Rocker Climbs The Three Peaks

On the 22nd of September Rocker Shepperd took The Mighty Green on The Tree Peaks Challenge. This epic endurance adventure takes the participant up the three highest peaks of the U.K. Starting in Scotland with Ben Nevis then on to Scafell Pike in the Lake District and finally Snowdon in North Wales. The total distance covered is around 42 kilometres (26 miles) with a total ascent of 9,800 feet (3,000 m). The challenge is to achieve all three peaks within 24 hours.

Rocker was part of a group of eight people who got together to take on this challenge and raise money for a local charity while doing it. The team chose to support Sidmouth Living With Cancer and consisted of Snowdon White (Gwenan Paewai) and the 7 Sids (Rodney Cross, Jud Lascelles, Mark Bishop, Rocker Shepard our Mighty Green, Ollie Derryman, and Jake Voss).

At this time of year it can get very cold at the top of these mountains. The weather can also change very quickly as Rocker was about to experience!! He was leading at the time and had not been up Ben Nevis before, with no footpath to follow and a white out to greet them at the top, navigation became difficult. However, he followed the marker stones that he’d read about up to the trig point. The Mighty Green shirt was worn with pride at the top of Ben Nevis.

A bite to eat en-route, some shut eye during the long drive down to the Lake district to Scafell Pike. They set off up Scafell Pike with fading light. At the top of the Pike, the Mighty Green was shown, but as it was wet and had a slight aroma, it was not worn. The distance covered on this mountain was 8.6km and took 2h:45m. By the time they arrived at the summit of Snowdon it was pitch black but distant lights from various towns could be seen. The MG running shirt was by now smelling rank! It was still wet, and was in no way fit for the owner to wear it!

All three mountains were completed in under the 24hours so Rocker and his team retreated to the comforts of The Red Lion for a debrief and well earned rest and drink.
If you wish to donate to their chosen charity then please visit https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/7sids

Alphabet Park Runs

Running in the local park is something that has been done for decades, but the new fun and easy going thing to do now is Park Run. Many SRC members have taken up this short and sociable running activity on Saturday mornings. You just obtain your barcode from the website and turn up at a venue. With a choice of hundreds of Park Runs around the U.K. to participate in, just scan your card and run.

In January 2016, David Skinner took part in his first Park Run at the age of 68. He has now completed his 73rd. More would have been completed had it not been for the odd injury.

He is now collecting venues in a quest to form as many letters of the alphabet as possible. So far he has bagged A,B,C,D,E,F,H, and K for Killerton which is David’s home Park Run. Also completed are N,O,P,S,T,W. and on the 4th of August, David ran at the Montacute Park Run and“Y” for Yeovil was added to the collected list, with a modest time of 31:41. There is a long journey to Scotland is on the cards right up to Inverness to get the “I” and one nearer to home with Minehead for the ‘’M” in his sights.

Becky’s takes on The Prudential Ride London Surrey 100 Bike Race.

Yes I know, this is cycling news, but for those that know her and how much she did for SRC, I thought you would like to know. Our ex Mighty Green runner Becky Robson got on her bike, with husband Ian to take on the cycling challenge of The Prudential Ride London Surry 100 bike race. Taking on the 100 miles and achieving a time of 6h 41:01 Becky is really on course for future sporting endeavours to which all of us at Sidmouth Running Club wish her well.

Race For Life

A couple of months ago Jenny and Laura Broughton started their running journey with Sidmouth running club. They are both now, rightly very proud to announce, that they’ve both just completed their first 10km event in Race for life at the Devon County Show Ground this weekend, where they raised £200 to go towards cancer research. Both Jenny and Laura thank the club for helping them get there!

Sidmouth Runner on her way to London

Sidmouth Running Club member, Kerry Boyle, is on schedule with both her tough training programme and fund raising plans for her London Marathon challenge. Kerry, who fits training in around being a mum and working as a GP, has been gaining community support in her challenge to raise £2000 for The Institute of Cancer Research.

Kerry and her supporters have arranged a Charity Quiz and Auction on the 24^th of February 2018 at the Woodlands Hotel. Kerry said, ‘we have some fantastic donations for the Auction from generous local businesses including tickets for Exeter Chiefs, a photo shoot at Willow studios, classes at Jala Flow and 4 balls at Sidmouth Golf Club. There’s a raffle too and loads of great prizes including family days out and beauty and spa treatments. I’m still collecting prizes so please contact me if you have a donation’.

Tickets for the event have almost sold out with some competitive spirit expected on the night. ‘We have two teams from the Running Club, one from the Rugby Club, some parents and teachers from the local primary schools, the WI have a team and Claremont Medical Practice in Exmouth where I work will have a team’ said Kerry, ‘it’s going to be fantastic fun watching them battle it out!’

Training for the London Marathon is also going well, despite the damp and dismal weather. Kerry will be running in Sidmouth Running Club’s ‘Four Trigs’ event this Sunday. ‘It has been tough getting out with the dark mornings and the ground being so wet and muddy, but I’ve got up to 16 miles and I’m hoping that the ‘Four Trigs’ will be a good mental and leg strengthening event’.

If you want to sponsor Kerry please visit her website https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/kerrypboyle or to contact her for more information or donations for her charity event https://www.facebook.com/KerryBoylerunsLondon/

Tony Velterop on the Flying Scotsman

The Blackdown Beast

Saturday morning saw 11 Sidmouth Running Club members attending the pre-run briefing at the Highfield Club, Dunkeswell ready for the start of the very popular Blackdown Beast.

This year set a record with 180 lining up at the start. This is a 17 plus mile self-navigation social run with 1600 feet of elevation gain over the beautiful Blackdown Hills. We were promised plenty of mud, bog and hills in the pre-race information and there were plenty of each, but on the day with the temperature at minus 3, ice and frozen ground proved more of a problem.

The run is split into 4 legs, the first about 7 miles takes you through fields, lanes, woods, farmyards and a proper bog to Smeatharpe Village Hall where the W.I. ladies had hot pasties and mulled cider waiting.

The next leg of about 3 miles and the easiest takes you to the Sidmouth Arms at Upottery where more liquid refreshment is available. You have the opportunity of finishing here and taking a bus back to the start and Milly Marvel Frankpitt feeling the effects of the freezing conditions took this option.

Leg 3 is only about 3.5miles but very tough. After a road run to Rawridge you then make your way across two frozen fields before starting a mile plus climb up to and through the Buddhist Monastery woodland with its lake, to the top of the ridge where you are rewarded with a fantastic 180 degree panoramic view before dropping down into Luppit.

Arriving at the unique Luppit Inn which is one of the smallest Inns in the country you are greeted by Gladys the Landlady who will tell you “I am nearly 95 you know”, a great character, also her granddaughter.

The final leg takes you through a series of boggy fields and a few more hills to finish you off. Arriving back at the Club, cold, tired, and muddy we all agreed to return next year.

As I said at the start this is a social run with no numbers or times so you have plenty of time to enjoy the views and hospitality on the way round.

Sitting around waiting for the start Don Cawthera told us he would be jogging around with us at the back but taking off his track suit bottoms he revealed a pair of shorts in minus 3 conditions! and we soon realised that this might not be the case. We lost sight of him by the end of the road and he ended up having an excellent run; his membership of the rusty runners is now under review.

The rusty runners Helen Palmer, Cathy Keast, Monica Read and Terry Bewes along with first timer Sue Collman had their usual relaxed run at the back but as the temperature dropped further on the last leg were all pleased to finish.

The West Hill mafia of Carine Silver, Dave Wright and Simon Hoyller accompanied by Julian Bartlett the ghost runner (he usually misses the start) and during the run you turn around and there he is, set off at their usual brisk pace but the alcohol after the third pub took its toll and they got lost.

Thanks to Cathy for the Delia energy bars she makes so well for the team. A superbly organised event by Honiton Running Club and over a £1,000 raised for charity. We shall be back in the Blackdown Hills in July to run the Beauty.

Naomi in her Strawberry costume in which she hopes to break the World Record time of 4.13 in the London Marathon. Holding the proof with her two certificates, Naomi has previously held the world record for running the marathon in a wedding dress in a time of 3:41, as well as the world record for running the marathon dressed as a doctor, in a time of 3:54.

The Bridgwater to Taunton Canal Run

A 6am alarm and 4 members of SIDMOUTH Running club Sarah Watkins, Jessica Raynor, Dave Wright and Terry Bewes drag themselves out of their beds; look out the window to a scene of fog and frost and wonder, back to bed or run? As members of the Mighty Green there was no hesitation, run it was. So, into the car, and up the M5 through thick fog and minus 2 degrees to Taunton to take part in the 16 mile Bridgwater to Taunton canal run. This run, not a race is organised by Taunton Running club the biggest independent running club in the UK with around 750 members.

Terry & Jess on the train

The event starts with a short train ride from Taunton to Bridgwater and Terry was well excited about this because he had not been on a train for years.

So the four off us and the 80 or so runners from 8 different clubs left it until the last minute to emerge from the waiting room to get on the platform to avoid the freezing conditions. Arriving at Bridgwater station it was then a short jog to the start at the canal basin.

This was to be a new experience for us as we can normally be found running the hills and coastal paths around here. This was a nearly flat 16 mile run along the tow path back to Taunton. The conditions had not improved as we set off, it was quite eerie in the fog and it soon further deteriorated freezing the water in Terry’s water pack.

Arriving at Maunsel Lock which is around half way the Taunton club had laid on food and hot drinks for all which were well received. Suitably refuelled and thawed out we set off only to be told that the police had shut the canal a mile further on in order to recover a body.

The canal in summer

Luckily with local knowledge and a mobile phone app a detour was sorted to take us around the closure. This came as some relief to us as it took us over more familiar terrain in the way of fields, lanes and paths. A couple of miles later we were back on the tow path and conditions had started to improve for the run to the finish.

Dave had a good run going ahead with local runners recording a time of 2:52:00. Sarah and Terry tried to keep up with Jessica who is 5 months pregnant and finished 20 minutes later.

To put this run into some context, over the 16 plus miles we recorded an elevation gain of 204 feet with the majority of that being gained on the diversion. The previous week we ran a 9 mile local route with an elevation gain of 1,453 feet. It is well worth doing this run if only to appreciate how lucky we are to have the diversity of terrain to run locally.

Seaton Parkrun

Parkrun is phenomenally successful in getting people of all ages and abilities out of the door early on a Saturday morning to run 5k in their local park. Parkruns are free, timed 5k events, not races and are held at 9am every Saturday morning in 431 locations around the UK. Now Parkrun has come to Seaton!

Last Saturday, a cool but bright windy morning was the 3^rd week of this event and saw 115 people taking part. The course is almost entirely flat consisting of 2 laps of the esplanade. The only unusual and challenging aspect of the course is the short stretch of pebbles along the beach at one end of each lap and a short stretch at the finish.

There has been a Sidmouth Running Club member in each of the 3 events so far. In the first, Suzi Rockey ran 27:43 and in the second Jane Hemsworth ran 24:52; Carol Hounsell who only joined the Club a couple of months ago and ran with the two mile group also ran in the second event in a time of 32:19. Now wearing the Club’s Mighty Green vest she has over the last couple of weeks moved up to the four mile group and then knocked almost 3 minutes off her time last Saturday by running a personal best of 29:37. Rob Edwards also ran last Saturday in 23:47 with his step-daughter Katy 29:15 and 10 year old grandson Stanley 29:00, both of whom ran more slowly than usual, but then the views are a distraction.

Another nice feature about Parkrun is that the results give everyone an age/sex adjusted score so that times can be easily compared, therefore we can see that Jane Hemsworth has the best performance so far for a Sidmouth runner.