Herefordshire Summer Off-road league (From Hereford Times)

Herefordshire Summer Off-road league

10:00am Sunday 9th August 2009

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NEWCOMER Jonathan Pugh and cross country league champion Suzanne Turvey took the individual honours, and Croft Ambrey Running Club won the team event, at the third race in the Herefordshire Summer Off-Road League.

The event was held at Westhope over a challenging, hilly five-and-a-quarter mile course made heavy by persistent rainy conditions.

Pugh, aged 26, running for Builth & District Runners, is better known for his exploits as a top quality mountain bike racer and he was running his first race in the Herefordshire leagues.

He surprised the league’s top runners by pulling away from Hereford Couriers’ reigning champion Matt James and Croft Ambrey’s previous race winner Stacey Morgan on the first steep climb about half a mile into the race.

This break proved decisive and Pugh gradually extended his lead to coast home by a winning margin of 23 seconds to give his Builth Wells club their first win in only their second season. James chased valiantly but was unable to deal with the strength of the flying Welshman on the course’s testing climbs, and Morgan hung on to capture third.

Suzanne Turvey, looking fit and bronzed and fresh from a confidence-boosting victory in a five kilometre race whilst on holiday in Spain, dominated the women’s race as she splashed her way round the rain-sodden course to finish in an impressive 23rd position overall. This was over two-and-a-half minutes ahead of her nearest female rival, Nikki Edwards, who just held off her Couriers team mate Alison Cooke to record second place.

Suzanne’s excellent performance helped her Croft Ambrey RC team to register their first win of the season as she was strongly supported by Stacey Morgan in third place, Dan Barnett in sixth and Dave Ameghino in 14th. Couriers finished 14 points adrift, with Matt James’s second place and Nikki Edwards’s 37th place backed by another fine run from Max Suff in eighth place and Luke Williams, 13th. Wye Valley Runners finished third thanks to evergreen veteran John Pullen in fourth, Scott Kennedy in seventh, Andrew Noble in 20th and Tracy Edwards, 60th.

With just one fixture remaining in the Summer League series, Couriers hold a 19-point lead over Croft Ambrey, with Wye Valley a distant third. The final race in the series will be held at Shobdon on Wednesday at 7.30pm.

Positions: 1 J Pugh (Builth & District Runners) 32.39, 2 M James (Hereford Couriers) 33.02, 3 S Morgan (Croft Ambrey) 33.06, 4 J Pullen (Wye Runners) 33.17, 5 J Barnes (Hereford & County AC) 34.31, 6 D Barnett (Croft RC) 35.00, 7 S Kennedy (Wye Valley Runners) 35.10, 8 M Suff (HC) 35.23, 9 S Rees (Rhayader AC) 35.30, 10 G Williams (Presteigne Pacers) 35.38, 11 C Ford (Ledbury & District Harriers) 35.43, 12 A Taylor (Hereford Triathlon Club) 35.52, 13 L Williams (HC) 36.05, 14 D Ameghino (CA) 36.24, 15 G Kay (HC) 36.42, 16 J Utley (CA) 37.02, 17 J Parry (B&DR) 37.29, 18 P Pearson (CA) 37.42, 19 N Lewis (HC) 37.49, 20 A Noble (WVR) 37.56, 21 G Wright (CA) 38.12, 22 S Herington (HC) 38.35, 23 S Turvey (CA) 38.41, 24 N Powell (CA) 38.41, 25 R Bereza (WVR) 39.08.

Team positions: 1 Croft Ambrey 46, 2 Hereford Couriers 60, 3 Wye Valley Runners 91, 4 Hereford Couriers B 94, 5 Builth & District Runners 98, 6 Croft Ambrey RC B 99, 7 Wye Valley Runners B 146, 8 Croft Ambrey RC C 147, 9 Wye Valley Runners C 166 10 Presteigne Pacers 167.

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