ELIOT Taylor and Sue Davies got off to an excellent start when the 2013-14 Herefordshire League season got under way at the scenic surroundings of Fforest Fields campsite near Builth Wells.

Taylor and Davies both took individual race honours but also spearheaded their respective teams, Hereford Couriers and Croft Ambrey, to victory in the men’s and women’s races.

Last year’s winner Tim Iveson, from home club Builth RC, set the early pace in showery but mild conditions on the single-lap, hilly course through fields and woodland trails.

Couriers duo Eliot Taylor and Matt James, accompanied by Croft Ambrey’s pairing of Mark Lamonby and Stacey Morgan and Wye Valley Runners’ stalwart John Pullen were also in the early pack of leaders. The group remained in contact until the runners started to climb the long and winding track through the woods to the summit of the route. But then reigning champion Taylor pulled away steadily and opened up a substantial lead to finally record a relaxed and emphatic win by 44 seconds.

Iveson and Pullen were locked in battle for the minor places with Iveson just prevailing in a sprint for the finish line.

Couriers recorded a comprehensive team win and featured nine runners in the top 20, including a welcome return from former multiple race winner Tim Taylor, Eliot’s father, who finished in 12th place after a lengthy break of more than a decade.

Eliot Taylor’s victory was backed by former league champion Matt James in fifth, with veterans Mike Link and Richard Hughes completing the Couriers team with strong runs in eighth and 10th place respectively.

Croft Ambrey took second place thanks to a best ever fourth place from the improving Lamonby, bolstered by a satisfying sixth place from a returning Stacey Morgan after a prolonged injury lay-off and solid runs from veteran Dave George in 14th and youngster Andrew Davies 15th. A weakened Wye Valley team finished third thanks to Pullen’s usual consistent performance plus a first race from Jim Masters in seventh backed by Jeremy Jehan in 16th and Dan Lewis 22nd.

After a circumspect start in the women’s race, over the same challenging course, Croft Ambrey’s Welsh Masters international Davies soon took complete control and coasted home by an emphatic winning margin of almost two minutes from Hereford Triathlon Club’s Louise Bartlett who was making an impressive league debut.

Davies’ Croft Ambrey team-mate Irina Dale ran spiritedly for a best-ever third place. A battling run from Sam Harper in 11th place completed the line-up to give the team a narrow win.

Hereford Triathlon Club were just three points adrift with Bartlett backed by positive runs from Nicola Goodwin, seventh, and Jenny Papworth, ninth.

Reigning champions Wye Valley again fielded a weakened team and were a further seven points back with a team of Daneen Hughes in fifth, Sandrine Gorien, sixth, and Emily Davies, 14th.

The second race in the five-race series is at Croft Castle on November 10.