Athletic's report : Man v Horse race

[Chris Fletcher]

Hatton Darts once again had runners competing in the 34th Man v Horse race,

held in the mountainous terrain surrounding the small town of Llanwrtydd Wells,

mid Wales.

Four legs again triumphed against two as horse-rider  Beti Gordan  finished in 2hours 18 minutes, over 28 minutes ahead of the first solo runner, Hugh Aggleton.

A total of 666 runners comprising of solo runners and relay teams of 3, were pitted

against 50 horse and riders over 23.5 miles of steep hill climbs, forestry paths,boggy ground and water crossings. Hot,sunny weather made for a gruelling challenge with a number of solo runners having to retire from the race.

Hatton's Claire Smith ran as part of a relay team with 2 friends and was chuffed to find their team take first place in the women's relay team category, finishing in a combined time of 3.07.10.  Whilst Claire's husband Gordy, running for Burton A/C

put in a superb solo run in 3.15.07 to take 3rd Vet 40 trophy.

Also in the prizes for the Darts were the men's relay team of  Ian Stewart, Darryl Beggs and Stan Knopik whose time of 3.08.10 was good enough to secure 3rd place in the men's category. 

A mixed Hatton team comprising of Chris Fletcher, Sarah Langford and Karen Jackson found the going tough but were content with their time of 4.32.16. 

Local couple Rob & Carol Sharratt  also ran in a mixed team finishing in 4.13.19.

The main plaudits for the Darts must surely go to Claire Calladine & Tony Press who pushed themselves to the limit as solo runners finishing in 4.23.35 and

4.30.35, with Press also taking the 3rd V60 prize.