Drogo 10
Taking on The Drogo 10 is a big challenge for the best of us, but you get rewarded with a route through beautiful woodlands and fantastic views reaching across the Teign Valley. After the long driveway out from the castle there are many steep climbs and descents, lots of narrow footpaths, a wall to climb and a bridge to cross.
Five Mighty Greens did themselves and Sidmouth Running Club proud on Sunday the 18th of November. Kirsteen Welch, Philip Welsford, Simon Hollyer, Sarah Watkins and Arthur Vince were the fabulous five. There would have been a magnificent seven MG’s, but I’m not quite fit enough yet and became a DNS statistic as did Susie Perry!
Kirsteen took part in this event despite not feeling quite up to par and suffering a cold. She also knew that she would be competing against the UK middle distance running champion and last years winner Mary Menon. However, in a true Kirsteen competitive spirit, she gave it her best to see how near she could finish to Menon. She decided to attack from the start knowing that there are many points along the route that form bottlenecks of runners. This decision was a wise one, as throughout the race Kirsteen was able to keep Mary Menon firmly in her sights. In the last three miles Kirsteen started to gain a lot of ground on her, never letting up on the chase and almost succeeding. Crossing the line just thirteen seconds after Mary Menon, Kirsteen Welch was the first MG and 2nd lady across the line, 17th position over all, in a time of 1h:11m:49s.
Philip Welsford managed a storming 1h:32m:37s, coming in at 161st followed by Simon Hollyer in 252nd place and a time of 1h:41m:58s. Sarah Watkins just squeezed in before the 2 hour mark with a 369th place and a 1h:57m:30s timing. I have to give a massive well done to Arthur Vince who is a Vet 70+. He claimed the 484th position over all, in a time of 2h:56m, he deserves a huge round of applause and a lot of respect for completing it.