Bishop’s Stortford Running Club members take on Comrades Marathon and Man versus Horse

Bishop’s Stortford Running Club members are recovering from taking on two of the world’s most unique and gruelling endurance challenges.

Adam Beaumont and Danny Beazley travelled to South Africa for the Comrades Marathon while a 10-strong team headed to Wales for Man versus Horse.

The Comrades Marathon is one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious ultra marathons, stretching a punishing 55.9 miles between Pietermaritzburg and Durban. Known for its strict 12-hour cutoff, this year’s race was a ‘down run’, starting in Pietermaritzburg and finishing down in Durban along a route with a net descent of about 650m.

Beaumont and Beazley proudly represented team green and gold, finishing in 6hr 55min 52sec and 7:50.45 respectively up against a world-class field.

Llanwrtyd Wells in rural Wales is the setting for Man versus Horse, a one-of-a-kind event that pits human runners against horses across a mountainous, muddy 22.5-mile route first imagined over a pint in 1980.

This year’s edition saw nearly 650 runners and 60 horses tackle the hills and bogs of - and remarkably, for only the fifth time, a human beat the horse as Dewi Griffiths clocked 2:23.58.

Ernesto Johnson was the first Stortford runner home in 4:09.58, followed by Martin Moulton (4:36.32). David Broughton and former club chairman Mike Grant also went under five hours in 4:40.06 and 4:50.04 respectively.

Also competing for Stortford were Paul Malone 5:09.15), Lara Wheeldon (5:34.28), Rohit Dayama (5:50.57), vice-chair Jane Malone (6:08.30), Andy Wheeldon (6:18.46) and ladies’ captain Clare Gallagher (6:19.24).

“The race was 179 furlongs with 4,200 feet of elevation,” explained Grant. “Beautiful and brutally hard at the same time - mud, river crossings and hills, hills, hills.

“I was delighted to beat five horses, plus another four who did not finish when they saw they couldn’t catch me!”

Jane Malone added: “22.4 miles. Over 4,000 feet of elevation. Bogs, streams, rocks, mountains and horses. In one word - brutal!”

On more familiar turf, 14 Stortford members took on the Rickling Green trail race, which is part of the club championship.

Despite some confusion on the course caused by moved signage, the group powered round a hilly route with strong finishes from Matt McRandal (55min 24sec) and Serena Beresford (1:01.43) leading the men’s and women’s teams.