FOUR Spirit of Monmouth RC members headed to the Welsh capital for the 22nd Oysho Cardiff Half Marathon on Sunday, reports VICKY ROBERTS.

James Robinson, Nick Sloper, Carol Oswell and Sian Fielding enjoyed the hustle and bustle of the crowded but colourful city as 25,000 runners strode past iconic landmarks such as Cardiff Castle, the Principality Stadium, the Civic Centre and Cardiff Bay.

The event has grown into one of the largest and most exciting road races in the United Kingdom; and is truly a 'Race For Everyone'.

It is now one of Wales’ largest mass participation and multi-charity fundraising events, although race logistics and getting to the start-line proved a challenge.

James took on his first race as a new Spirit member and crossed in one hour 31 mins 53 secs.

Nick decided on taking the train, only to be stranded on Radyr platform with rammed trains not taking on passengers, and big delays getting through security at the bag drop, almost missed the start.

Also with a flow of up to 1,000 runners per minute running through the streets, congestion and blocking became another problem, so the ballot being introduced next year is probably a necessity.

Coming off the back of a marathon the previous week, Nick was worried whether his legs had recovered enough but found he was on good form and on his sixth run in this event achieved his second fastest time of 1.47.52.

Carol Oswell was taking part in Cardiff as one of her six 'Superhalfs' – an international city series alongside Lisbon, Prague, Berlin, Valencia and Copenhagen – and conquered the Welsh half in 1.51.13.

And while Sian Fielding found the race elevation quite tough, she finished with her second best half time of 1.59.44.

Several members of MonRoss Trailblazers also took on the half, including Rich Foster who stormed home in 1.18.54.

Other finishers were Kieron Brown (1.26.56), Gary Griffiths (1.43.41), Becca Foster (1.47.52), Tony Davies (1.49.16), Catherine Finlay (1.58.57), Trina Sami (1.59.08) and Matt Webb (2.17.06).

Five Chepstow Harriers also joined in the fun, Ross Howells crossing in 1.23.58, followed by Andy Hughes (1.28.50), Dan Jones (1.45.31), Bridget Davies (1.53.12) and Kim Carwardine (1.57.28).

Saturday also saw 54 runners brave everything Storm Amy could thrown at them in the 37th Fan Fawr fell race in the heart of the Brecon Beacons.

With an ascent and descent of around 1,000ft over 3.2km starting from Storey Arms, there was a close battle at the front between Tomas Black of Beacons fell club Mynyddwr De Cymru and Cardiff's Rhys Goodrick (Vegan Runners UK).

And after a closely fought battle involving both running and bum sliding, Rhys took the spoils in 18 minutes 20 seconds by a mere eight seconds from Tomas, with Cardiff AAC U19 Iwan Froley third another minute back.

Wyndham Thomas of Abergavenny-based Mynydd Du was fourth in 19.54 followed by MDC duo Joshua Tremblay (21.18) and Dan Powell (22.03).

Claire Prosser led Mynydd Du's ladies to a clean sweep in the women's event, crossing 21st overall in 24.05, followed by clubmates Emma McWilliams (26.30) and Debbie Stenner (28.20).