THERE was magic in the air for athletes from Dudley Kingswinford Running Club as the blue hoops mixed with runners from the Sweatshop and Action Heart clubs to put on a series of mile races at The Dell Stadium.

As part of a “Magic Mile” promotion, a nation-wide challenge pitting runners against the clock over the iconic distance, DK took on a distance most runners rarely run and certainly rarely run on a track.

The races, which took place last Friday, were competitive affairs with runners seeded based on their 5k times, ensuring every race throughout the evening was a spirited contest from the first event.

Winners throughout the evening were Gavin Grosvenor of SRC in 8.12, Charlotte Tonks of DK in 7.57, Dan Perry of SRC in 5.38, Carol Fisher of DK in 7.21, Gary Bonner of DK in 5.32, Lisa Newell of DK in 7.19 and Helen Tromans of DK in 6.26.

The standout performance of the night came from Ben Foster who finished in 4.45 in a race where all seven finishers ducked under 5.35.

The following day, runners from DK were back on more familiar ground at the Stourbridge Stumble, a 10k race from Mary Stevens Park over various surfaces.

Just missing out on a podium place, Ben Foster finished fourth in 37.34, Kevin Duckworth finished in 39.58 in 11th place to claim an age group prize, Dave Norman was 14th in 41.21, Simon Hughes was 26th, Paul Richards 27th, Mick Quane 30th, Daren Thompson 34th, Graham Wildgoose 35th, Richard Tonks 44th, Mark Homer 46th and Helen Tromans 53rd in 47.00 to take the four lady position and claiming first place in her age group.

They were joined by Mark Judge, Dave Hickman, John Andrews, Roger Beddard, Carol Fisher, Brian Lane, Alison Whitehouse, Flora Bianco and Debbie Richards.