Celebrations As Landmarks Reached For Sidmouth Running Club Members

Saturday saw Mighty Green Jo Earlam complete her 80^th marathon at the Plym Valley Trail event organised by First and Last Running.

Jo and marathon #80

Jo ran with fellow MG Jane Hemsworth, who has completed 29 marathons, and completed the course in 5:36:00. The ladies were pleased with their time as they had walked the last couple of miles to accompany a runner who had fallen; their club spirit shining through.

Jane and Jo

Julia Haddrell was all smiles as she crossed the finish line at Seaton Park Run for the 100^th time on Saturday despite the rain. Julia said she appreciated all the shouts of encouragement from the other SRC members taking part on Saturday. We will have to wait and see if she buys the landmark t-shirt!

Julia and Parkrun #100

The club’s organisers of JP’s Exe to Axe race also reached a landmark this week; the 200^th entrant to ‘An adventure 22 miles in the making!’ Paul Mitchell, David Lee and Rob Edwards have been hard at work planning the club’s biggest fundraiser which had to be cancelled last year. A couple of changes include using chip timing and having an open start time between 9am and 10.10am. Paul said,” Entries have been received from the length and breadth of the country with the furthest entrant being in the Canary Islands!”

There is still time to enter this scenic, challenging trail run along the coastal path from Exmouth to Seaton. Please visit www.sidmouthrunningclub.co.uk for further details.

All Smiles At The Sidmouth 10k

It is not often you can walk to a race from home but thanks to Lizzie from LME events, 41 SRC members enjoyed the close proximity of the Sidmouth 10k which took place from Sidford on Sunday.

MGs out in force

The popular race takes you down through the Byes, up Salcombe Hill Road, down Cliff Road and Beatlands, along the seafront and back again. Not quite as flat as you might think but an advantage to being a MG is we can train up and down the hill so we get the measure of it. Another advantage is the support you get from your fellow runners; a well done and a smile spurs you on and there were many of those as we passed each other.

Antony at the start

Antony Hall and John Sharples were best in their age groups with Antony coming in 7^th place overall out of 232 finishers.

Special mention must go to all the fantastic friendly marshals (many of them club members or relations of) who cheered the runners on, to Emma Donovan and 1^st Sidmouth Guides for manning the water station on the seafront and to Lizzie and her team for organising the event.

Sidmouth 10km results 7^th November 2021

Antony Hall 7^th 42:08, Niall Hawkins 43:47, Jack Wilson 45:55, Colin I’Anson 47:30, Ross Walton 48:43, Jamie Locke 50:27, Tim Swarbrick 51:11, Clive Gilbert 51:15, Pete Norman 51:17, Yasmin Salter 52:22, Kyle Baker 52:44, Chris Heywood 52:57, Rob Edwards 53:04, Allan Kay 53:26, Tim Clay 54:38, Christine Farnham 54:52, Becky McDonald 54:57, Karen Farnham 55:26, Susan Reeve 55:29, Suzi Rockey 57:10, Jane Hemsworth 57:53, Cheryl Boulton 58:20, Cameron Baker 58:46, Christie Ward 1:01:27, John Sharples 1:01:28, Kerry Salter 1:01:54, Judith Jeeves 1:03:55, Naomi Loosemore 1:03:45, Lee-Ann Thomson 1:03:55, Kathy Jordan 1:03:58, Helen Akay 1:03:59, Gail Goldsmith 1:05:12, Alexa Baker 1:05:18, David Welsh 1:05:44, Amelia Frankpitt 1:10:37, Beccy Johnson 1:12:57, Jennifer Benattar 1:15:01, Julia Haddrell 1:15:03, Helen Neighbour 1:18:46, Tracy Scannell 1:22:59, Terry Bewes 1:22:59.

Mighty Green David Knapman Earns Himself A London Marathon Championship Start

Sidmouth Running Club members Jo Earlam and David Knapman ran the Exeter Marathon on Sunday and at one point briefly ran together before David crossed the line and Jo had another lap to run. In fact David finished in second place in an unbelievable time of 2:35:27, just 8 seconds behind the winner! Not only has he smashed the club record by more than 5 minutes, the Mighty Green earned himself a championship start in the London Marathon.

David after his great run

David has recently moved to Sidbury after spending the last couple of years in France where he rediscovered his love of running during the lockdowns. He was super happy to find that Sidmouth is home to a very active and welcoming running club. The Mighty Green said, “I’ve been training for Exeter Marathon for the past 10 weeks partly in France and latterly here in Devon with lots of back and forth along East Hill Strips interspersed with the Monday and Wednesday night club runs. We were lucky with the weather, 10c and lighter winds than forecast on Sunday and I managed to keep a steady pace throughout the two-lap course around Exeter Quay – a bit twisty and turn-y in places, but otherwise flat and fast. I am extremely pleased with my result and look forward to wearing my MG shirt in the London Marathon next year.”

Jo & marathon #85

For Jo this was her fifth marathon in four weeks, number 85 and she was delighted with her time of 5:18.00 as it was her best in 3 years and the last 20 marathons.

Gold In Them There Mountains For SRC’s Kirsteen Welch

Mighty Green Kirsteen Welch had the honour of representing England on Sunday swapping the coastal paths of Sidmouth for the mountains of Italy and she smashed it! Chosen by England Athletics to join the England team to run in the World Mountain Association Nations Cup, Kirsteen was delighted to come in 10th female place helping England to a team gold!

Team Gold

An elated Kirsteen said, “I loved this race so much, the hills were torture but the downhills were so much fun and super quick.

Kirsteen in action

Every second of the trip has been enjoyable thanks to fellow team mates and the EA team support. I am going to build on this for the World Mountain Running Championships.”

Jane, Jo & Bob(?)

Closer to home Jo Earlam and Jane Hemsworth had a great day out at the Grand Canal Canter organised by Winding Paths entering into the Halloween spirit by carrying around ‘Bob’ the skeleton as he had ‘no body to run with’! The ladies completed the out and back twice route between Tiverton and Sampford Perverell along the Grand Western Canal just inside the 6 hour cut off time, making it Jo’s 84th marathon and Jane’s 31st!

Scary Halloween on the seafront

An impromptu Halloween fun run was had by a group of Mighty Greens who don’t like to miss an occasion to dress up and run on Saturday morning. It was more fun than run as they kept getting stopped for photos!

Mighty Green swimmers

Twenty three SRC members swapped trainers for flippers on Saturday evening to represent the club in the Rotary Club of Sidmouth’s Swimathon. Chairman Terry Bewes said, “What a brilliant job all the teams did. The Elite Team swam 140 lengths, swam 108 lengths and the juniors swam 112 lengths. A special mention goes to the juniors who were outstanding in showing what a team sport is all about. For 55 minutes they swam, cheered and encouraged each other and in Blues restaurant afterwards were so well behaved a privilege to have them in the club.”

Dolphins And Puffins (Medals) Make A Hot Half Marathon Worthwhile

Further afield on Sunday Tom Knight, Debbie and Don Cawthera ran the Lundy Island half marathon. Deb said, “It was the hottest, slowest half marathon I have ever done!”. Debbie and Don completed it in 3:25:15.

Don and Debbie

Meanwhile Tom put in a good run in the 30 deg heat, coming in 3rd place in 2:10:52!

Tom at Lundy 1/2M

The Mighty Greens saw dolphins on the way back and received a lovely Puffin medal which made the event very memorable.

What A Way To Celebrate Being 50!

Also on Saturday 10th July representing Sidmouth Running Club in the Exe Estuary 50k, Marathon, Half Marathon-Summer were Allan Kay, Adrian ‘Gripper’ Horne, Niall Hawkins and Sarah Ginsberg.

The race organised by Winding Paths starts in Budleigh Salterton, continues along the SW coast path to Exmouth (where those running the half marathon turn around), and along the Exe Estuary Trail to Topsham (the return point for the 50k).

Sarah

Half marathon runners, Niall and Sarah, both agreed that the return along Exmouth seafront was tough but despite mud, rain, sun and hitting a wall (not literally) at mile 8, Niall had an incredible run taking second place in 1:53:53 and Sarah, who had her granddaughter Olive cheering her on, finished in 2:14:54, fourteenth place in a field of 84 runners.

Niall

Mighty Green Adrian finally achieved his goal to run 50k in his fiftieth year, and the race postponement due to Covid meant he got to run it with his son, Ollie and MG Allan.

Ollie, Allan, Adrian

Despite the wet start, the trio enjoyed the picturesque route and were encouraged along the way by family and friends. They finished together, rather fittingly, in joint 50^th place in 6:57:08.

Medals

A special mention must go to former SRC member, Jess Raynor, who was 1^st woman home, 6^th overall in 4:50:12. Congratulations to you all.

­Field of (Mighty) Green

Sidmouth Running Club members were out in force on Saturday competing in the Otter Rail and River 10k event. The multi terrain race is organised by Tipton St John Playing Field Association and is gently undulating, following the valley of the River Otter and along the disused railway line in Harpford Woods using short road links, un-surfaced tracks/paths, fields with stiles, kissing gates and this year lots of MUD!

Luckily Sidmouth club runners have been advised by Chairman Terry Bewes not to dilly dally on the outside edges of the mud but to plough straight through and as Bex McDonald said, “It was great Grizzly training!”

There was an air of excitement as the Mighty Greens gathered for a group photo before the start; for many it was their first event in club colours and it was the first race in a long time that 45 MG’s lined up at the start.

Toby & Catherine

Mighty Green Toby Garrick had a fantastic run through the challenging conditions and came in 1^st overall out of a field of 216 finishers in 36 minutes and was first in his age category. MG’s Antony Hall came in 9^th place in 42:14 with Tom Knight not far behind in 42:57. Mighty Green Catherine Hilton had a great run, not only was she first local lady home but also first in her age category in 52:51.

Charlotte

Seconds behind Catherine was Charlotte Forrer who has recently successfully competed in her first triathlon, the Weymouth Middle Distance Triathlon organised by Bustinskin Events. Charlotte is also an England Athletic Run Together group leader with mums from Sidbury school; two of which ran the Otter Rail and River.

Group finish at Tipton

For the club runners further down the field it was very encouraging to hear the cheering as the finishers crossed the line and to see the number of Mighty Greens who had stayed on to do so in true club spirit.

Sidmouth Running Club would like to thank race director Gemma Wiltshire and her team for the very well organised event, the very friendly supportive marshals and the two cow marshals (they had skills!). There were smiles all round as the runners left with their finisher’s bottle of Otter Brewery bitter despite having very wet, muddy trainers.

Results

Toby Garrick 36:00

Antony Hall 42:14

Tom Knight 42:57

Catherine Hilton 52:51

Charlotte Forrer 53:37

Yasmin Salter 53:44

Tim Swarbrick 54:54

Susan Anderson 55:25

John Sharples 56:32

Clive Gilbert 57:22

Mark Norton 57:47

Naomi Garrick 59:03

Christine Farnham 59:04

Becky McDonald 60:33

Sue Colman 61:01

Suzi Rockey 63:48

Derek Blackburn 63:54

Judith Jeeves 64:47

Helen Akay 64:51

Brigid McEleney-Smith 65:05

Sarah Clapham 65:34

Jane Stein 66.51

Denise Main 67:01

Kathy Jordan 68:17

Katie Harris 68:46

David Wright 69:35

John Doherty 69:57

Sam Ingram 70.19

Lucy Ingram 70:20

Jasmine Reeves 70:36

Colin Flood 70:51

Sarah Burston 71:23

Leeann Thompson 72:30

Amelia Frankpitt 72:55

Jo Earlam 79:22

Emma Grainger 81:33

Sarah Watkins 83:35

Carol McManus 83:36

Beccy Johnson 83:37

Liz Goodman 83:37

Alexa Baker 83:38

Jenny Benattar 84:58

Alison Long 85.20

Ann Cole 86:40

Rachel Austin-Rigby 87:02

Julia Haddrell 94:28

Terry Bewes 94:28