The 5 Trigs

The Climb South West East Devon 8/5 Trigs 2021

After completing some long runs earlier in the year, a group of SRC members decided to take on Climb South West’s 5 Trig Challenge. A 21 mile, self navigated, off road run, taking in 5 trig points sitting in a loop around East Devon.
MG Cath Miller said, “After much conversation about whether we had enough food (yes!) Should we wear coats (no!) Had we enough paracetamol and ibuprofen for our various age related aches and pains, we set off for High Peak the first of the five trig points.”
They ran through beautiful East Devon taking in Aylesbeare Common, Woodbury, Black Hill and West Down Beacon trigs, finishing with a spectacular decent into Budleigh, along the seafront to the end where their much longed for medal was waiting for them!

Richard and Allan

In a field of 54 runners, one of the six Mighty Greens who took part in the 5 trigs challenge, Allan Kay said, “It was a great day to be out running as a group from Sidmouth RC in an organised event.” They ran as a group right up to the last trig supporting and motivating each other. Richard King had even gone out and stashed water bottles around the route for them!

Adrian

Allan, who ran the challenge last year with Adrian, found the anti-clockwise route was much better than last year’s clockwise route, the ups and downs gentler and finishing on a downhill along the SW coast path from Budleigh was special for him and Adrian ‘Gripper’ Horne as they used to play there as youngsters.

Helen

The Mighty Greens did the club proud, finishing together, half way in the field of finishers, and in Cath’s words; not bad for a bunch of oldies!

Derek and Niall

Beautiful scenery, happy conversations, local wildlife including a friendly adder were all part of a great day and the beginnings of normality again -all topped off with an icy cider on the beach, thanks Annie!

A well deserved drink

Results

Allan Kay 26th 4.47 hrs

Cath Millar and Richard King joint 28th position 4.50 hrs

Monica Reed 30th 4.51 hrs

Helen Palmer joint 31st position 4.52 hrs

Adrian ‘Gripper’ Horne 34th 4.53 hrs

In other news the Juniors enjoyed their first session back with Tim Daffron on Sunday and Chairman Terry Bewes awarded the ‘Little Miss Chatterbox’ spot prize to Tash Morgan and Clare Pugh who managed to chat all the way around the 3.8 mile run on Woodbury Common last Monday.

Let the races begin

Let The Races Commence – Escot

Not one but two events were ‘running’ last Saturday and Sidmouth Running Club members were in attendance for both.

A smattering of Mighty Greens were amongst the 805 runners who took part in the Tough Runner Exeter Epic 10K race at Escot on Saturday April 17th. MG, Derek Blackburn said, “On a beautifully sunny morning, the undulating course around the Escot estate attracted runners from across the South West. Social distancing was maintained by staggering the start times, so runners ran in waves, starting at 10.00am, with runners crossing the start line in pairs. Once out on the course, there was plenty of room to allow a good distance to be maintained from other athletes. It was a fantastic atmosphere, and most athletes seemed delighted to have the opportunity to be running in an event again.”

For Niall Hawkins, not only was it his first run as a Mighty Green, it was his first trail run and he came in 40th overall, 5th in his age category (40-49) in 44.22 minutes and congratulations go to Kate Marriott who came in first place in the junior female category with a time of 48.23 minutes.

Mighty Greens at Escot

Results

Niall Hawkins – 40th overall, 5th in M40-49 category – 44:22

Kate Marriott – 105, 1st in Junior Female – 48:23

Don Cawthera – 321, 3rd in M60+ category – 56:24

Deb Marriott – 418, 13th in M50-59 category – 59:06

Derek Blackburn – 431, 6th in M60+ category – 59:49

There was a great sense of achievement for Team ‘Sidbury School Run’ who thoroughly enjoyed their 10k debut at Escot. The England Athletic Run Together group was formed by Charlotte Forrer, a run leader at Sidmouth Running Club, to specifically meet the needs of parents of children at Sidbury Primary School.  They meet straight after the morning school run, and a group of parents have been training since September 2020.  Some of these parents had very little running experience and were just looking to increase their fitness.  By mixing up the running with strength and conditioning exercises such as squats and lunges the groups’ fitness increased.  They moved from short road runs to longer trail runs and over lockdown Charlotte organised socially distanced sessions and printed fitness plans for paired runs.

With confidence growing they signed up to run the 10km Exeter Epic Trail Run and dedicated themselves to train for it, even through the long lockdown winter.  On Saturday, six members of the group went with Charlotte to Escot House to complete the 10km run.  Charlotte said,”It was a gorgeous sunny day and the race day atmosphere was very exciting.  We all learnt a lot about how to run a trail race: running through puddles to overtake, making the most of a downhill, finding people to pace yourself against and choosing when to sprint for the finish line.”

Mighty Green congratulations to Johanna Mitchell, Nicole Bates, Nicola Meek and Lucy Ingram who completed the course in just over an hour.

Results

Charlotte Forrer 52:47

Johanna Mitchell 1:01:05

Nicole Bates 1:02:10

Nicola Meek 1:07:31

Katie Harris 1:07:59

Lucy Ingram 1:08:14

Ruth Dale 1:11:39

 

Plym Trail Marathon

Mighty Greens Conquer Plym Trail Marathon

Sidmouth Running Club members Jane Hemsworth and Jo Earlam thoroughly enjoyed participating in their first marathon event in 15 months.

This was Jo’s 77th marathon and she said how great it was to run a proper marathon again. Jane described the event as very relaxed and low key with a maximum of 30 entrants.

Before the start

The ‘out and back twice’ route took the MG’s along the Plym Trail between Cledbrook and Coypool and whilst they felt the early morning chill (1o) at the start line, the sudden rise in temperature took them by surprise and as they crossed the finish line it was a very warm 15o!

Despite this they completed the 26.1 mile route in 5.06 hours and were rewarded with a very nice well deserved medal.

Jo + Jane with their medals

Granddad & Grandson 1/2M

Grandad and Grandson Duo Complete Exe Estuary Virtual Half Marathon

As well as setting the lock down challenges, Sidmouth Running Club chairman Terry Bewes has been completing them himself using them as training towards the Exe Estuary Virtual Half Marathon which he ran last week. When Terry entered the race back in March he had to enter his expected finish time, which as he had been training for it back then put 2:30:00. In reality it wasn’t until the start of the lock down #2 challenges that saw him start training with a six mile run. Using the challenges he planned the flat(ish), circular route which he would run two loops of, this included Harcombe, the Byes, seafront and Bickwell Valley.

With grandson and fellow Mighty Green Kyle Baker joining Terry on the day for the craic they completed the half marathon in 2:37:00, a result they were very happy with; Kyle because he had not been training and had ran an extra 2.5 miles to get to the start and back and Terry because he received another medal for his growing collection.


Terry has an eye for the running bling and has set the next Mighty Green challenge which is as a club to get as many members to enter the Virtual Grand Western Canal 10k Walk and Run for CLIC Sargent and win the team prize. There is a smashing bit of bling for all who complete the run in December so it should be a win/win challenge.

The Battle Of Woodbury Common.

With Storm Ciara moving in on the darkened horizon, the Battle of Woodbury Common 10k and half marathon got underway writes Hamish Spence.
Organisers Something Wild Events, after careful consideration decided that Storm Ciara was far enough away from the Pebblebed Heathland of Woodbury Common, an AONB in Devon… The Battle Of Woodbury Common could go ahead as planned. So, along with121 other competitors, the nine intrepid Mighty Greens (Julia Hadrell, Terry Bewes, Emma Vine, Laura Broughton, Paula Farrand, Bert Dykema, Samantha Dicks, Becky McDonald and Tim Daffron) gathered together and got prepared, putting on their windy, wet-weather gear, adjusting and checking head torches in readiness to take on the battle ahead! (This time Laura remembered to charge her torch sufficiently after her last wild night event ended prematurely with a dead head-torch!)
The route followed the helm of Uphams Plantation and Crook Plantation after exiting Bicton College along the back entrance and onto the lanes. It then skirts Castle Plantation and the half marathon adds on a section through Colaton Raleigh Common towards Hawkerland, similar to the Bicton Blister.
The first 4 miles felt like a very long uphill slog and there was a lot of muddy areas.  Then when reaching the top around Woodbury Fort, the wind really hit the competitors. It was like hitting a brick wall, one step forward and then two steps back!  Fortunately as the path turned, this massive blast of wind started to come in from the side, and then eventually the last mile took the runners downhill and onto a road surface back to the finish. A great, but tough race made more difficult and interesting by the wind speeds and many of the direction arrow signs had blown in the wind, meaning self navigation had to come into play a couple of times. Luckily with the head torches worn by leading runners, the way ahead was lit. Was this the reason the 10k route turned out to be nearer a 12k?
There were some fantastic results for the club, with Tim Daffron doing really well, booking his place as the first MG to finish his battle with the elements in the 12k. He crossed the finish line in 7th place in 50m55s. Becky McDonald had a great race and had pushed herself hard. She stormed her way around the course and arrived back home in a whopping 17 minutes faster than last year’s time, 27th place over-all in 1h01m56s. She was very happy to be the 4th lady back and 1st in her age category. Next to be blown over the line was Laura Broughton, who flew in and also took a personal best time for this event, shaving off 8 minutes to cross the line in 1h08m56s in 40th place.Terry Bewes breezed back in at superb time of 1h16m07s to be 60th over-all. He too, finished three minutes faster than the previous year and gained 2nd in age category (fairly young age category). Paula Farrand blew in at 1h23m06s 68th, with Bert Dykema shortly following just12 seconds later. Julia Haddrell found her second wind just before the finish and managed a sprint over the line to take the 73rd position in a time of 1h2911s. Emma Vine fought her way through the howler finishing with a 40th place in the half marathon and great time of 2h20m44s.

 

 

The Blackdown Beast 2020

Fourteen members of the Sidmouth Running Club ventured out into the beautiful East Devon countryside to take part in The Blackdown Beast on Saturday the 25th of January.
   This very popular event is a very sociable, non timed and self-navigating 10 or 17(ish) very muddy mile run that travels through some of the stunning Blackdown Hills.
   The Mighty Green team members were Jessica Raynor, Sarah Watkins, Paul Williamson, Helen Palmer, Millie Frankpitt, Cathy Keast, Monica Reid, Richard King, Els Laureys, Jane Hemsworth, Simon Hollyer, Richard Summerhayes, Carine Silver and Alan
   They all made their getaway from Dunkerswell at 10:00hrs and headed along 7.6 miles of infrequently used footpaths to Smeatharpe where a reward of a delicious hot pasty and some mulled cider was served up in the village hall. Then it was just a 2.5 mile jog along some lanes and country paths which dropped down into the village of Upottery. It was into the Sidmouth Arms where more sustenance was consumed. The 10 mile option finishes here and so did Millie who opted to jump on the bus back to Dunkerswell and head to Exeter for the rugby…mixed priorities here Milly! The 17 milers continued along the road to Rawridge where they turned right, crossed the river Otter and climbed to the top of the ridge to the viewpoint above Luppitt. Here they enjoyed a non-existent panoramic view of the grey sogginess mascaraing as the surrounding countryside, it was very wet and misty! However, it was just a short soggy 3 mile jaunt to the Luppitt Inn for yet more very welcomed delights that any self-respecting public house would have on offer. Lastly a 2 mile section, cross-country over the Luppitt Common and back into Dunkeswell for a very well earned drink and some more food at the race Hq.

SW Veterans Championship Race 2020.

   There was welcoming atmosphere at Sunday’s SW Veterans Championship Race at Sidford playing fields despite it having rained all night and morning.
   As a result of the rain, the course was muddy, in places, inches deep and although flat this made the course very challenging, especially for myself (Ann) since I had no tread on my shoes!
The event was a competitive field and had attracted entrants from as far afield as Newquay, Bristol, Westbury and Salisbury. Most of the mud had stuck onto my shoes which slowed progress around the course. So, it came as no surprise that I crossed the finish line 47h05s later taking the wooden spoon. John Sharples fared a bit better than myself, but only a bit.
   This run made John Sharples realise that he is genetically programmed to run only in straight lines! The course was a series of 90 degree turns around several rugby and football pitches. Every corner neatly sodden after the heavy rain. John commented “My technique was to apply the brakes as I approached each turn, with the intention of elegantly drifting around, likeTodd Carter in Dancing on Ice. Sadly this did not work” !
http://www.southwestvets.co.uk/race-page/results

Exeter Epic Trail 10K 25th January 2020

   If you were travelling up Haldon Hill at 9.30am on the morning of Saturday 25th, you may well have wondered what on earth was occurring.
   Around a thousand cars were queuing to get into the Exeter Racecourse for the first ever Exeter Epic Trail 10K which was organised by Tough Runner UK. This was a very popular event and judging by the club names on competitors shirts, was attended by runners from all parts of the country, such is the following and reputation for Tough Runner events.
   Lining up at the start were Terry Bewes, Adrian Gripper Horne and Derek Blackburn. This was a chip timed race, so it was not a problem to hang around in the middle of the crowd and out of the chilly wind whilst the race got underway. The start was well organised considering there were 1200 runners setting off, but with this many competing, the first mile was very steady making it difficult to pass those in front. The first part of the course proceeded along and down a half mile tarmac road, then into the forest along stony paths and muddy tracks. Once again the Mighty Greens came into their element heading straight through the middle, while others tried to keep their shoes clean by shuffling and around missing the mud. This gave a huge advantage to the Sidmouth trio and many were passed. This was not a hilly course by any Mighty Green standard with only a mere 434 feet of elevation gain, but one where the hill training we get to do, really paid off.
  For the last bit the forest opens up with a sprint for the finish being back on the tarmac again. First Mighty Green runner back home was Adrian in 55:25, first in age group at 330th overall an excellent result.
Derek was very pleased to arrive back in under the hour in 58:33 taking 2nd in his age group and finally Terry in 1:06:27. There were a total of 1281 finishers.
   Two Mighty Greens Debbie Marriott and daughter Kate were helping on the stalls and Don Cawthera on parking control which gave them an entry into a different race .
   Collecting their medals for the photo none of them looked forward to joining the queue of cars leaving the car park, but thanks again to the organisation it all went very smoothly. Praise goes to the organisation, marshals, First Aid cover, food and drink stalls were all first class.

Winter Series 5k At Haldon Forest Park. 

   David Skinner braved the chilly temperatures up in the Haldon Forest on Sunday morning to take part in the first part of a Winter Series.
   Having taken part in several events previously on Haldon Hill and really enjoying them, David could not resist entering the Haldon Forest Winter Series 2020. Organised by Purple Geko Events, this race was the first of a 3 race series with the 10k and 10 mile yet to come.
As competitors arrived the organisers were concerned about ice along the route. However, the course was checked and the temperature rose by 2 degrees, so with the sun shining those fears evaporated. The start featured a steep technical descent which does include some running in the woods and going down steps, this caused a bottleneck. After the steps the undulations began, it felt however that mostly there were long climbs and the final section to the finish really was a long difficult climb. David came 50th out of 78 runners in 42m45s.

Flying Fox’s Ninesprings By Night

   On Saturday 18th of January, on a very cold evening, Terry Bewes and Kyle Baker took part in another Flying Fox’s night event, The Ninesprings By Night.
   Terry and Kyle headed off to Yeovil for a 17:30pm start for another one of Flying Fox’s fantastic night events! This one took place on the outskirts of Yeovil, at the Ninesprings nature park, named after the 9 natural springs which flow from the valley. Having competed in similar Flying Fox events on previously occasions, they were both still unsure of the extent of the challenge ahead with the freezing weather… which shoes to wear, how many layers, hat and gloves?  
   The 10k race was two laps of the course and Kyle took off at a fast pace, soon finding it more more challenging than he’d thought, with the slippery stone steps, mud, ponds, more steps and wooden bridges. He felt like it was a never ending up hill battle, however, the 5k lap was soon completed with a lovely down hill blast to the start of the second lap. Now knowing what was ahead of him, Kyle slowed down to a more steady pace, ready for the steps and mud, which even though he’d been over it once, it still came as a surprise! He carried on, catching up with a few competitors who’d over taken him on the first lap. Setting the pace for the rest of the run with two other runners and just one mile to go, Kyle pushed on, over taking a few more competitors. He sprinted  past the last one in the final 100m stretch, finishing in 50m13s in 30th position. Terry arrived back in 1h12m15s to find that Kyle had eaten the last of the banana cake! However, both Mighty Greens thoroughly enjoyed the race and were very happy with the medal, which was another Flying Fox masterpiece. Both lads are looking forward to the next Flying Fox Running event, Escape from Wych Woods on the 15th February.
 
https://www.flyingfoxrunning.co.uk/races/