Having been running races in searing heat over the past months, Autumn is finally upon us and rain and wind were par for the course in recent races for Aberystwyth Athletic Club runners.

On a wet weekend in south Wales five Aber AC runners tackled the Admiral Swansea Bay 10k. Janos Vranek led the Aber team home in a time of 31.53 with Edd Land finishing in 36.35. Paul Williams crossed the line in a time of 40.36 and in doing so won the V55 overall competition for the Welsh Road 10K Series. Tracey Breedon was not far behind in a PB time of 40.44 while Rachel Richards completed the course in 1.28.50.

For Edd Land it was a chance to test his recent injury woes: “I have been suffering with a double achilles problem, so I wanted to see how I went with a moderate effort 10K. In the end I ran harder than originally intended and finished and while far from my best time, the injury held up and I’m delighted with the result. I would say it was in the top three wettest races I have ever run though.”

The Equinox24 is, shall we say, a different kind of race, and is held in the grounds of Belvoir Castle in Grantham, Leicester. The idea is to do as many laps of the 10k course as you can in 24 hours. You can enter the race solo, as a pair or as a team of three to eight runners. Aber AC coach Neil Gamble entered the race with his partner, Lynsey Gamble and completed 16 laps while Nick Thompson and Em Foot completed 12 laps.

Neil explains how they got on: “This is a great event, inclusive to everyone, as you only need to do one lap to get a race result, t-shirt and medal. We had entered last year and did 15 laps so were determined to go one better this year. I managed to complete 10 laps this year to earn my 100k bronze pin badge and our cumulative 16 laps ensured we finished in 11th place out of 52 pairs. A wonderful event – it’s our favourite race on the calendar by far and we are already looking forward to next year”.

Wind was the issue at the Llanelli half marathon but that did not stop Aber AC’s athletes from getting notable achievements. Edd Land secured 10th place overall in a time of 1.24.10 and Tracey Breedon finished in 1.31.39 coming first in her age category as did Richard Hobson as he completed the course in 1.56.35.

The weather certainly played its part according to Tracey: “The wind was absolutely crazy at Llanelli and that, coupled with an undulating course made it all very challenging. I haven’t run a distance this long for quite a while so was very pleased to get over the line in a decent time and with a pretty good placing in a field of over 500 runners.”

The Glyndŵr seven mile trail race near Machynlleth is now a staple event in the local racing calendar and a few Aber AC members made the short journey northwards for this popular and well organised event.

Ivan Courtier was the first Aber AC athlete home in a time of 1.02.10, ensuring 1st place in his age category and not too far behind was Damian Sidnell in a time of 1.03.43. Lynwen Huxtable was the first female home in 1.03.50 with Dave Humphreys crossing the line in 1.16.26. Christianne Kloos finished in 1.26.43 with John Gwynn Evans winning his age category in 1.30.44 and Cameron Pope completing the course in a time of 1.34.22.

It’s a challenging but stunning course, according to Ivan: “It is undoubtedly a challenging course, as it climbs out of Machynlleth via the Roman Steps and joins part of Glyndŵr’s Way. It takes in farm tracks, technical trail and fire roads.

“There is plenty of climb, but as always if you go up, there are great downhill sections as well and the autumnal views along the route are quite breathtaking.”