Sidmouth Running Club were out in force last Wednesday, fielding 7 junior and 7 senior teams of three at the Woodland Relays, a fantastic club turn out.

A sea of Mighty Green

Organised by Exmouth Harriers the inter club event was based at the perfectly positioned Budleigh Salterton cricket club.  The two mile loop went along the river Otter to Otterton looping back on the new path through the stunning wetlands.

The sun was shining and the atmosphere was electric with 45 teams taking part from SRC, Honiton RC, Axe Valley Runners and Exmouth Harriers. Runners, family and friends were all cheering each other along at the change over point.  For some of the SRC adults and juniors it was their first time wearing the Mighty Green at an event and they did the club proud. The juniors who were second and third to run in their teams were incredibly patient and supportive of each other and made good use of the Mighty Green flags and green cheer leading pom poms.

The Juniors were out in force

A special mention must go to 11 year old juniors Jude Carson and Emily Smith and 8 year old Amelia Womersley-Westlake who volunteered to run twice rather than lose a team when three of the juniors were unable to attend. In Jude’s case he ran two laps consecutively, 4 miles, at a very consistent pace.

Jude ran 2 consecutive laps

Mighty Green Mark Norton went above and beyond too, he turned up to support the club despite not having a team and ran with the steadier paced juniors on all 3 laps.  Yasmin Salter was the first to run in her junior leader team and was very proud of junior Samuel Crompton when he overtook her with a big smile on his face close to the finish line.

Samuel gearing up to overtake Yasmin

To round off the event everyone retired to the club house for the prize giving, refreshments and a chance to socialise with each other.

Also enjoying a warm and sunny evening five Sidmouth Running Club members Christine and Karen Farnham, Mark Norton, Roger Worthington and Gertrude De Waard travelled to Umborne near Colyton last Saturday to compete in the Umborne Ug. The challenging 10k multi terrain event runs through beautiful scenic countryside giving stunning views across East Devon. The event is organised by Axe Valley Runners and local villagers to raise funds for Umborne Hall.

The Umborne Ug-ers (+ Gertrude)

Karen said ‘It’s a very friendly and low-key event and we were spurred on by the thought of the delicious cakes and BBQ awaiting us after the run’.

Results: Roger 61:10; Mark 61:29; Christine 67:28; Karen 69:04; Gerturde 77:29