.00 and finishing in 32nd place and 17th in the Senior Men’s division.

Chris Seal, in his second race for the club, shaved over a minute off his PB to finish the race in 44.58 in 54th place and 23rd in the Senior Men’s division.

Emily Luke, who competed in last year’s race eight weeks after giving birth, took more than 14 minutes off her previous PB on the course to finish with an impressive time of 48.08 in 96th place overall, 14th in the women’s category and 5th in the Senior Ladies division.

Lindsey Hunt also achieved a PB in the race by finishing in 155th position with a time of 55.03 and 14th in the Senior Ladies division.

Clare O’Reilly also had a successful run, achieving a PB with a time of 57.04, to finish in 169th place overall and 16th in the Senior Ladies division.

Penarth and Dinas Runners’ next club championship race will be the Cardiff 10km race on September 9.

* The club currently meet every Monday at Cosmeston (by the Visitor Centre) at 7pm. On September 3 they will return to meeting at Penarth Leisure Centre at 7pm every Monday.