Alan Kay took his mighty green t-shirt to Santorini,Kamari
Author Archives: sidmouthsrc
4/5 mile group
On Wednesday 08/05/19 the 4/5 mile group was led by Tim Clay.
Monday Night Runners
On Monday Night, the runners (and their dogs) enjoyed a lovely run from Tipton St. John.
Bristol Half and 10k
Julia Haddrell and Jodie Hawkins Ran 10k in Bristol this weekend. Their times were 1:13:40(Julia) and 57:57 (Jodie)
The East Devon Round Ultramarathon
On Saturday the 4th of May, five SRC members took on a 100km Ultramarathon, the East Devon Round. This is a very tough race taking the runners through many beauty spots and two AONB’s, it has over 8,700 feet of elevation gain. The runners set off from Offwell, head through Honiton and up into the hills towards Beacon, Luppitt and Dunkerswell. Then there are a few miles of woodland paths and then some ridge running up onto East Hill giving great views across the Otter Valley. They then headed down to Sidbury, Colyton and Seaton for a Jurassic Coastline run to Lyme Regis. From Lyme it was an uphill slog to Raymonds Hill and Axminster and then a very hilly zig-zag run back to Offwell.
Jess Watkins and David Wright both completed the half ultra EDR. Jess treated this event as a training season for her next ultra and managed to be the 2nd lady across the line in 5h26m only missing first place by 12 minutes. David, however did not feel in shape to do this epic race, but decided to give it a go. He took it at his own pace by walking the hilly parts and taking full advantage of the refreshments at the check points. He also stumbled upon an ice cream van and re-kindled his love of ice-pops helping him to a cool finishing time of 9h33m. Carine Silver continued on to check point 7. Jim Forrer and Ross Walton egged each other on for the full route taking joint 14th position in 15h37m.
New PB for Derek Blackburn in Australia
Derek Blackburn managed to set a new PB of 25mins 48secs at the Parkville Parkrun, Australia.
London Marathon 2019
London Marathon 2019.
There were two current members and one ex member of SRC taking part in the 2019 London Marathon. Justin Ashby and Emma Cudd and (ex member) Hollie Robson.
Hollie who used to be a member of SRC, has on many occasions watched her Mum Becky run in the London Marathon. This year however, it was Hollies turn to give it a go. This was her first time and she ran a very consistent race, gaining a very respectable 4h00m26s time. Also a first London Marathon for Emma Cudd, who had a good race and kept up a steady 9.41 minute mile completing the route in 4h21m.
Justin Ashby achieved the 2h45m qualifying time from his last London marathon in 2017. This earned him a Championship place for this year. It gave him the privilege of assembling in a pen with it’s own marquee and loos with a warm-up area adjacent to the elites’ zone. So. with just a barrier separating him from Mo Farrah et al, it gave him inspiration to race hard.
A few minutes before the start time, Justin’s group were ushered forward to just a few rows back from the elite runners. With noise levels rising in anticipation, many runners started ditching their last layers of clothes and were stripping down to their vests. As the seconds counted down, Justin had a huge adrenalin surge and then he was off. A point worth noting, the last runners of the London Marathon crossed the start line up to 1 hour after the elite race starts. In Justin’s case, he was over the start line a mere 10 seconds after the elites got going!
Justin’s last three marathons have been based on the tactic of holding back on the outward half and running the 2nd half slightly quicker. This is one recommended way to do it. However, this time he thought he would push things on a bit for the first 15 miles, then try to hang on. And boy, did he hang on. He did not let up and managed to sustain a 2 minute 30 second (ish) gap behind Mo Farrah. It’s amazing how quickly the human body and mind can evolve in the course of a marathon. Justin flew through that first 15 miles feeling brilliant, but by mile 18 he knew that he was going to have to really dig deep.
Digging deep now, he did slow down, but not by much and therein lies the benefit of a lot of hard work in training and preparing mentally for this race. Never underestimate being mentally prepared! Staying positive and mentally strong are key to a good marathon. Justin has learnt a lot about this over the last 10 years, this being his 5th London Marathon. Whilst he wasn’t crawling over the finishing line, he was very pleased to get to the end.
This was Justin’s comment on his marathon tactics, “I think this year, my tactic of racing a swifter first half made it more difficult for me but, overall, it was a successful outcome as I secured a new PB and inched the club record further forward”. This is a record which he has proudly owned since London 2017. So for any other budding Mighty Green runners, you have your target if you think you are fast enough.
He also conveyed his thanks to his support team led by Claire Ashby, who helped him keep on track. It was her idea to get him training on a treadmill though the winter and it proved invaluable for tempo training and improving his cadence and form.
Justin secured an overall time of 2h40m59s with his outward half being 1h19m24s and returning half 1h21m35s. His average pace was 6:08 minute miles. At the moment Justin is not looking for reasons to go back and do this all again. However, next year he would enter the M50-54 age category and if he ran the same time again, he could become a Top 10 age-grouper.
The Exmouth Half and 10k
LMEvents Clinic Maer Exmouth Half Marathon.
The LMEvents Clinic Exmouth Half Marathon and 10k are multi-terrain races both of which start and finish on the Exmouth seafront The running conditions were dry underfoot with a cool light wind. The race started at 10amon the Exmouth seafront and headed out towards the RNLI station onto Orcombe Point and back along Queens drive to Maer Lane for the first hill climb. The runners continued up Maer Lane onto and along Douglas Avenue until Littleham. At this point the Half Marathon runners continue on to Knowle and the 10k split off along Littleham Rd and head back down Maer Lane to the finish line on the Seafront. Meanwhile the Half Marathoners winged their way over to Kersbrook and Budliegh where they turned back along the coastal path for the trail part of the race back to Exmouth.
With dry conditions under foot on the trail sections, Antony Hall was pleased he chose his road shoes to run in. Getting stuck into this race early on paid off and he had an average pace of 6.57 minute miles. Having held a good position from the start, he knew it was going to be tough as he turned back to join the coastal path. With the hills he knew he had to dig deep, with the cold headwind he had to dig deeper. His efforts paid off as he secured a position of 7th overall, second in age group and 1st MG over the line with a time of 1h31m41s. Also taking part and not far behind were Shaun Bagwell in 1h45m36s and Paul Kay in 2h03m29s. There were 202 half marathon finishers.
Taking part in the 10k was Terry Bewes, Rocker Shepperd, Laura Broughton and Becky McDonald. Rocker hit the go fast button, romping around the route and taking the first SRC runner position in 53m06s, freeing him up to encourage the other MG’s over the line. Laura saved her best for last getting faster as she got passed the halfway point. She reached a good 8.41minute mile down Maer Lane and kept up her effort for a sprint along the seafront to cross the finish line in 58m20s. With photo finish evidence of a better than chip time, Becky was robbed! The clock showed 59m54s, but the chip time had her at 1h00m21s. She seemed to have upset the tech equipment on the day, with her Strava tracker letting her down as-well! However, she comes away with one consolation by achieving a PB. Hot on her heals with one second between them was King of the MG’s, Terry. Terry also achieved a first in age group with a cracking time of 1h00m22s. There were 98 finishers in the 10k race.
Wednesday Evening X Country
Sidmouth Running Club is now taking full advantage of the longer evenings by meeting up on Monday and Wednesday evenings in various locations around our area. Last Wednesday with beautiful clear weather the club met at White Cross picnic area, taking full advantage of the views across the Otter Valley, and that was before setting off anywhere. This is a good venue to met up at, as there are many choices of routes. There are pancake flat routes along East Hill Strips or over to Beacon Hill. Then for the more hilly and challenging routes, heading down towards Tipton St John is an option, getting back up the hill tho, that is also an option! Which ever route is taken there are many good views of our rolling Devon countryside.
Jules Minson completes first Parkrun
Having recently achieved the 3 mile beginners route and gained her SRC shirt, Jules Minson completed her first Parkrun around the Seaton circuit. There was plenty of MG support giving her encouragement to make it across the pebble beach.
