Six Sidmouth runners ventured to the edge of Dartmoor last Sunday to run the challenging and beautiful Drogo 10. This is definitely one of the most scenic races in the calendar and one of the best supported too – nearly 500 runners completed the 10 mile course this year. Saturday morning’s torrential rain left the course in a satisfyingly muddy condition, however runners could certainly not complain about conditions on race morning with a temperature of 15 degrees justifying the many short sleeves on display – quite rare in November! When you think about Drogo the mind tends to focus on the notorious Hunters’ Path, a brutal half mile climb back towards the castle at mile 8.

However, it would be foolish to forget hills no.1 and no.2 both of which are energy-sapping climbs from the river valley to the ridge path. It seems as though the Sidmouth crew took the conditions in their stride. Linda and Jade Hawkins are becoming a regular sight on the circuit with both completing the course comfortably under the 2 hour mark. Claire Ashby looked remarkably fresh as she emerged from her ascent of the Hunters’ Path, finishing in a highly respectable time of 1:41.

Fiona Cummins took the honours of first Sidmouth lady home in a time of 1:36, easily in the top half of the field. Just ahead of her in a time of 1:32 was Alan Colwill whose tactics of ‘run hard for 8 miles then walk the last hill’ clearly paid dividends. Claire’s husband, Justin, also enjoyed proceedings, finishing 14th in a time of 1:08.