Bicton Blister 2019

 

 

 

 

 

The Muddiest Bicton Blister Ever (in memory of Dave Eveleigh)

A fantastic turnout on Sunday the 24th of November with 43 SRC members taking part in the muddiest Bicton Blister ever writes Hamish Spence.

Despite the rain deluge that the West Country has received over the last weeks if not months, it held off for the duration of this event. Before the race began, organisers Exmouth Harriers read out the pre-race instructions. This included take care not to trip on the tree roots or the oversized rounded flints and to follow the coloured tape around which ever course was relevant, be it the Blister or the Lite. Then came a statement on the state of these routes set by the diligent and encouraging Marshalls. It read that there were no hills, no puddles, and absolutely no mud to wade through this year. The statement continued that the Pebble-bed Heathland of Woodbury Common an AONB was fairly dry and easy going underfoot…..They lied! This years Bicton Blister and Blister Lite was in honour of Dave Eveleigh, a member of the Exmouth Harriers and out of respect to him the race was started one minute early. All 539 runners from both races started together.

   In the 10 mile Blister Anthony Hall made a very speedy get away and led the Mighty Green team all the way around with an average pace of 7:06min/miles. He took 19th place in 1h11m06s. Richard Hayes followed suit with Anthony and made very good time coming in 40th place in 1h16m44s. Colin L’Anson had a real blast and was very happy to get back in 1h29m25s coming in 123rd. However, Colin wondered where everyone had got too! He’d seen everyone at the photo before the start, but that was the last he saw!-No mighty green near him at the start, no Mighty Green passed him (normal) and he passed none (not normal). He spotted one MG in the form of Sam Ingram who vanish onto the 5K course. Colin, I’m told (obviously I can’t confirm this) it’s lonely at or near the front, ask Anthony he will understand. John Keast blazed a trail heading out quickly and maintained a steady pace to take 127th place in 1h29m54s.

   Kyle Baker, Hamish Spence (Me), Allen Kay and Adrian Horne started this event together. As we started to warm up, our pace quickened and all four of us began to overtake other competitors. This continued all the way to the first proper down-hill section which headed into the narrower, steep and slippery track through the woodland. This is where I made a break for it with Kyle following suit. The track was very muddy with some deep puddles to navigate. At one point I went nearly waist deep, but still I managed to pass others. Kyle got stuck behind those that had chosen to take the sludge route so had to fight the thick, sticky mud to keep his shoes on. Both Kyle and myself were catching up with Stuart Coles and Catherine Hilton. Kyle overtook me two miles before the watering point and then passed Catherine and that was the last I saw of him. Finally, after three more miles I finally overtook Catherine Hilton. Meanwhile, both Allan Kay and Adrian Horne continued to run together for most of the race, helping each other along and controlling their pace. Kyle Baker came in 156th in 11h33m11s just before Stuart Coles 1in157th, with Hamish Spence (me) taking 178th in 1h37m30s and Catherine Hilton 179th in 1h37m39s. Allan Kay 1h42m28s in 212th place.

Then came Sarah Clapham 214th in 1h42m32s, Deb Marriott 217th in1h42m39s with Don Cawthera crossing the line in 218th in 1h42m49s. Karen and Christine Farnham made a steady get away from the start line, keeping to a modest pace all the way around. They navigated the mud with care enjoying the perfect air temperature and zero wind resistance. This time Karen allowed her sister Christine to lead the way and held onto her shirt tails. Both of them showed the spectators how a Mighty Green finishes a race with a burst of speed specially saved for the last one hundred yards. Christine came 225th in 1h43m32 and Karen 226th in 1h43m34s. Both ladies had just passed Adrian Horne who said at the finish that he “felt a real sense of achievement having waded through the mud”. He arrived back in 229th, 1h43m40s. Next over the line was Graham Sheppard 257th in 1h47m35s with Sarah Ginsberg 270th in 1h50m32s. Emma Vine completing it in 1h50m46s closely followed by Michael Ginsberg 276th in1h5103s.

Cathy Keast 277th, Richard King 278th both with a time of 1h51m14s, Cath Miller 279th 1h51m15s and Monica Read 280th in 1h15m16s. All four ran together for the duration. Next to finish was Els Laures in 1h52m27s, 287th place and Dave Wright coming 298th in 1h54m25s. Jennifer Bentley was not far behind taking the 301st slot in 1h54m59s and Cathy Kelly was just 6 seconds short of passing the post with a sub 2 hour finish laying claim to the 319th place.

Milly Frankpitt, and Terry Bewes ran with Helen Palmer and Lesley Hook for the first few miles along with Sarah Watkins and Paul Williamson. They warmed up steadily giving each other lots of encouragement. On entering the first woodlands Terry had the words of George Chalstrey ringing in his ears, “if this was a race Terry you would be up through the middle”. This meant when it comes to water or mud you try to find a way around it rather than through it. So, with Milly following, all six of them went right down the middle, sometimes in mud halfway up to their knees, but all passed many runners this way. Milly and Terry slowly but surely left the other four behind and took it in turns to be the pace setter. They made a great team and managed to increase their lead on the other four by nearly fourteen minutes. Milly took 325th and Terry 326th in 2h01m27s. Then came Sarah 366th in 2h14m40s, Lesley367th, Helen368th and Paul 369th in 2h14m41s, the last of the MG Blisterers to cross the finish line and they did it together, all holding hands and very happy to be finished.

 

The Bicton Lite.

Taking part in the 5 mile Bicton Lite were ten MG’s with Kate Marriott leading the way and taking 1st SRC runner in 41m21s and 7th over all. Hot on her heels was Sam Ingram 10th in 42m34s and Sue Collman 46m29s in 25th place. Becky McDonald came 31st in 47m35s and Derek Blackburn arrived back in 49m35s taking 32nd place. Kerry Salter 58th, 53m23s and then crossing the line was Jodie Hawkins in 54m16s, 62nd over all. For some reason best and solely known to herself,  Emma Grainger had cleaned her running shoes prior to the race, she also chose to put on white socks!? It’s fair to say that said socks will never be white again. No, they really won’t, not ever. She also discovered that plunging straight into the (in places) knee deep mud, was curiously satisfying compared to the teetering around on the slippery edges. Her time was 57m33s finishing 75th. Next was Julia Haddrell coming in just before the hour marker in 59m30s taking 85th. Our one and only Parkrun Alphabet collector David Skinner, took 117th place. There were 142 runners competing in the Lite.

Both events were great to take part in and were very well organised. All runners from SRC conveyed their thanks and as always after finishing, members of the SRC headed to the finish line to cheer on the rest or the club as they in turn arrived back. This illustrates what a great club it is and what a friendly and supportive bunch of people we have.

 

Bradley 10k

The Exmouth Bradley 10k
Prior to the storm on the Saturday night 634 competitors had entered themselves into The Exmouth Bradley 10k race. However, 137 cried off, leaving 497 to brave out the bluster and rain, 7 of which were weather-proof Mighty Greens. By the morning the weather had cleared a bit, with only a moderate breeze and light drizzle which passed by the start of the race. So the Magnificent 7 ran it in either a Mighty Green tee-shirt or vest.
This is a two lap race starting on the Exmouth Promenade which heads out along the sea front and onto part of the beach passing the RLNI all the way to the zig-zag steps. Then back to the Lifeboat station and up to Maer Rd and onto Douglas Avenue and back down to the seafront where the competitors turn and do one more lap.
The first MG across the finish line and in 191st place was Becky McDonald with a new PB of 54m:08s. Suzi Rocky is continuing to improve on her performance with a very steady run crossing the line in 58m:05s and taking 248th position. Having recently joined SRC, Jasmine Reeves ran her first race in the Mighty Green colours. She did herself and SRC proud. She came 266th and ran the route in a very respectable 58h:33m. Amelia Frankpitt used this race as her final warm up before the Exeter Half Marathon in two weeks’ time. She come in at 1h00m51s taking 298th place. Just after Amelia was Rachel Burrow, who ran a steady pace all the way around and got an impressive time of 1h01m38s in315th place.
Having participated in some off road trail races in September, this was the first road race Terry Bewes had entered. The Exmouth Bradley 10k was to test out how his recovery was going. All was going to plan for Terry. As he began the 2nd lap, he could see the lead runner entering the last hundred yards to the finish line. Undeterred he powered on along the sea front again, overtaking a few runners. Then, halfway around and going up the hill for the last time, he caught up with a lady and got talking to her. She too was recovering from an operation, so they decided to run the final mile together giving encouragement to each other. This really paid off, as they both passed many runners and stormed their way to the finish line. Terry had set his sights on an 11 minute-mile pace, so he was very pleased to find he had in-fact been achieving a better than 10min/mile. This defiantly shows that it pays to have a running buddy. Terry gained the 313th place in 01h01m35s. His next race will be the Minster Challenge which will test him further over a longer distance.
It was a busy few days for David Skinner ,who also took part in the Parkrun on Saturday. So, with the stormy conditions during this 10k event in Exmouth and the fact that he is still not fully recovered from a recent illness, it was never going to be easy for him. However, he still managed a time of 1h10m05s, just 6 minutes slower than last year. David was pleased with his performance having covered15k over the weekend and feels that he’s gradually getting back to his normal form.

Ultra Marathon

Ham and Lyme 100k/50k Ultra Marathon

Sidmouth Running Club members Sarah Watkins (who did the 50km version) and Jessica Raynor and Danny Painter, were in action at the Ham and Lyme 100 Ultra.
This ultra marathon is follows the stunning Liberty Trail, between Lyme Regis and Ham Hill Country Park in Somerset for the 50km and then back for the 100km.
The competitors for the 100km set off from Lyme at 7am, the 50km runners from Ham Hill at 9:30.
In temperatures reaching in excess of 30 degrees in the middle of the day, it made running extremely uncomfortable, so it was soon realised, that any plans for personal bests on the time keeping front, would have to be revised back to survival mode for the duration.
Keeping the brain awake for map reading in the heat was a task in its self! However, thanks to the food stations being fantastic, the Red Arrows being in the neighbourhood and stunning views the miles were covered and the race completed.
Danny finished a splendid seventh in 13:20:30 while Jessica was eighth in 13:34:57 and second lady across the finish line.
Sarah Watkins arrived at the finish line in 7:44:08 giving her an over all position of 113th.