Four Sidmouth Running Club members took part in Bradley’s 10k on Sunday and received a free facial to boot! Organised by LM Events, the Mighty Greens found it great going in one direction but really hard going in the other especially as they were getting sandblasted by the strong gusty wind along the seafront route.
Colin Ryan had a cracking run finishing 20th in a field of 158 and first in his age category 55-69 in 44:27. The other Mighty Greens weren’t far behind with Chris Parker finishing in 48:57, Yasmin Salter 51:21 and Nikita Kay 54:56 a new PB.
Further inland but not escaping the wind Sidmouth Running Club was represented by nine adults and three juniors at Honiton Running Club’s Honiton Hippo.
Taking part in the Hippo Calf, 3k event were juniors Catherine Witowski and Amelia Womersley-Westlake along with their mum’s Helen and Donna. Amelia knocked 3.5 minutes off last years’ time finishing in 25.03 and Catherine finished not far behind in 25.08.
New for this year was the 5k Hungry Hippo for 11+ year olds which junior Christopher Witowski entered and completed in 32.23. Both these routes included hills, mud and water which the Hippo itself is renowned for along with 2 river crossings, interesting water features and 1191 feet of elevation.
Focused Grahame Womersley-Westlake ignored the inflatable crocodiles and charged through the water pit to finish in 1:11:00, first male SRC to finish.
Unfortunately, the wind disrupted MG’s Mark Andow and Louise Dalton’s run when the wind broke a cordon in the woods and they ran an extra loop which included a steep hill but this detour didn’t stop Louise being the first female SRC runner to finish in 1:19:00!
Scott Chown knocked an incredible 18 minutes off his previous time and Clare Luke 11 minutes! Clare took time to enjoy the crocodile inflatables with Brigid McEleney-Smith whose crocodile had a tendency to veer right.
The taller runners certainly had the advantage with the final river crossing but everyone embraced the challenge and had Donna and Amelia cheering them on.
Results: Grahame Womersley-Westlake 1:11:00; Mark Andow 1:19:00; Louise Dalton 1:19:00; Scott Chown 1:20:00; Emily Hardingham 1:32:00; Brigid Mc Eleney-Smith 1:39:00; Clare Luke 1:39:00.