I dug out a more solid performance at this Gwent, eventually finishing 5th and 3rd in the county, which means I get to run in Nottingham - I think we're also supposed to be running at Exmouth early in the New Year, can't say I'm looking forward to that one, little to gain and the prospect of Buzz, Pete Hockin and Mark Hargreaves being fitter than me, I can feel the hamstring pull coming already.

Back to today, and after the first lap or so it was looking as if Ritchie Gardner would win in the end. Gary and John W. had briefly been in the front of the race, but it was Rich Williams, well known for his form in the mud, who settled into second place as the race developed. Gary was still in third for much of the race, but Nathan Lane had run a well judged race, coming past me and then John on the second lap, but he couldn't get clear of Gary before the final run in, and the inevitable happened - Gary won the sprint for third. John was struggling in the muddy bottom part of the course, and I passed him near the end of the last muddy section. And in the final twist Steve Davies (Newport) had a very strong last lap, got past John and was closing on me. Kieth B urged me to as fast a finish as possible, and I hung on for 5th.

The women's race was much stronger than the Bath Gwent, Heidi didn't look at her best, bravely fighting to finish fifth, just behind Kate Goodhead in fourth. Charley had a good run, as she was a bit isolated for much of the race, but finished in touch with Kate and Heidi. Sian was the first vet in 10th, Annabel looked well on the way back as she finished 11th and Lisa ran well for 13th. (I collected the discs as Mike was giving out the Avon medals)

So that's racing for a while, in some respects I'm not looking forward to Aztec miles on Tuesday, but I need to get in some early training for London in over the next few weeks. I'll miss the Cracker 10K, it's been a great race for the last two years, somehow it's the start of the Christmas season, a great trip to the seaside, a fast course. Similarly I'm not looking forward to Clevedon, I won't be 100% race fit, and it's always a competitive field.

...and chatting around the tent, clearly the highlight of the B&W social last week was Jerry's £60 gamble on the Millionaire game, I'm hoping to get to the next one, let's hope Jerry wins a few quid next time.