This year’s Sidmouth Four Trigs saw 129 adventurous runners undertake the muddy peaks around the town. The self-navigated route typically takes in the 4 local trig (triangulation) points around the Otter Valley – namely High Peak, Fire Beacon, Buckton Trig and Weston Trig.
This year, however, after the 38 continuous days of rain before the event, the decision was made to avoid the quite treacherous muddy section from Weston Trig to Sidmouth. Instead, the game 129 entrants took on a revised 3 Trigs route instead, but still completing 13.2 miles with 2400 feet of elevation.
First male runner home was Sam Kelly of Exmouth Harriers, completing the hilly half-marathon in an impressive 1:31:43 hrs. Lucy Cartwright, of Exeter Triathlon Club, was the first female in a speedy 2:09:12hrs, “It was my first year doing the race and I loved it – it was muddy, wet and trail running at its best.”
An added fun twist to this year’s event was the introduction of selfie frames around the course for runners to strike a pose and record their muddy adventures. Jenny White of Purbeck Runners fully embraced the selfie challenge, “there were some super-fast fell runners at the start and it was great to see them legging it up the hills while we plodded on. This is my 4th year running this event, and this year we were also spurred on by the chance of winning a prize in the new selfie competition.”
Amazingly the rain held off during the run, but the conditions underfoot needed runners to concentrate the duration of all 13.2 miles. Richard Thomson, West Hill Running Club, commented that the Four Trigs “is always a highlight of the local running calendar and this year was no exception, despite the mud and challenging conditions. I channelled my inner winter Olympian and slid down several hills – this year it was sometimes harder coming downhill than going back up!”
Many members of Sidmouth running club supported the event either running or marshalling. Richard Summerhayes was the first male Mighty Green to finish in 1:58:27 in 11th place and Amanda Stokes the first female Mighty Green to finish in 2:39:43. Roger Worthington finished in 47th place in 2:27:00 and it was good to see the other SRC runners pair/group up and enjoy the challenge together. Sponsor and SRC member Richard King of Kings Garden and and Leisure had a lot of fun with the selfie frame, capturing the spirit of the event. Everyone received a medal on return, and the baked potatoes and plentiful cake were enjoyed by all.
With all profits going to the charity CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young), Race Director David Wright was confident that “we should exceed £3k for CRY from Sunday’s event. The amazing generosity of runners, volunteers and our sponsors will go a long way to funding a day of heart screening for young people in East Devon”.
Next year’s Four Trigs will be on Sunday 7th February 2027.
Further in land Bob Huntington was the only SRC runner amidst the 367 taking part in the Exeter Half marathon organised by City Community Trust. Bob’s London marathon training is going extremely well and he finished in 2:05:55, 249th overall, third in his age category and a PB to boot!