No doubt feeling more comfortable in her horse's saddle than the runners did on foot, Llinos Mair Jones and her horse Sly Dai took the annual Man v Horse race winner's title last weekend.

Covering 22 miles of Welsh countryside, the race has been running from the contest's home village of Llanwrtyd Wells, Powys since 1979 after a bar room argument over which was fastest over a long distance.

The race, which carries a 1,000 guinea (£1050) first prize, has only ever been won twice by a man in 2004 and 2007.

Ms Jones managed to complete the 35km course on top of her steed in 2:17:27 while the first man to cross the finish line was Haggai Chepkwony, a 40-year-old Kenyan living in Clifton, Bristol, some ten minutes later.

The keen runner was also the first man across the line in 2006 and believes that he is getting better at the race and will one day win it outright.

To give the runners more of a chance at getting over the finishing line before their four-legged counterparts, event founder Gordon Green plans to double the distance to two laps of the course or 70km in total.

Due to the horse's tendency to overheat, a longer distance is likely to favour the runners who can maintain a stable body temperature more efficiently.

The event is looking for more riders willing to jump on their horse saddles and pull up their riding boots to the challenge next year.