The Grizzly weekend started with the Grizfest, the largest one yet, on Saturday afternoon and Sidmouth Running Club Juniors were there to enjoy it.
The 4k junior grizzly took place first, 2 laps of the course which meant two stretches on the pebbles. The Mighty Green juniors took it all in their stride, with family and club leaders cheering them on. Lucas Withecombe finished in 12th position in 17:06, with Jude Carson close behind in 15th position in 17:20. Marcus Wieffer finished in 18:01, Wilf Mann 20:35, Emily Smith 21:03. All received a medal and a free drink.
Next up the 2k junior cub and we had 3 runners representing the club, Reuben Peters, Jasper Peters and Seth Box amongst the masses; the barriers had to be stretched out to make room for them all. All three ran well and despite the misty, moist conditions, enjoyed the atmosphere, medal and drink too.
There was no change in the weather on Sunday and the Grizzly runners were warned not to get lost on top of Beer Head. There was one benefit though, you couldn’t see the hills until you were on them!
Twenty Mighty Greens took part in the 9 mile Cub run, turning back at Branscombe whilst fifteen ran the full Grizzly continuing on to do a 10 mile loop around Branscombe complete with bogs, steep hilly climbs and water crossings. Alison Williams was the first SRC female to finish the cub in 178th place in 1:50:43 and Don Cawthera the first male MG to finish in 1:53:26. Richard Summerhayes was the first SRC male to finish the Grizzly in 76th place in 2:58:21 and Tania Peters the first SRC female in 3:48:55.
Sidmouth Running Club would like to thank Axe Valley Runners who organise this enormous event and to the many friendly, encouraging marshals who spent many hours out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by mist.
