Racing Devon

Exeter 10k, Dalwood 10k, Dartmoor 1/2 marathon

It has been a varied week for members of SIDMOUTH Running Club. On Wednesday John Doherty led the beginners group of 2016 on a three mile off-road run on a beautiful evening culminating in the ascent of High Peak where panoramic views from the summit rewarded them for their hard work. A great achievement for this tightly knit group.

Meanwhile Justin Ashby and Tim Clay headed off to Exeter for the Run Britain Series 10k event around the river basin with its flat course perfect for a PB. This was extremely well supported with 360 finishers. Justin as usual returned an excellent time of 37:28 finishing 23rd overall and 6th in his age group. Tim was also delighted to finish in less than 50 minutes in 49:11 which earned him 3rd place in his age group. Three days later following this success Tim headed off to Dalwood Fayre to compete in their 10K event. Now this was a completely different race from that at Exeter taking place during a very hot day instead of the cool evening and over a very hilly course. This was reflected in him taking nearly 10 minutes longer, finishing in 59:11.

Looking for an even greater challenge, David Wright headed off to Dartmoor to compete in the Great Escape Half Marathon. From Princetown in the heart of the deep moor the route crosses wild moorland along the Abbots Way, traverses the rocky upper reaches of the Erme valley and follows ancient wooded trails along the River Avon to the finish in South Brent. It is a technical run and unfortunately David wore his fell running shoes thinking the going would be soft underfoot where in fact it was hard going all the way and this was reflected in his time of 2:42:00