AFTER battling through various degrees of hypothermia the last time Penarth and Dinas Runners ran a cross country race in Brecon, it wasn’t surprising that their return to the same venue was another icy fixture.

Thankfully this time there was not torrential rain, gale force winds or the need to call paramedics to tend to the shivering runners.

Instead the day started cold, brighten up for the women’s race, then clouded over once again for the men’s race.

The men’s race featured three large laps of the field and three additional laps of a smaller field, as they ran around 10k, while the shorter women’s race included two laps of the larger field, just over 5k.

The route was mainly flat around the fields, with a few short and sharp hills in the undulating sections. There was also a few looping sessions so runners could get an idea about how far ahead, or behind, their rivals were.

After the third race of the five fixture Gwent League, with the remaining fixtures in Bristol and Aberdare in February and March respectively, the Penarth women’s and men’s teams are sitting fairly comfortably in their divisions.

The men, who narrowly missed out of promotion last season, are now in 6th place in division three. They aren’t that far behind 3rd, but will need a strong turnout and a bit of luck to sneak into 2nd and gain promotion.

The ‘B’ team are also 18th out of 22 in their reserve division

The women’s team are sitting fairly comfortably in division one in 8th place in the 12 team league. They’ll also need a strong finish to the season to maintain their place in the highly competitive league.

In Brecon Richard Jackson-Hookins was the first man from Penarth and Dinas Runners to cross the finish line in 117th in 41.23. He is now 71st in his age category.

Ben Butler-Madden was next up in 146th in 42.25.

Clem Clement followed him in 188th in 44.20.

Chris Nellins was 223rd in 45.47.

Chris Seal, after a last minute sprint finish, was 261st in 47.59.

Andrew Frayling, narrowly behind in 264th, achieved 48.02.

Malcolm Bradley was 284th in 48.54. He is now 7th in his age category.

In the women’s race Cath Tailby, who was 2nd in her age category last season, stormed into 54th in 28.16. She is now 13th in her age category.

Andrea Hurman was next up in 61st in 28.38. She is now 7th in her age category.

Yvonne Williams, who had an impressive sprint finish of her own to gain another vital point for the club, was 112th in 31.30. She is now 4th in her age category.

Danielle Rayner was 129th in 32.31.

Tania Miranda, in her first race for the club, was 165th in 35.53.

Penarth and Dinas Runners meet every Monday evening at 7pm at Penarth Leisure Centre.