FOUR Ely Runners accepted the invitation of the mayor of a French village to a 10km road race. Graham Chapman, John Crisp, Ian Blatchford and Lisa Redman travelled to Andrezieux-Boutheon in the Loire region of France to form Soham Twinning Association s t

FOUR Ely Runners accepted the invitation of the mayor of a French village to a 10km road race.

Graham Chapman, John Crisp, Ian Blatchford and Lisa Redman travelled to Andrezieux-Boutheon in the Loire region of France to form Soham Twinning Association's team.

They were invited by the Mayor of Andrexieuz.

The village is twinned with Soham and villages in Germany, Italy and Portugal, and competitors from each country took part.

The Ely Runners made good progress in the field of 422 finishers, with Chapman 102nd in 41min 30sec, Crisp 105th in 41:32, Blatchford 274th in 49:32 and Redman 328th in 53:26.

Mr Blatchford said: "We all agreed that we had an exceptional experience, and are all very honoured to have been lucky enough to represent Ely Runners and Soham on the international stage.