Author Archives: WebEd

Black Down Beauty Sign up

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The wait is over…!!  –  Sign up Now

The Blackdown Beauty entry form is available on the Honiton Running Club website. There are only 200 so don’t hang about they will soon go.

This social run takes place on Saturday 25th June and covers various routes between 10.5 and 18 miles over the Blackdown Hills, via 4 pubs (18 mile) a legendary cream tea by the Smeatharpe WI and back to the start for more food and drink, and the cost is only £10. May be one for you Nigel Donk Maeer as you like breaking records. The record for the most scones,cream and jam eaten by one person stands at 11, but beware they are WI size scones and there is still 6 to 7 miles left to run afterwards. See you all there.

See Event Details Here

Grizzly Challenge 2016

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Renowned as one of the toughest going, that take in shingle beaches three times, river runs twice, hills many, muddy woodland trails, no make that very wet and muddy, flint paths, fields, and not forgetting the two bogs and the famous Stairway to Heaven.

A race that sold out 2000 places in a matters of hours back in September and is greatly oversubscribed, attracts runners from all over Europe.

Well, what you can say about is done with one single word – fantastic!

Fantastic organisation by Axe Valley Runners, start by the Town Cryer, route, views, marshals, supporters all around the course, entertainers, water and food stations, competitors and the fantastic 21 Sidmouth Running Club members resplendent in their Mighty Green Club shirts who took on the challenge.

Of the 1408 that started the main race 1402 finished, with the Club having 5 runners in the top 500. Danny Painter 142nd in 3:02:19, Joe Kent 259 in 3:18:08, Mark Welland 274 in 3:20:17, Naomi Garrick 325 in 3:25:16, Kerry Boyle 472 in 3:25:16. Sue Baily was next in 3:49:47

Mother and Daughter duo Lynda and Kaylee Hawkins challenged each other around the course finishing in a very respectable time of 4:08:21 closely followed by father and daughter David and Abbi Lee in 4:19:54.

Abbi had entered her father into this and he was not going to be shown up by her so he had been putting in many hours of hard training which had paid of not only in the time but by dragging her home over the last few miles.

The Rusty Runners, Helen Palmer, Cathy Keast, Moncia Read, Terry Bewes and new recruit Katie Kent set out to beat last years’ time of five hours and 12 seconds and smash it in a time of 4:37:55.

The final runner was David Wright in 4:46:28 and when you take consider that his longest run before was 13 miles that was an excellent achievement.

Rocker Sheppard took the ambulance to the finish when an injury got the better of him at Seaton Hole.

We had four runners in the Cub Run Suzi Rockey 1:48:55, Sarah Burston 2:08:43, Mark Burston 2:08:43, Rebecca Colwill 2:13:03.

A feature of this race is the tree of remembrance and Helen Palmer tied the memorial ribbon she had made out of club Colours on behalf of the whole club in memory of John Parrett.

A fitting tribute and his fabulous commentary was missed by all.

http://www.sidmouthherald.co.uk/sport_2_1392/athletics/sidmouth_runners_rise_to_the_challenge_of_the_2016_grizzly_1_4458494

 

Blackdown Beast 2016

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Saturday morning saw 9 Sidmouth Running Club members attending the pre-run briefing at the Highfield Club, Dunkeswell ready for the start of this very popular run. I say run as it is not a race. Falling between the pre and post-Christmas races this is a 17 mile self-navigation social run over the beautiful Blackdown Hills. We were promised plenty of mud, bog and hills and there were plenty of each.

The run is split into 4 legs, the first about 7 miles takes you through fields, lanes, woods, farm yards and a proper bog to Smeatharpe Village Hall where the W.I. ladies had hot pasties and mulled cider waiting. The next leg of about 3 miles and the easiest takes you to the Sidmouth Arms at Upottery where more liquid refreshment is available. You have the opportunity of finishing here and taking a bus back to the start but for the hardened Sidmouth runners that was never an option.

Leg 3 is only about 3.5miles but very tough. After a road run to Rawridge you then plough your way across two very boggy fields before starting a mile plus climb up to and through the Buddhist Monastery woodland which now has a lake, to the top of the ridge where you are rewarded with a fantastic 180 degree panoramic view before dropping down into Luppit. Arriving at the unique Luppit Inn which is one of the smallest Inns in the country you are greeted by Gladys the Landlady who will tell you “I am 93 you know”, but I am sure she was 93 last year as well, a great character.

The final leg takes you through a series of boggy fields and a few more hills to finish you off. Arriving back at the Club, tired, muddy and wet we all agreed to return next year.

As I said at the start this is a social run but of course there is always the competitive runner amongst us. Normally this would be George but this year it was Jessica Raynor who finished 4th out of the 180 runners in under 3 hours and was the first lady home. She was back home in Sidmouth and had a bath by the time the true social runners finished some 2 hours later.

A superbly organised event by Honiton Running Club and over a £1,000 raised for charity.

Devon Cross Country Championship

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Five junior members of Sidmouth Running Club made it through to the final held at Stover School, Newton Abbot last Saturday and all came away with exceptional results of which they should be proud, competing against schools from all over Devon. There were around 400 competitors over the various races. It was an achievement in itself that they all made it to the final having to go through the qualifying races at School, East Devon, then Exeter and East Devon.

It was a tough course which claimed several victims due to the muddy, slippery conditions

Toby Garrick year 10 competing against year 11 came 6th.

Katie Marriot year 8 came 13th beating many who had beaten her in the qualifying heats.

Ollie Beech year 6 competing against year 7 came 9th

Jo Ashby year 7 came 21st

Molly Garrick year 7 came 24th

Toby and Ollie will now represent Devon at the South West Schools competition in Cheltenham in February.

Sidmouth Running Club congratulates them all.

Fulfords 5 2016

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On Sunday, 6 Sidmouth runners who weren’t quite as mad as those doing the four trigs braved the elements to get to the Fulfords Five in Exmouth. Luckily, there was a break in the weather and the two-lap course allowed runners to experience beautiful sea views and a dry but sandy course. Rob Edwards was the first man home for Sidmouth in an impressive time of 38:36, followed closely by Brendan Shepherd.

There was then a bit of a wait before Colin Flood and Sarah Brown crossed the line within 10 seconds of each other, just after 44 minutes. John Doherty had a good run to finish in around 45 minutes, and on her club debut, Suzi Rockey broke her own personal target of 50 minutes by a considerable amount! Mick Allen wasn’t far behind, and Bill Valentine was the last of the Sidmouth runners home, also beating his own target by 6 minutes. The race was held at the perfect time to avoid the rain, but all runners now have a beanie hat as a momento for the rest of the bad weather.