July is the time to experience the lighter side of Honiton Running Club’s Blackdown Beast-the Blackdown Beauty and four Mighty Greens did just that.  Starting from Hemyock Junior School, the self-navigating route took them through the very picturesque Blackdown Hills.

Beauties Ann, Neville, Charlie and Jane

This is very much a social run not a race with a cream tea stop halfway round in aid of MacMillan Cancer Support. SRC’s Jane Hemsworth and Ann Cole were very appreciative of a warming cup of tea having got caught in a downpour, they both ran the 11.75 mile route.  Charlie Fawell and Neville Hylton ran the 18.5 mile route which is a great achievement being full of scones, jam and cream!

A rather damp Jane and Ann

The Otter River and Rail 10k and fun run also took place on Saturday organised by Tipton St John Playing Field Association in conjunction with Sidmouth Running Club. It was a case of how many Mighty Greens does it take to fill chairman Terry Bewes’ shoes following another fracture on Monday AFTER the club run. Only 3 weeks back running after four months off following his fall which fractured his elbow, he is now looking at 6+ weeks off running with a fractured ankle; Terry is certainly being tested this year! Terry was very grateful to Brigid McEleney-Smith, Jo Earlam and Alexa Baker who (under his supervision) erected the finish line arch and flags early in the morning ahead of the event.  Also stepping up was MG Naomi Garrick who led the warmups before the runs in a very fun fashion and Leeann Thomson who along with Jo were the back runners.

A Mighty Green turn out

Five juniors proudly represented the club in the 2k fun run with Reuben finishing in 9 minutes, Harry 11 minutes, Amelia 12 minutes, Anna 14 minutes and Jack who stopped to help a young boy who had fallen, 22 minutes. They all enjoyed themselves especially the jelly snake at the end!

Twenty Two Mighty Greens enjoyed the 10k run along the river Otter, through Harpford Woods, along the old railway line back towards Tipton, through fields out to Fluxton and along muddy tracks back to the village playing fields. Roger Worthinton was the first male SRC to finish in 51:36, 50^th out of a field of 230 runners and Kerry Boyle first female SRC to finish in 53:06.  Mighty Greens Catherine Hilton and David King won first local woman finishing in 56:57 and first in MV70 age category in 54:22 respectively and everyone received a bottle of Otter Brewery beer.

The Juniors gather

Results: Roger Worthington 51:36; Colin L’Anson 51:50; Kerry Boyle 53:06; Adrian Harris 53:43; David King 54:22; Catherine Hilton 56:57; Richard King 57:06; Tim Swarbrick 57:15; Yasmin Salter 57:57; Naomi Garrick 59:10; Scott Chown 59:33; Katy Cartwright 59:83; Christine Farnham 1:00:19; Karen Farnham 1:01:12; Sarah Clapham 1:03:18; Brigid McEleney-Smith 1:03:18; Carol Hounsell 1:08:02; Grace Wightman 1:14:02; Marion Johnson 1:17:54; Donna Womersley-Westlake 1:19:45;  Hannah Wightman 1:19:48; Emma Grainger 1:22:10

Sidmouth Running Club’s Donna, Grahame and Amelia Womersley-Westlake enjoyed Cranbrook’s first colour run on Saturday.  They took part in the 2km family fun run around the country park passing multiple colour stations along the way.  Luckily, they substituted white t-shirts for their Mighty Green ones as all three were covered from head to toe by the end and Donna needed her MG shirt for the following day.

The Barmy Cranbrook Colour Runners

Donna was joined by four Mighty Greens on Sunday to run in LME Events’ Balmy Bicton 10k. Starting and finishing at Millwater School the route takes in quiet country lanes with off road sections. Living up to its’ name the run was balmy with rain threatening though fortunately the deluge held off till after the race had finished. Chris Parker was the first Mighty Green to finish in 23^rd place out of a field of 106 in a very fast 47:16, MG Scott Chown also finished under the hour in 57:39.  Judith Jeeves was the first female MG to finish in 1:01:51, closely followed by Alice Gill in 1:05:02 and Donna in 1:15:05.

The Balmy Bicton 10k-ers

Whilst some Mighty Greens were at JMS Training’s strength and conditioning class run leader Yasmin Salter represented SRC at the Exeter River Run on Friday evening.  Yasmin really enjoyed the flat course and stunning scenery-not that she had time to take it all in as she finished in 51:14!

Yasmin after a very fast 10k

The club was represented by 17 SRC park runners in 8 different locations including London, Winchester, Devizes, Frogmary Green Farm, Victoria Dock, Seaton, Exmouth and Cranbrook.  It was David Skinner’s 278^th park run the most recorded by a Mighty Green.

Clive at Victoria Dock

Five Mighty Greens ran the Exe Estuary half marathon which took place on Sunday.  Organised by Winding Paths and based at Budleigh Salterton the multi terrain race started with a 5 mile loop around the River Otter before heading on the coast path towards Exmouth and returning to Budleigh.  Despite the hilly course (1700 ft elevation), hot conditions and a wrong turn where two speedy ladies overtook her, MG Louise Dalton finished in 11^th position out of a field of 103 in 2:06:48.

Results:  Louise Dalton 2:06:48; Becky Knapman 2:30:43; Sarah Watkins 3:10:03; Carol Hounsell 3:10:03; Clare Luke 3:10:04

Clare, Carol, Sarah, Louise and Becky

It was misson accomplished for Mighty Greens Chris McCormick, Neville and Kay Hylton when they ran the most northern marathon after weeks of training and preparation.  Starting in Tromsø, the Arctic capital of Norway at 69 degrees north about 350 km north of the arctic circle Kay and Christine started the half marathon at 9pm finishing in 2:43 and 2:47 respectively.

Chris, Nev and Kay

Neville started the marathon at 8:30pm finishing in 4:02. Neville said there wasn’t any ice or polar bears but the race lived up to its name, with blinding sunlight and blue sky throughout the night. It was bizarre waiting to run a marathon so late; winter club runs will seem odd in the dark!

The only polar bear Nev encountered

SRC’s Lynda Hawkins ran her first ultra marathon with her daughter Kaylee last weekend and they chose a challenging one; GB Ultra Wales.  In the words of Lynda, a 52 mile extreme, brutal, insane, beautiful mountain and trail race up Cadair Idris Penygader (893m) and the Queen of the Rhinogs’ Rhinog Fach (712m) with good organisation, lots of food and supportive marshals.

MG Lynda with daughter Kaylee

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

It’s that time of year when the Mighty Green running shirts get packed in suitcases and taken on a road trip-or nearly!  Mark Norton forgot his when he recently took part in the Rise and Stride 10km in Long Beach California but he made sure Sidmouth was on his bib.  The Mighty Green ran his fastest 10k in a long time and finished first in 49:05.

Mark Norton in Long Beach CA

Wearing his Mighty Green shirt Tim Swarbrick stood out among the 2,000 runners and walkers taking part in the 12k Wine Run and walk in Lanzarote. The run is through the stunning wine growing area where vines are grown in little stone circles to protect them from the wind and sun.  The route uses farm tracks and paths which are covered in black volcanic gravel making it challenging underfoot with risk of injury and at best a running shoe full of small stones which adds to the pain!

Tim Swarbrick in Lanzarote

Tim completed the run in 1:13:00, an exceptional time considering the 26 degree heat. His wife Lois walked the same route with a group of friends in 2:35:00 and they all enjoyed the village festival at the end which included live music, amazing locally sourced food and of course, wine which Tim didn’t drink as he’s a beer drinker!

Amelia-Womersley Westlake represented Sidmouth Running Club twice during the half term break as well as joining in a junior running club team building session at the Bear Trail in Cullompton.

Amelia and Graham finish the Two Hills Challenge

First up for the 8 year old was the Chagford Two Hills Challenge which took place on bank holiday Monday.  Running alongside her dad, Grahame, Amelia thoroughly enjoyed the tough and testing race which included an ascent up Meldon and Nattadon Hills and a stretch in a knee deep bog. The Mighty Greens finished the 5k race in 1:03:34, 173rd out of a field of 199.

Amelia at the Aquathon

Following a family walk up Snowdon Amelia was back in Sidmouth to take part in the Aquathon which involved a 50m swim and a 1k run along the esplanade and Ham. The swim and very quick change took 3 minutes and the run 5 minutes and saw Amelia finishing 36^th out of a field of 40.

Great to see parents getting involved too

It wasn’t long before Amelia was off again to meet fellow SRC juniors at the Bear Trail for an afternoon of fun, mud, obstacles and team building games.  Junior run leaders Donna and Grahame Womersley-Westlake and parent helpers had as much fun as the children as they tackled 30 obstacles in unlimited mud including bear nets, zip wires and tunnels.  Donna was very impressed with their technical footwork when they were running on the uneven ground and hopes to organise a return visit.

SRC Juniors enjoying the Bear Trail

As per the Sidmouth Running Club tradition of running from the Bowd on a 5^th Wednesday in a month, the adults enjoyed their run followed by a social with roast potatoes and a drink courtesy of the club.  This year the Juniors were able to partake in the tradition too and having enjoyed a 5-6.5k run through Harpford Woods including stinging nettles, mud and river crossings they were joined by their parents  to enjoy chips and drinks at the Bowd too.

Run done, ready for chips!

The Sidmouth Running Club team photo ahead of City Runs’ Great West Run wasn’t pure green but all for good reason, charity.

Mighty Green Bob Huntington ran the 10k race for Devon Air Ambulance and finished in 56:08, 128^th out of a field of 455. He found the route hillier than the Plymouth 10k he had recently run but enjoyed the experience just as much.

Nearly all the Mighty Greens (2 in the loo queue)

Sidmouth Running Club’s Colin Ryan seemingly flew round the half marathon course finishing in 1:37:51, 235^th out of a field of 2109 finishers.  Well done Colin.  Mighty Green Sarah Clapham had a lovely surprise, her son Tom had returned home to run the Great West Run with her; though seeing him at the end, he might surprise her with flowers next time! Sarah finished strongly in 2:05:33 with Tom not far behind in 2:09:11.

The Mighty Green SHaH runners

Swapping green for blue six Mighty Greens ran the GWR half marathon for Sidmouth Hospice at Home alongside fellow team members Tash Evans, Charlotte Simpson and Allan Kay.  Sharon Coombes, head of fundraising at SHaH supported them all the way, thoughtfully providing bananas, water and protein bars all under the cover of the SHaH gazebo in Exeter Arena plus cheering and taking photos. The team were also very lucky to have the support of the Jenkin family, who stationed themselves at the bottom of the university hill and cheered enthusiastically which certainly made that stretch a whole lot easier to run up.

Using the experience of MG’s Kerry Salter and Clare Luke who have run the GWR several times and listening to their advice to keep with a pace runner plus chairman Terry Bewes as an earworm in our heads (left turn ahead, start moving over now, head up, chest up, breathe etc etc!) everyone finished sub 2:30 which given the hilly nature of the course was a fantastic achievement.

Nikita and Kyle enjoying the rain

There was a cooling shower halfway round which did not dampen the very supportive crowds cheering the runners on, many of whom seemed to know your name; yes, it took a while to realise our names were on our race numbers!  Nikita Kay and Kyle Baker finished in 2:05:25, Alexa Baker 2:11:27, with a new PB, Kerry 2:18:11, Kathy Jordan 2:20:11 and Clare 2:27:04, a new PB too. Could Tash who finished in 1:49:50, Charlotte 2:12:27 and Allan 2:18:23 be convinced to join the Mighty Greens?  Could you set yourself this challenge and join Team Sidmouth Hospice at Home next year?  Sharon would be very pleased to hear from you.

Kerry storming over the finish line

Team Sidmouth Hospice at Home would like to thank everyone who has donated to this amazing charity; your support is really appreciated. The total raised by the 9 runners currently stands at just over £4,000 which will nearly cover the cost of 48 hours of their specialist palliative care nursing service.

Sidmouth Running Club was represented in three of the four distances of the Beer Blazer on Sunday with an equal mix of adult and junior runners.

This multi terrain race organised by Beer Primary School PTA is no walk in the park, starting and finishing by Pecorama the route passes over some of the Grizzly territory including fields, tracks, cliff tops, open common, the challenging pebble beach between Branscombe and Beer Head, the undercliff and the Stairway to Heaven!

Running the 10 mile option Becky Knapman said it was hard to get her head around the fact it was like running the Grizzly but in reverse and Naomi Garrick agreed how strange it felt too.  Scott Chown found the first few fields awkward to run as the tractor ruts had dried up and become ankle breakers and all of them said how hilly, hard and hot it was!

Toby in fine form

Mighty Green Toby Garrick who’s not long back from his travels and perhaps coped with the heat better, had a terrific run finishing in 4^th place out of a field of 114 in 1:22:16.  Results: Becky Knapman 2:12:31; Scott Chown 2:14:03; Naomi Garrick 2:19:58.

Four juniors took part in the 5k option and despite being as hot, hard and hilly too really enjoyed their run.  John Dunsford was the first Mighty Green to finish in 31:56, 13^th out of a field of 40, with Christopher Witkowski finishing next in 37:12, followed by Emily Smith 43:11 and Amelia and Grahame Womersley-Westlake in 45:29.

Mighty Green Beer Blazers

Running her first event as a Mighty Green Junior, Catherine Witkowski, enjoyed the fun run alongside her mum Helen and 55 others.

Further afield, Derek Blackburn took advantage of the holiday day in the Netherlands and took part in not one but two park runs at the weekend.  Derek is becoming a bit of a super star in the park run community, which slightly bemuses wife and travelling partner Anne, who had to listen to park run chat at Bristol airport where there were a lot of park run runners taking advantage of this double park run weekend, all wearing their park run t-shirts and hats and on the flight.

Derek on his park run travels

The Mighty Green ran the Zuiderpark on Saturday, gaining himself a ‘Z’ in the park run alphabet and fitted in a spot of sight-seeing with Anne before they both attended a social evening organised by the race director of the following days’ parkrun. It was an evening of swapping stats and discussing favourite park runs and Anne heard more than once, oh you’re Derek Blackburn!

Wearing his Mighty Green shirt Derek ran the Delftse Hout park run the following day and caught up with Sidmouth Running Club friends Jemma and Jason Blount-it’s a small (park run) world!

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