On the evening of 8th May 2019, the picturesque surroundings of the Hafod Estate saw Ras y Hafod, part of the Red Kite Challenge series, with trail races for senior and junior runners.

In the seniors 10k trail, 29 runners set out from the ruins of the Hafod Mansion house and followed a route stretching along the river Ystwyth, with climbs through woodland, across bridges and along forestry tracks; taking in bluebell banks and cascading waterfalls. Four Sarn Helen runners competed, with results as follows: Mick Taylor (51:22), Marc Davies (1:00:53), Rebecca Doswell (1:12:07) and Jane Holmes (1:12:07).

The Bank Holiday weekend offered runners a range of events to stretch their legs and take to hills and cities. The hills of Devils Bridge provided a scenic and dramatic backdrop for the Sialens y Barcud – Red Kite Challenge on Saturday 4th May 2019.

On Saturday 6th April 2019 122 runners tackled the challenging Sugar Loaf Fell Race over a distance of seven miles, with 1725 feet ascent. The snow had cleared from the grounds, and grey clouds cleared with sunny conditions for the runners.

Sarn Helen Running Club was superbly represented at Ras Gwyl Dewi in Llanddewi Brefi on Sunday March 10th with some top placing juniors throughout the categories and some determined, strong performances from the adults in both the 10k and 5k races.

Just one week after the gruelling Tregaron Half Marathon Mitchell Readwin took on a challenging 10-mile road race in the village of Looe nr Cornwall. Held on Feb 23^rd and organised by Looe Pioneers Running Club Readwin made the start line of the hilly, though be it scenic route for the second year running and finished in a time of 1:30:18. His eldest son, Christopher, competed in the children’s 1 mile event and gave a spectacular performance, finishing 8t^h out of nearly 100 runners.

The winner of this years Ras Cors Caron Half Marathon hasn’t been seen along the windy rural roads of Tregaron since 2013, where he placed 3d overall in a respectable time of 1 hour 22. The Swansea athlete, 34-year-old Richard Copp, strolled across the line on Sunday 17^th Feb in a massive course PB of 1:17:19 with a substantial lead on the runner up, Pembs Harrier Shaun Newbery, who placed 2^nd Open Male in 1:18:41. Two-time previous race winner John Collier of West Coast Tri club completed the podium in a talent rich Open Male class with a time of 1:19:18.

Massive Sarn Success in the annual Team Pursuits

Sarn Helen Running Club kicked off 2019 with a superb presence at the highly competitive 2019 Team Pursuits event held in Crymych on Jan 27th. A highlight of the south wales race calendar the one of a kind event is successfully organised by the onlineraceresults.co.uk team and composes of 60 teams, 5 runners to a team, all covering a 6.5 mile VERY hilly course. Results are simple; individual runners times are cumulated and the fastest team wins.

An all around fantastic event was held in Aberystwyth on December 9th where Sarn Helen Running Club were well represented at the annual Cambrian News 10k. Conditions were exceptionally cold and the icy wind saw runners pacing hard for PBs and catiogry positions. As well as being well represented the club members also ran great individual results and times;