CHEPSTOW Harriers got off to a great 2014 beating Cardiff running club Les Croupiers at the Kymin fell race.

The short but gruelling race involved four extremely muddy miles of running and 1,150 feet of ascent.

Starting from the bottom of the Offa’s Dyke Path in Monmouth, the runners ran almost to the top of the Kymin, before descending steeply through a series of fields and woodland paths.

This was followed by a long, gradual climb back up to the top of the Kymin.

The final descent was on a pleasant runnable trail to the finish.

The two running clubs cajoled as many of their members as they could to take part in the race as every runner counted for points in the mob match.

Chepstow had 31 finishers while Les Croupiers had 24.

Chepstow therefore won the mob match for the second year running with 825 points to Les Croupiers 713.

There were some impressive individual performances for Chepstow too.

Jane Horler was the first female, Niki Morgan the second female and Vanessa Lawson the fourth female.

Judith Austerberry came in sixth place taking the first senior female prize while Joc Dodd was the first female veteran over 60.

Matt Stott was the third male while Steve Caldwell, David Williams, Matthew Lawson and Paul Lidgett were also in the top 10 out of a total of 116 runners.