San Domenico 20 mile race held on Sunday 10th March, was the latest race on the calendar for four Sarn Helen Runners and no, this was not a flying visit to compete in an Italian race, but a trip down the A470 to Merthyr Tydfil.
The race aptly named after the host club Cardiff based San Domenico Running Club started and finished at Merthyl Tydfil Leisure Village. The scenic race was set on the Taff Trail in the heart of the Welsh Valleys and took the runners on an out and back route not once but twice with approximately 690ft of elevation. Weather conditions were reasonably kind, a bit cold to start with a slight headwind in parts but otherwise dry.
This proved to be another successful race for Sarn Helen runners with all four members achieving great times and category awards.
Lou Summers running in the 55-64 category came out on top with an amazing time of 2hrs 39mins 50secs and also managed to secure the course record for this age group taking almost 4 mins off the previous record time.
Eleri Rivers ran an impressive race in a time of 2hrs 35mins 20secs, gaining 4th place in the Female Masters 45-54 age category.
Carwyn Davies also had a superb race finishing in a time of 2hrs 16mins 45secs, claiming 3rd position in the Mens Masters 45-54 age category.
Last but not least of the 4 runners was Mitch Readwin who ran an equally great race to achieve a PB in a time of 2hrs 55mins 07 secs
All 4 runners took advantage of this race as training for the London Marathon and what a great road trip it turned out to be for the red, green and white runners of Sarn Helen Running Club.