Three Chippenham Harriers battled around the tough Neolithic marathon course on Sunday.

The Neolithic marathon follows a 26 mile route across undulating Wiltshire countryside and links two of the UK's World Heritage sites - the ancient stone circle of Avebury and Stonehenge.

The route is a mix of undulating grassland tracks and roads with variable surfaces, partly across the Salisbury Plain training area which can be rough and rutted due to vehicular activities.

Harrier Chris Harrison ran a splendid 3 hours, 15 minutes, 47 second for 11th overall. Brigid Browne was fourth lady in 3:35:18 and Dave Jones continued his marathon and long distance exploits in completing the tough course in 4 hours, 15 minutes just a few weeks after completing the London Marathon.

Harrison said: "It was a great race again. The organisation is first rate, second to none really.

"Conditions were almost perfect, only the headwind was a minor problem. A string of nuisance problems got in the way of my distance training so my longest run was 14 miles and I paid for it at 20 - 24. I was still seeing the physio last Friday but covered the distance without any sign of the problem so I must send an email and thank her.

"I was a little slower than last year and I dropped four places but all things considered I'm very happy with the result."

There were 232 finishers.

4:23pm Tuesday 6th May 2008

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