Sidmouth Running Club’s Antony Hall Secures 2^nd Place With 7+ hours of Running!

The aptly named Celebration Caper organised by Jolly Running was cause for celebrations for three Mighty Greens on Saturday. The 8 hour timed event was set in the Riverside Valley Park, Exeter and it was up to the runner how many 3.3mile laps to run.

Rachel

Despite the heat Rachel Austen-Rigby completed 2 laps, running 6.6 miles in 1:31:05 and was very pleased to receive the unique medal in the shape of a champagne bottle. This was Rachel’s second 10k event since joining the club’s beginners group in lockdown this year and she said she appreciated the encouragement given from the fellow Mighty Greens.

Yasmin

Newly qualified Leader in Running Fitness, Yasmin Salter, gave her Hospice UK charity marathon vest a test run and used the Caper as part of her marathon training. With four weeks to go Yasmin ran 6 laps, a total of 19.8 miles in 3:26:01.

Antony with prize

Antony Hall’s pre-run preparations the night before certainly paid off. The Mighty Green said, “On Saturday I lined up for the start of the Celebration Caper. Having got off to my usual too fast start I settled down from the second lap into a steady pace taking 2 laps at a time to get through the heat of the day! Finally the fatigue and cramps got too much on the 13th lap and I finished at that, covering just over 43 miles in the time, and picking up 2nd place! It was a really great event with fantastic marshals and friendly runners; I will be back next year to see if I can reach the magic 50 miles!”Knowing Antony he will!

Jane and Jack

Representing Sidmouth Running Club on Sunday at the Bridgwater Half Marathon were Jack Wilson and Jane Stein neither of them having run this distance before! Jack, who has only been running for just under a year, chose the Bridgwater Half Marathon as it was relatively flat, chip timed and in support of Cancer Research UK. Jack was thrilled with his time 1:47:00 and showed his support to fellow MG Jane by running back to encourage her over the finish line of which she was very grateful. Jane was very happy with her time of 2:18:00. Will a marathon be their next goal?

Celebrations As Landmarks Reached For Sidmouth Running Club Members

Saturday saw Mighty Green Jo Earlam complete her 80^th marathon at the Plym Valley Trail event organised by First and Last Running.

Jo and marathon #80

Jo ran with fellow MG Jane Hemsworth, who has completed 29 marathons, and completed the course in 5:36:00. The ladies were pleased with their time as they had walked the last couple of miles to accompany a runner who had fallen; their club spirit shining through.

Jane and Jo

Julia Haddrell was all smiles as she crossed the finish line at Seaton Park Run for the 100^th time on Saturday despite the rain. Julia said she appreciated all the shouts of encouragement from the other SRC members taking part on Saturday. We will have to wait and see if she buys the landmark t-shirt!

Julia and Parkrun #100

The club’s organisers of JP’s Exe to Axe race also reached a landmark this week; the 200^th entrant to ‘An adventure 22 miles in the making!’ Paul Mitchell, David Lee and Rob Edwards have been hard at work planning the club’s biggest fundraiser which had to be cancelled last year. A couple of changes include using chip timing and having an open start time between 9am and 10.10am. Paul said,” Entries have been received from the length and breadth of the country with the furthest entrant being in the Canary Islands!”

There is still time to enter this scenic, challenging trail run along the coastal path from Exmouth to Seaton. Please visit www.sidmouthrunningclub.co.uk for further details.

All Smiles At The Sidmouth 10k

It is not often you can walk to a race from home but thanks to Lizzie from LME events, 41 SRC members enjoyed the close proximity of the Sidmouth 10k which took place from Sidford on Sunday.

MGs out in force

The popular race takes you down through the Byes, up Salcombe Hill Road, down Cliff Road and Beatlands, along the seafront and back again. Not quite as flat as you might think but an advantage to being a MG is we can train up and down the hill so we get the measure of it. Another advantage is the support you get from your fellow runners; a well done and a smile spurs you on and there were many of those as we passed each other.

Antony at the start

Antony Hall and John Sharples were best in their age groups with Antony coming in 7^th place overall out of 232 finishers.

Special mention must go to all the fantastic friendly marshals (many of them club members or relations of) who cheered the runners on, to Emma Donovan and 1^st Sidmouth Guides for manning the water station on the seafront and to Lizzie and her team for organising the event.

Sidmouth 10km results 7^th November 2021

Antony Hall 7^th 42:08, Niall Hawkins 43:47, Jack Wilson 45:55, Colin I’Anson 47:30, Ross Walton 48:43, Jamie Locke 50:27, Tim Swarbrick 51:11, Clive Gilbert 51:15, Pete Norman 51:17, Yasmin Salter 52:22, Kyle Baker 52:44, Chris Heywood 52:57, Rob Edwards 53:04, Allan Kay 53:26, Tim Clay 54:38, Christine Farnham 54:52, Becky McDonald 54:57, Karen Farnham 55:26, Susan Reeve 55:29, Suzi Rockey 57:10, Jane Hemsworth 57:53, Cheryl Boulton 58:20, Cameron Baker 58:46, Christie Ward 1:01:27, John Sharples 1:01:28, Kerry Salter 1:01:54, Judith Jeeves 1:03:55, Naomi Loosemore 1:03:45, Lee-Ann Thomson 1:03:55, Kathy Jordan 1:03:58, Helen Akay 1:03:59, Gail Goldsmith 1:05:12, Alexa Baker 1:05:18, David Welsh 1:05:44, Amelia Frankpitt 1:10:37, Beccy Johnson 1:12:57, Jennifer Benattar 1:15:01, Julia Haddrell 1:15:03, Helen Neighbour 1:18:46, Tracy Scannell 1:22:59, Terry Bewes 1:22:59.

Mighty Green David Knapman Earns Himself A London Marathon Championship Start

Sidmouth Running Club members Jo Earlam and David Knapman ran the Exeter Marathon on Sunday and at one point briefly ran together before David crossed the line and Jo had another lap to run. In fact David finished in second place in an unbelievable time of 2:35:27, just 8 seconds behind the winner! Not only has he smashed the club record by more than 5 minutes, the Mighty Green earned himself a championship start in the London Marathon.

David after his great run

David has recently moved to Sidbury after spending the last couple of years in France where he rediscovered his love of running during the lockdowns. He was super happy to find that Sidmouth is home to a very active and welcoming running club. The Mighty Green said, “I’ve been training for Exeter Marathon for the past 10 weeks partly in France and latterly here in Devon with lots of back and forth along East Hill Strips interspersed with the Monday and Wednesday night club runs. We were lucky with the weather, 10c and lighter winds than forecast on Sunday and I managed to keep a steady pace throughout the two-lap course around Exeter Quay – a bit twisty and turn-y in places, but otherwise flat and fast. I am extremely pleased with my result and look forward to wearing my MG shirt in the London Marathon next year.”

Jo & marathon #85

For Jo this was her fifth marathon in four weeks, number 85 and she was delighted with her time of 5:18.00 as it was her best in 3 years and the last 20 marathons.

Gold In Them There Mountains For SRC’s Kirsteen Welch

Mighty Green Kirsteen Welch had the honour of representing England on Sunday swapping the coastal paths of Sidmouth for the mountains of Italy and she smashed it! Chosen by England Athletics to join the England team to run in the World Mountain Association Nations Cup, Kirsteen was delighted to come in 10th female place helping England to a team gold!

Team Gold

An elated Kirsteen said, “I loved this race so much, the hills were torture but the downhills were so much fun and super quick.

Kirsteen in action

Every second of the trip has been enjoyable thanks to fellow team mates and the EA team support. I am going to build on this for the World Mountain Running Championships.”

Jane, Jo & Bob(?)

Closer to home Jo Earlam and Jane Hemsworth had a great day out at the Grand Canal Canter organised by Winding Paths entering into the Halloween spirit by carrying around ‘Bob’ the skeleton as he had ‘no body to run with’! The ladies completed the out and back twice route between Tiverton and Sampford Perverell along the Grand Western Canal just inside the 6 hour cut off time, making it Jo’s 84th marathon and Jane’s 31st!

Scary Halloween on the seafront

An impromptu Halloween fun run was had by a group of Mighty Greens who don’t like to miss an occasion to dress up and run on Saturday morning. It was more fun than run as they kept getting stopped for photos!

Mighty Green swimmers

Twenty three SRC members swapped trainers for flippers on Saturday evening to represent the club in the Rotary Club of Sidmouth’s Swimathon. Chairman Terry Bewes said, “What a brilliant job all the teams did. The Elite Team swam 140 lengths, swam 108 lengths and the juniors swam 112 lengths. A special mention goes to the juniors who were outstanding in showing what a team sport is all about. For 55 minutes they swam, cheered and encouraged each other and in Blues restaurant afterwards were so well behaved a privilege to have them in the club.”

Hot! Hot! Hot! Haytor Heller

On Saturday 17^th July Antony Hall was questioning why he had signed up to run the Haytor Heller on possibly the hottest day of the month so far! Organised by Teignbridge Trotters to celebrate their 35^th anniversary the hilly, rugged terrain certainly put the Mighty Green to the test. The 5.30pm start didn’t bring cooler temperatures but Antony completed the 10k course in 00:54:12, 30 seconds behind the first woman home in an impressive 25^th place out of a field of 240 entrants.

Antony at Haytor

Antony said, “It was by far the hottest run I have had since the London Marathon in 2018!”

Hosepipes Cool Kirsteen As She Blazes Ahead!

Kirsteen Welsh has done it again setting a new woman’s course record at the Frome Half Marathon on Sunday!

Despite the temperature hitting 29^oc and the hilly first half, Kirsteen was the first lady over the finish line, 6^th overall and completed the course in 1:21:13, smashing the existing woman’s course record.

Kirsteen at Frome

The Mighty Green said, ”The residents of Frome were legends, they came out to cheer the runners on and cooled them down by spraying us with hose pipes!”

Dolphins And Puffins (Medals) Make A Hot Half Marathon Worthwhile

Further afield on Sunday Tom Knight, Debbie and Don Cawthera ran the Lundy Island half marathon. Deb said, “It was the hottest, slowest half marathon I have ever done!”. Debbie and Don completed it in 3:25:15.

Don and Debbie

Meanwhile Tom put in a good run in the 30 deg heat, coming in 3rd place in 2:10:52!

Tom at Lundy 1/2M

The Mighty Greens saw dolphins on the way back and received a lovely Puffin medal which made the event very memorable.

What A Way To Celebrate Being 50!

Also on Saturday 10th July representing Sidmouth Running Club in the Exe Estuary 50k, Marathon, Half Marathon-Summer were Allan Kay, Adrian ‘Gripper’ Horne, Niall Hawkins and Sarah Ginsberg.

The race organised by Winding Paths starts in Budleigh Salterton, continues along the SW coast path to Exmouth (where those running the half marathon turn around), and along the Exe Estuary Trail to Topsham (the return point for the 50k).

Sarah

Half marathon runners, Niall and Sarah, both agreed that the return along Exmouth seafront was tough but despite mud, rain, sun and hitting a wall (not literally) at mile 8, Niall had an incredible run taking second place in 1:53:53 and Sarah, who had her granddaughter Olive cheering her on, finished in 2:14:54, fourteenth place in a field of 84 runners.

Niall

Mighty Green Adrian finally achieved his goal to run 50k in his fiftieth year, and the race postponement due to Covid meant he got to run it with his son, Ollie and MG Allan.

Ollie, Allan, Adrian

Despite the wet start, the trio enjoyed the picturesque route and were encouraged along the way by family and friends. They finished together, rather fittingly, in joint 50^th place in 6:57:08.

Medals

A special mention must go to former SRC member, Jess Raynor, who was 1^st woman home, 6^th overall in 4:50:12. Congratulations to you all.