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.

 

 

Otterton Reindeer Run 2019

The Otterton Reindeer Run

 

A fantastic turnout for this years Otterton Reindeer Run with 25 SRC members in attendance writes Hamish Spence.

   Festive spirits were in full flow in Otterton on Saturday the 7th of December and just to be clear in the form of attire not drink. Some competitors were dressed in fancy dress including a Gingerbread man, Reindeer or wearing Santa hats or deer antlers. The weather was kind to the runners on the day giving them a mild and dry day with no wind. The ground was not too wet, so not much slipping around going on under foot either, making it possible for some great time keeping.
   First Mighty Green to cross the line was Alex Munro in 15th over all in 49m08s, John Keast 53:57, Kyle Baker 54:20 Ellen Keast 54:26 and Catherine Hilton 56:37. Christine and Karen Farnham as usual headed off together with Christine pulling away leaving Karen behind. This lasted until halfway around when Karen caught her sister back up and then overtook. Karen stayed ahead for the rest of the run and crossed the line just one second in-front, 1h02m05s. Then came Sarah Clapham in1:03:01 with David wright at 1:04:55 and Cathy Keast 1:06:37. Derek Blackburn 1:08:09, Susan Reeves 1:09:12, Jon Bull 1:11:16, Nikita Kay 1:12:37. Bert Dykema took part with his sister Frederiek and they ran the whole route together in 1:13:43. Helen Palmer 1:28:09, Julia Haddrell 1:25:44, Lesley Miszewska 1:26:16. Helen Neighbour came in at 1:28:04 with Sue Cunningham following 2 seconds later. Gingerbread man Ronnie Masters took 1:28:27. Caroline Ball enjoyed the run and finished in 1:29:08 beating Alexa Baker who finished in 1:29:24. Terry Bewes found himself playing cat and mouse with Ronnie Masters aka Gingerbread man, finally being over taken for the forth time just before the end coming in at 1:30:02.

 

The Mighty Green Juniors Take Part In The Otterton Reindeer Fun Run.

 

Fifteen mighty green antlered juniors took part in the Otterton 3km Reindeer Fun Run on Saturday and all had a great time writes Kerry Boyle. 

   On a lovely clear day, and the 15 SRC juniors lined up excitedly with the adults at the back of Otterton church, the race started straight up a hill which prevented the youngsters going off too fast. There were several running club coaches and parents running with them to help them keep to a steady pace and to ensure they didn’t take the turn off for the 10k run by mistake! The route took them along tracks around the back of Otterton, with a well earned water and jelly baby stop at the half way point. Then the route followed the river Otter path back into the village of Otterton finishing down a footpath at the back of the village hall.
   First in for Sidmouth juniors was Robin Dafforn finishing in 3rd place, with Aidan Corfield 7th and Frazer Felton-Smith in 14th. Maisie Crouch was the first female for Sidmouth juniors finishing in 17th, with Seth Lancaster close behind in 18th who said ‘it was a hard race but really fun’. Arden Chipping was next in 24th place and James Jamani 27th, 8 year old William Hall had a fantastic run dressed as a reindeer finishing in 28th place with his brother Dominic ‘The Grinch’ not far behind in 30th place.  All 15 finished the race and wore their antlers with beaming faces, congratulations you have done Sidmouth running club proud!

 

 

Devon Schools

Toby Leads From The Front
Toby Garrick took part in the Devon Schools Cross Country Championships at the Stover School on Sat the 19th in the Senior Boys Category. With a race distance of 6.4km Toby had an average pace of 5:28 minute miles and finished in a fast 21m:44s, In-fact he was 2 minutes quicker this time than in the previous years attempt. He won with a very good distance between himself and the second finisher, with at least 120 metres separating them. Toby had decided to try a new racing strategy of leading from the front, This new tactic kept him clear of the pack for two out of the three long laps. His next race will be the South West Schools Championships in Bath on the 2nd February. 
Taking part in the same race was another young Mighty Green runner Will Ashby and a fellow Sidmouth school colleague (non MG but part of the team), Will took the 12th place over all and their colleague came in 15th making Sidmouth the team winners over all. 
Also running in the girls intermediates and seniors race was Kate Marriott Race. Her race went well, coming in 11th place over all. This secures her as the reserve for Nationals! Well done Kate.

Otter Rail and River Run

Otter Rail and River Run 2016

thanks pic

 

The 10th Otter Rail and River Run will take place at Tipton St John on Saturday 9th July 2016.

Please click here for the Results for the 2016 Otter Rail and River Run

Early bird entry, £8 for EA and ARC affiliated runners and £10 unaffiliated, is now available until 30th April. Prices from May 1st to postal entry closing date 2nd July £10 affiliated, £12 unaffiliated. 10km £2 extra on the day, if space permits! Fun run £3, entries by post in advance, or enter on the day.

Enter the 10km online at…

http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/events/viewevent.asp?sp&v=2&EN=100340&ms

Or download entry form below…

Otter run form 2016

This popular multi-terrain 10km and 1.5 mile fun run, held under ARC rules, attracted a record entry last year and we’re hoping 2016 will be even better.

We’re delighted to again be sponsored by Otter Brewery – with a pint of Otter Bitter for thirsty finishers – also Michelmores Solicitors and Harrison-Lavers and Potbury’s, both of Sidmouth.

Camping is available on the field on Friday and Saturday night – prior booking is essential for the restricted number of pitches so an early reservation is advised. We hope to welcome back many of our first-time campers from last year, and also see some new faces.

Camping rates are as last year – £5 per pitch (add £2.50 per extra person) per night.

The timing for the event will be as for 2015, with the fun run setting off first at 10.30am and the 10km at 11am – both following the same courses as in recent years.

We have extra parking and extra toilets at the nearby village hall, which will also be the venue for any on the day entries, if there’s space permitting. Last year we had a record 226 entries, this year entries will be restricted to 250 maximum.

There will be individual, team and veteran prizes and a few extras too to celebrate it being our 10th year.

To book camping or for more information on the event contact organiser Jo Earlam, email jo.earlam@hotmail.co.uk or ring 01404 813313.