Sunday saw Honiton Running Club’s popular Ottery 10k and fun run take place and the Mighty Greens were out in force.

The Mighty Greens Gather at Ottery 10k

SRC juniors John Dunsford and Amelia Womersley-Westlake gave an excellent performance in the 1 mile fun run with John finishing in 4^th place and Amelia second female.

John Dunsford

Amelia Womersley-Westlake

The 10k race is billed as a flat route around Ottery St Mary, which is slightly deceptive as there are a few inclines involved!  It was certainly a fast paced event, despite the heat, with the overall winner finishing in 34:33!

Louise Dalton

Louise Dalton was the first female Mighty Green to finish in 49:06, 79^th out of a field of 297, and Colin L’Anson the first male MG to finish in 51:41. All participants received a vest top and enjoyed the hospitality at the cricket club.

Colin L’Anson

Results: Louise Dalton 49:06; Colin L’Anson 51:41; Yasmin Salter 54:43; Sam Ingram 54:44; Christine Farnham 56:52; Cheryl Boulton 58:08;  Sarah Clapham 58.33; Karen Farnham 59:14; Christie Ward 1:04:45; Bex McDonald 1:04:54;  Emma Grainger 1:18:16;  John Doherty 1:18:41

At Sidmouth Running Club’s recent AGM, Kerry Boyle was presented with a token of the club’s gratitude for her leadership of the Junior section over the past six years.  Kerry has worked hard with the Junior section to make it the success it is today and has inspired the next generation of Mighty Greens.  Although stepping down from the coach’s role Kerry will still help out with the group and is enjoying leading the off road runs.

Kerry Boyle with her award

The May bank holiday wasn’t all about gardening and relaxing in the sun; for a few Mighty Greens it was the culmination of months of training and preparation.

Sidmouth Running club’s Mark Andow, Grahame and Donna Womersley-Westlake took part in Ruby Red Running’s East Devon Round ultra marathon.  The event was a serious undertaking but race director Alistair lightened the start by cycling up dressed as Darth Vader wishing the runners well and ‘May the fourth (force) be with you!

MG’s Grahame, mark and Donna with Jess

The race started from Offwell village hall at 5.30am and the course featured abundant bluebells and a mixture of paths, lanes, roads and forgotten less obvious routes, covering 69 miles with 10,000 feet of elevation gain in 3 areas of outstanding natural beauty and 1 world heritage site.

The event aimed to cover costs rather than make a profit with the hope of raising money for local causes and safety was a priority, using OpenTracking, as all runners were expected to self-navigate although the course was marked along continuous stretches and intricate turns.  Unfortunately for Donna the self-navigating proved more tricky than she had anticipated and ended up going off in the wrong direction several times adding miles and time; the hard decision was made at check point 3 to finish.  On the positive side it meant she was able to get to the finish to cheer Grahame and Mark over the line.

Mark Andow and a view and a half

Mark and Grahame enjoyed chatting to fellow competitors as they ran around Axminster, Lyme Regis, Colyton, Ottery and Honiton and were pleased to see fellow Mighty Greens Sarah Watkins and Scott Chown who were marshalling at Sidbury and Weston respectively.

They both finished in the early hours of Sunday, two of the 60% of runners that were able to complete it in the time allowed.  Grahame suffering with blisters said it was a truly brutal but beautiful event. Mark said it confirmed his view that East Devon is beautiful in the Spring time and he was impressed about the time and thoughtfulness that the race organisers put into providing an exceptionally challenging local route.

Not to miss out on the running action, Amelia, Grahame and Donna’s daughter, took part in the fun obstacle course on Sunday morning too.

Amelia taking part in an obstacle race

Whilst the ultra MG’s were recovering, SRC’s Nikita Kay and Megan Pewsey travelled up to London to compete in HYROX, a fitness competition series that combines both running and functional workout stations. The ladies have been training hard with Josh Solman from JMS training alongside running the streets of Sidmouth in preparation for this high octane event held in London Olympia.

The Mighty Greens entered the doubles category where you split the stations in a ‘you go I go’ format, encouraging each other all the way. A 1k run is followed by a functional workout station repeated 8 times; stations included sled push and burpees and all under the watchful eyes of a referee ready to apply time penalties for not following the correct route round.  They were delighted to finish in 1:20:16 and enjoyed the experience so much are looking at next year already.

Nikita and Megan complete HYROX

This event has helped Nikita prepare for the Great West Run, half marathon, which she is running for Sidmouth Hospice At Home alongside fellow Mighty Greens Kerry Salter, Kathy Johnson, Kyle Baker, Clare Luke, Allan Kay and Alexa Baker. They have raised £1,429.00 so far with two weeks to go. If you would like to make a donation for this amazing local charity please go to www.justgiving.com/page/teamgreatwestrun

Bob and Shirley Huntington have hit the ground running since recently joining Sidmouth Running Club and have already taken part in local running events including the 10k/5k event organised by RunPlymouth.  Bob finished the 10k in 55:43, 4^th in his age category and Shirley finished the 5k in 38:05, 3^rd in her age category. Fantastic results as the couple have not been running for long and they would like to thank the club for helping them improve their running fitness as it helped with the hilly bits!

It was a weekend for fast 10k times as all three Mighty Greens who took part in LME Events Maer 10k finished well under the hour. Enjoying the sunny conditions with a nifty breeze Scott Chown was chuffed with his 55.03 finish time, club secretary Cheryl Boulton finished in 57:02 with Judith Jeeves not far behind in 58:56.

In preparation for the 100k East Devon Round next weekend, Mark Andow took part in LDWA’s Devon Dumpling.  Although a long distance walking event runners are encouraged and the very reasonable entry fee and well catered aid stations make it all the more appealing.  The Mighty Green took part in ‘The Main Course and Dinner’, approximately 30 miles which took in Budleigh, Kersbrook, Otterton, East Budleigh, Yettington and Woodbury.

SRC juniors Amelia Womersley-Westlake and Emily Smith had a very enjoyable time on Saturday when they took part in the Inflatable 5k at Westpoint.  Emily was the first to finish in her wave, leaving her dad behind in the tube you had to crawl through and Amelia gave her mum Donna a run for her money too!

Sidmouth Running Club members Amanda Stokes and Louise Dalton ran Winding Path’s Total Coastal on Saturday. Both ladies, who joined the club last year, have been steadily upping their distances and this event pushed them to the max.

Amanda Stokes enjoying the views

The 50k route had over 6500 feet of elevation including some of the steepest hills Amanda has faced so far and when you consider she recently ran the Exe to Axe that is saying something!  Louise enjoyed the stunning views despite the technically tough course and said the sea was turquoise in some bays. Amanda finished 21^st out of a field of 116 in 6:57:04 and Louise finished 39^th in 7:32:20. Well done Mighty Greens!

Louise Dalton following the estuary

Further down the country in Cornwall, park run addicts Clive Gilbert and Derek Blackburn gained an ’E’ when they took part in the Eden Project park run. Or as Clive put it, two Mighty Greens ran around something mighty and green! It turned out is was Derek’s 5^th ‘E’ and is part of his second alphabet challenge.

Clive and Derek in search of an ‘E’

On Sunday the focus was on the London marathon with many club members downloading the app to follow the progress of the seven Mighty Greens who were taking part including three first timers. Richard Summerhayes was one of them, getting his place from the ballot, and he had a cracking run finishing in 3:14:34.  David King was the second Mighty Green to finish in 3:45:00, 12^th in his age group (70) and 1 hour 10 minutes under the good for age time-fantastic!

Lynda Hawkins at the start

Experienced London marathoners Lynda Hawkins, Richard King and Jane Hemsworth thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere; Richard said the crowds were exceptional and highly recommends the experience.

Richard King loving every minute

This marathon was Jane’s 50^th and she ran to raise money for Cancer Research.  Lynda finished in 3:48:16, Richard 4:00:56 and Jane 4:58:16-brilliant!

Jane Hemsworth celebrating 50 marathons!

It wasn’t that long ago when Kathy Jordan joined the beginners’ course with SRC so it was a very proud moment to follow her progress running her first marathon.  Kathy had also been lucky in the ballot and took the opportunity to fundraise for Millwater School where she works.  Her hours of training paid off and she ran very consistently to finish in 5:23:03.

Kathy Jordan smiling all the way

Running her first (and last!) London marathon was the mightiest of Mighty Greens, Marion Johnson. Marion (76) is an inspiration to Sidmouth Running Club, training relentlessly, working closely with PT Josh Solman to build strength, running here, there and everywhere and raising an incredible amount of money for Leukaemia Care whom she was running for.

Inspirational Marion Johnson

Although Marion found it hugely hard and challenging especially after mile 19, the MG finished under her target time in 6:09:15, a good for age time!

All the Mighty Greens said it was a great day out with amazing support from the spectators and are encouraging the club runners to enter the ballot.

Sidmouth Running Club juniors kick started the term with a fantastic plyometrics session led by Josh Solman from JMS Training.  Josh had everyone jumping from side to side, lifting their knees, jumping up from a squat position and quietly landing as well as lots of fast feet activities using the ladders.

Fast feet

The session was organised by junior leaders Donna and Grahame Womersley-Westlake in preparation for a series of local trail runs where the children will have to navigate obstacles like tree roots and loose stones at speed.  It would be difficult to say who enjoyed it the most, the juniors or the helpers as although Josh got them working hard it was done in a very fun way.

Plyometric session with Josh Solman

The juniors had their first opportunity to test their new skills on Wednesday evening when they ran through the woods and along the coast path on Salcombe Hill.  Junior leader Kerry Boyle took the 11+ group off on a longer loop while the 8-11 group explored the trails through the bluebells and visited the frog stone.

Juniors at the frog stone

There are currently spaces available in both age groups; please visit www.sidmouthrunningclub.co.uk , contact junior coach for more information.

Avoiding the strong coastal winds the Exe to Axe runners had to deal with, Sidmouth Running Club’s Judith Jeeves headed up to the capital to take part in the London Landmarks half marathon.

Judith at the London Eye

Wearing very apt leggings depicting the landmarks she was going to run past, Judith said it was a fabulous route, very well organised with lots of entertainment and support. The Mighty Green was running for Alzheimer’s Society, a charity close to her heart and was delighted not only to have raised over £450 but to finish in 2:08:56. Brilliant!

Climb South West organised sunshine for their 4^th Sid Valley Ring half marathon on Saturday and what a difference it made, even the ground had started to dry up.

Ready to start

New this year was the earlier start time for walkers and slower runners which club runners Carol Hounsell, Sarah Watkins, Clare Luke and Alexa Baker opted for. They thoroughly enjoyed themselves, taking in the stunning scenery and were pleased that the first runner from the main race didn’t pass then until the other side of Harcombe, 8.5 miles in.

Beautiful sunny views

Mighty Green Colin Ryan had an exceptional run, passing the early start ladies on the coast path after Dunscombe Manor and finishing 9^th overall in a field of 99.  Colin said he enjoyed running in the sun and was pleased not to slip up on the muddy sections. His time of 2:04:29 was a PB too-result!

Colin powering up the hill

Neville Hylton, who had cheer leaders by the Frogstone, finished in 2:41:31; Christine and Karen Farnham running in sync finished in 2:50:23 and Christie Ward finished in 3:18:58.  The early birds finished in 3:23:42-five minutes to spare before Carol’s carpark ticket ran out.

Christine and Karen

For anyone questioning why you would pay to enter a route you can freely run around at any time Climb South West provided a well stocked aid station at Sidbury, clearly marked out the route with many more signs than the SVR ones, first aid cover, friendly road marshals, a very impressive weighty medal, homemade cakes at the finish line, photographers and a video of the event-a full package.

The Early Birds

Sidmouth Running Club will be cheering Mighty Greens Richard King, Jane Hemsworth, Lynda Hawkins, David King, Richard Summerhayes, Kathy Jordan and Marion Johnson on next Sunday as they run the London Marathon.  This will be Kathy and Marion’s first London Marathon and both have been fundraising; Kathy for Mill Water School and has raised £600 so far and Marion has raised an incredible £4316 so far for Leukaemia Care.

Despite the yellow wind weather warning and the surprise of a tree surgeon working on part of the route, the second SRC Juniors/SidmouthFit fun run was a great success on Saturday morning with 48 children taking part.

The Fun Runners

SRC Junior leaders Grahame and Donna Womersley-Westlake and SidFit’s Tony Sarsby had to amend their plans including forgoing the popular water slide down the hill and staying away from the beach at Jacobs Ladder but this did not stop the fun.

Fun Run Organisers Donna, Tony, Grahame

Starting from Muttersmoor car park trainers were lost in the mud within the first 5 minutes and many slipped and skidded down the hill including parents!  Tony led 3 fun fitness activities along the route at Connaught Gardens

Connaught Gardens out of the wind

and both ends of the promenade and the run finished with a loop around the Ham playpark where everyone received a medal.

Team games

A big thank you to everyone who took part and to the Mighty Green marshals, many of whom were involved with JP’s 20^th anniversary Exe to Axe Race the following day.

Plenty of fun

The wind was still blowing strongly on Sunday but the decision made by first time race director, Adrian Harris, to move the registration venue to The Ocean in Exmouth was a blessing; especially for the Mighty Green volunteers handing out the race numbers.

Signing in

As the runners, including 8 from SRC, set off at 10am and headed into the wind towards Sandy Bay and Budleigh Salterton following the coast path, the Mighty Green marshals were struggling to set up the aid stations-gazebos were a definite no and setting up cups and food trays without them blowing away required extra thought and cunning strategies!

Well wrapped Branscombe Marshals

Opting to run the 10 mile Sid to Axe option, 9 SRC runners set off from Sidmouth seafront at 11am and it wasn’t long before the front runners from Exmouth were over taking them having run through Ladram Bay into Sidmouth and back up Salcombe Hill onto Weston mouth.

The runners were surprised to see the beach art created by marshal Mark Norton who made good use of the washed up cuttlefish to make arrows and spell out ‘wrong way’ on the pebbles!

Mark getting inventive with cuttlefish

The relentless steps up from Weston beach, the steep climb out of Branscombe and the very strong head wind on Beer Head did not deter Axe Valley Runner, Matthew Clist,

Matthew Clist

who was the first male to cross the wind battered finish line at Seaton yacht club in 2:59:53 and

Alice Kelly

Exmouth Harrier, Alice Kelly, who was the first female to finish in 3:24:40, 6^th overall.

Jake running through Branscombe

Jake Rowarth was the first male Mighty Green to finish the 22 mile Exe to Axe in 24^th place in 3:53:42 and Amanda Stokes the first female Mighty Green to finish in 56^th place in 4:21:48. PB’s for both as it was their first time running the event.

Amanda Stokes in Budleigh

MG Scott Chown was the first male to finish the Sid to Axe in 2:38:13, having run a new PB of 26:45 at Seaton parkrun the day before and a very happy Sarah Clapham was the first female MG to finish the Sid to Axe in 2:40:46.

Scott and Sarah-Sid to Axe completed!

The Exe to Axe was the brain child of John Perratt, a highly valued SRC member, who would have been very proud of his grandson Byron Fitzgerald, who ran this brutal challenging run with his girlfriend Kate for the first time.

JP’s grandson Byron, girlfriend Kate and family

Byron’s family supported them all along the route and cheered them over the finish line where RD Adrian, presented John’s widow, Brenda with a commemorative engraved wooden chopping board to mark the occasion.

Adrian and Brenda

The club is very grateful to Adrian, Tim Clay and Rob Edwards for all the work they have done to make the event a successful one and to all the Mighty Greens who helped on the day including back runners Jessica Rayner and Grahame Womersley-Westlake who ran from Sidmouth to the start of the race!  There were a lot of tired, weary runners at the end but they all spoke highly of the encouraging marshals and the great food selection at the aid stations provided by Kings Garden Centre which included Richard’s favourite falafels!

SRC Exe to Axe Results:  Jake Rowarth 3:53:42; Colin Ryan 4:19:38; Amanda Stokes 4:21:48; Lynda Hawkins 4:38:18; Roger Worthington 4:54:32; Mark Andow 4:59:30; Alice Gill 6:14:23; Naomi Garrick 6:32:48

SRC Sid to Axe Results: Scott Chown 2:38:13; Sarah Clapham 2:40:46; Sarah Ginsberg 2:42:16; Don Cawthera 3:01:54; Helen Palmer 3:02:54; Deb Cawthera 3:02:55; Jim Hudson 3:04:19; Liz Wright 3:31:16; Ann Cole 3:31:17

When Sidmouth Running Club’s auditor, Jeanina Puckey, wanted to donate £100 to an excellent local cause, the club readily agreed to match her very kind gesture.

Jointly they chose Sidmouth Lifeboat and at their training session last night SRC’s treasurer Tim Clay presented a cheque for £200 to senior tractor driver Paul May.

Treasurer Tim presenting the cheque

Sidmouth Lifeboat is a fully self-funded independent lifeboat charity in East Devon, covering an area of approximately 150 square miles of sea between Axmouth and Budleigh Salterton.  Their volunteer crew are on service 24 hours a day, 365 days per year and include club runner Cameron Baker and head coach Kyle Baker.

While many SRC runners were focused on the Grizzly, Derek Blackburn went all out to tick ‘J’ off his parkrun alphabet.  The Mighty Green travelled to Poznan in Poland to run the nearby Jezioro Swarzedzkie parkrun which was a lovely flat route along a river.

Derek with his J

Alice Gill also avoided the muddy hills by taking part in the Bath Half organised by TDL Events. The popular ‘Big City’ race starts and finishes in Bath city centre and is a flat course that hugs both sides of the river Avon.  The MG felt strong all the way round and was very pleased with her time of 2:25:09, 4598^th out of a field of 8441!

Alice pleased with her Bath Half result

Much closer to home Judith Jeeves and Jane Hemsworth took part in Running Event’s Pie and Pasty Challenge.  Starting in Exmouth you have 7 hours to run as many of the 5.3k laps along the disused railway line as you wish.  Judith completed a half marathon in 2:33:08 and Jane ran a full marathon in 5:21:10, great training for her upcoming London marathon.  Along with their very nice medal they received a well-deserved pasty or pie of their choice.

Judith happy with her pasty and medal

Junior leaders Donna and Grahame Womersley-Westlake had a day to remember on Saturday when they took part in Wild Running’s Race With No Name.  Not for the faint hearted this is a 50k East to West traverse of Dartmoor, starting at Trenchford Reservoir and finishing in Tavistock. Donna, who ran the Grizzly the previous week, and Grahame encountered some very extreme weather conditions, 40mph gusts most of the day and 3 hours of painful hailstones battering them.  Underfoot wasn’t much better, there was a diversion through the Marine firing range because the trails were too boggy which made their minds boggle considering what they had already run through. They also found themselves scrambling over bushes and rocks when pathways disappeared and had 1900m of elevation to contend with.  Despite this and Donna getting stuck in the mud at one point and ‘tobogganing’ down a hill on her bottom when she slipped, the adventurous Mighty Greens finished in 11 hours and 7 minutes.

Donna and Grahame braving the elements

There was no lie in for Donna and Grahame the next day either as their daughter Amelia represented the SRC Juniors taking part in South West Road Runner’s Feighan Fury fun run. The 8 year old Mighty Green completed the 5.5k muddy trail run with 167m elevation in 51 minutes, passing many adults on the hill sections, finishing with a sprint finish 19^th out of a field of 38.

Amelia smiling all the way

A week on from running the Grizzly Nikita Kay and Kyle Baker tested their legs at the Weston Super Half.  Starting and finishing at The Grand Pier with nominal elevation this is one of the UK’s most unique seafront halves.  Instead of the pebbles of Seaton and Branscombe the pair had sand to contend with, 1.5 miles of it, twice, as well as running along the promenade, closed roads and country lanes.  Head coach Kyle finished in 1:52:25, 410^th out of a field of 1481 and Nikita knocked 15 minutes of her previous half marathon time, finishing in 2:02:28.  They each received a medal and a t-shirt and were home before lunch!

Nikita and Kyle at the Weston Super Half

There is still time to get involved with our Junior Fun Run and JP’s Exe to Axe on 6/7^th April.  Please find more information at www.sidmouthrunningclub.co,uk