Four Trigs Fun for Sidmouth Running Club

More photos available.

Last Sunday saw the 18^th Four Trigs challenge start with over 100 runners setting off across the seafront in sunshine. The challenge is a self navigated run to each of four triangulation points circling the Sid Valley with start and finish at the Sailing Club. This year the route was clockwise, with runners checking in first at High Peak, then making their way across Mutters Moor then down through Harpford woods before climbing to the second Trig at Fire Beacon Hill. From here the trail runs inland to White Cross then drops down into Sidbury before climbing the other side of the valley to Trig 3 at Buckton Hill. From here a dip down in Harcombe is followed by a climb up to the Donkey Sanctuary and out to Trig 4 at Weston Cliff. This is the last Trig but the final leg, physically and psychologically the hardest, is still to come. The trail dips down to Weston Mouth then up to Dunscombe Cliff, down to Salcombe mouth, up to Froggie Rock and then finally down in to Sidmouth . This tough route is around 17 miles in distance and involves over 4000ft of climb, so is not for the faint hearted.

Hosted by Sidmouth Running Club and raising funds for CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young), this friendly and sociable event attracted strong contingents from local clubs Sidmouth and Axe Vale as well as runners from Hampshire, Dorset and Wiltshire. The event was Organised by Marion and Rob Hayman who were well supported by a team of 10 marshalls on the course and 2 counting runners back in.

Jess first woman home

The first man home was James Green from Axe Vale Club in 2 hours and 13 minutes and first lady home was Jessica Raynor from Sidmouth Running Club in a spectacular 3 hours and 2 minutes. Jess’s running has gone from strength to strength powered on by her early morning training regime, designed to fit around the demands of a young family.

Sidmouth showed real strength in depth with Mark Soutar first Sidmouth man home (2h 52m), Nigel Maer chasing Jess down closely followed by Gary Anning and Julian Bartlett. Great runs from a big Sidmouth contingent including husband and wife team Charlotte and Jim Forrer came in next in under 3h 40m, and 10 minutes later Claire Ashby came in alongside Kerry Boyle (working on her marathon training), and Claudia Barry back from London to enjoy some Devon mud. The Keasts were out in force with Nick outrunning older brother John, who had to comfort himself with a better time than daughter Ellie, for now.

In the meantime Sidmouth’s social runners also delivered solid success on the day. Lynda Hawkins, accompanied by daughter Jade, came in at 4h32m time, entertaining fellow runners by carrying, Penelope Pitstop style, a lipstick, mobile phone and usefully, a charger. The Rusty Runner contingent smiled all the way round and Janice Ranson, egged on by Terry Bewes, got over her doubts after Trig 2 and saw the race through to the finish.

Marion Hayman was pleased with how the event went. ‘Weather conditions were so variable’ said Marion, ‘we had hail one moment and sun the next, and of course plenty of mud. It was a great atmosphere with plenty of marshalls and four people in the kitchen making delicious cakes for the runners. We are so pleased we raised £1,570.25 for CRY with entry fees and donations’.

Full results can be found here.

Sidmouth Four master Fulford’s Five

Last Sunday saw four members of Sidmouth Running Club turn out for the Fulfords 5 mile race at Exmouth. It was an unusual event for the Mighty Greens as it involved no mud and running shoes remaining dry from start to finish. 

The race has been run since the mid 1980’s and is hosted by Exmouth Harriers. It is billed as one of the first road races of the year for the serious runner to get out their racing shoes, but at 5 miles long, it also as an event first time runners can take part in. 

The race starts and finishes in the market square and involves two laps of the esplanade and the town centre. Although mainly flat each lap consists of a climb up from the seafront, which is as nothing in Devon terms, but seems particularly hard in such a short race with a bit of pace.

This year saw 326 runners lining up and amongst them there was the welcome sight of Colin Flood making his return after not having raced for over a year and, as ever, finishing looking as fresh as a daisy. Graham “Rocker” Sheppard was also out, taking a break from his 4 Trigs training to break in his new running shoes in readiness for next weekend’s big event. 

‘It was a great event’ said Rob Edwards, who was impressed by the organisation provided by Exmouth Harriers, ‘if you like running, but are not too keen on mud, this is a perfect way to spend an hour or so on a Sunday morning in February’.

Results for SRC: Rob Edwards 39m35s; Graham “Rocker” Sheppard 40m00s; Jo Earlam 46m07s; Colin Flood 47m09s.

Otterton Reindeer Run is a Family Affair

Last Saturday saw more than 450 runners gather in Otterton for the village’s annual charity Reindeer Run. Runners aged from three to 73 donned festive outfits and set out from the churchyard for some seasonal outdoor fun. The 3k fun run is a family favourite for younger runners whilst the 10k multi terrain run takes in the stunning scenery of the Otter Valley including some tricky hills and beautiful banks of the River Otter.

Further photos can be found at http://www.sidmouthrunningclub.co.uk/2017/12/05/reindeer-run-2/

This event has been going for just over 10 years and is a popular start to the festive season for local runners. 19 seniors and 4 juniors from the Sidmouth Running Club dusted off their antlers and got their bells jingling in a good humoured race round the valley.

Father and daughter duo David and Katie Wright were all smiles as they ran the 10k together, while Janice and Alecia Ranson had excellent runs in the 10k and 3k respectively. Grandmother and Sidmouth Running Club stalwart, Sarah Watkins couldn’t have looked happier completing the fun run with her grandchildren Zach and India Raynor.

Meanwhile an epic ‘catch the twin’ pursuit was underway as Debbie Marriott and Cathy Keast set their sights on njppy duo Christine and Karen Farnham. All four charged home in well under the hour with Deb first lady home from Sidmouth Running Club knocking nearly seven minutes off her 2016 time. ’The photos look like I was strolling along, but I remember it being much pacier than that’ grinned jubilant Deb.

The Reindeer Run is the principle fundraising event for the local school, Otterton Church of England School and is supported by local businesses with many volunteers acting as race marshalls and serving post race food and drink to muddy runners. The run raised around £3,000 for school projects.

All runners enjoyed the atmosphere as they finished on the village green and were rewarded with commemorative mugs and mulled wine in the village hall.

Sidmouth Running Club welcomes new members and is currently finalising details of its Beginners Course which will start in the New Year. www.sidmouthrunningclub.co.uk

Reindeer results:

Ladies: Deb Marriott 55:46 22^nd o/all, Christine Farnham 56:09, Cathy Keast 56:11, Karen Farnham 56:12, Jane Hemsworth 56:17, Janice Ranson 58:59, Jo Earlam 1:01:02, Freddie the dog same time first dog to finish, Katie Wright (Junior)1:07:09, Els Laureys 1:10:33.

135 women finished.

Men: Danny Painter 44:27 27^th o/all, John Keast 47:25, Alan Colwell 49:55, Rocker Shepard 53:42, Simon Hollyer 54:32, Don Cawthera 57:45, Jon Ball 57:48,Terry Bewes 59:47, Paul Wright 1:02:44, David Wright 1:07:11, John Sharples 1:08:5.

92 men finished

Fun Run: Alecia Ranson 19:06 10^th o/all, Zach Raynor 28:29, India Raynor 30:17

Drogo 10 challenges Sidmouth 8

Eight members of Sidmouth Running Club took part in the ‘Drogo 10’ at the weekend enjoying stunning scenery of the Teign Gorge in the north of Dartmoor. Four hundred runners gathered outside the front of Castle Drogo for the start of this popular 9.6mile trail run before heading down a steep track to the river. The trail wound through woods tracks and paths, included a couple of steep hills before heading back along the Teign to Fingle Bridge then up the infamous Hunters Path hill back to Drogo for the finish.

Cath Miller and Kate Matravers, two of the Club’s growing contingent of competitive female runners, decided to keep up a club tradition and enjoyed the event as a social run. Chat on the way to the start passed seamlessly into the run itself and, barely interrupted by the finish, continued in the car on the way home. Cath was pleased with her time, ‘It was a gorgeous run’ she said, ‘despite every type of weather, including hail at the end.’ Just ahead of Cath and Kate, paying slightly more attention to the clock were Janice Ranson, in good running form and Sarah Watkins, recovering from injury and going from strength to strength.

SRC’s male runners were led by Julian Bartlett, closely followed by Phil Welsford and Simon Hollyer. Both Julian and Simon improved on last year’s times by 3 minutes and 5 minutes respectively, although Julian didn’t seem that pleased, commenting ‘Such hard work for so little time’!

Terry Bewes, whose winter running plan is progressing well, came in under 2 hours, averaging 12 minute miles on hilly rough and sometimes treacherous terrain. Arthur Vince, showed true club spirit and travelled from Chard to join the rest of the Mighty Green Team.

Club Runners are looking forward to the Bicton Blister on Sunday 26^th November

RESULTS. Julian Bartlett 1:25:40, Phil Welsford 1:27:28, Simon Hollyer 1:43:39,

Janice Ranson 1:47:43, Sarah Watkins 1:54:10, Cath Miller 1:55:36, Katy Matravers 1:55:36, Terry Bewes 1:56:19, Arthur Vince 2:36:52.

Sidmouth Runners take on Dartmoor Vale

In a weekend of glorious running weather there were some impressive performances from Sidmouth Runners. Danny Painter completed his second marathon in a week in Snowdonia, whilst closer to home SRC members competed in the 13th Dartmoor Vale races. Starting and finishing at East Gold Works in Newton Abbot runners had the option of a marathon, a half marathon or a 10kilometre race. David Wright and Jane Hemsworth from Sidmouth Running Club took part in the marathon and half marathon distances, and David was joined by Jessica Raynor and husband Simon in the Marathon.

Experienced competitor Jessica Raynor ran an impressive race, coming in as second fastest woman and 16th overall in 3h 23m 56s . Husband Simon completed the course in 5h 25m 49s.

Meanwhile, SRC stalwart, Jane Hemsworth, continuing her return to competition after some time off running, delivered a fantastic 3rd in age group in the half marathon, completing in just under 2 hours.

But for David this was his first marathon and he admitted that he had felt apprehensive before the race. ‘Although I completed the Grizzly last year I had never run over 20 miles before. Fortunately I picked up many words of wisdom from experienced runners at Sidmouth Running Club. This ranged from simple encouragement (I was promised a personal best in my first marathon!) to how much porridge to eat on the morning of race day.’

David embarked on the 26.2 mile course with 113 other runners intent on completing a double loop race out on the roads of the Teign Valley to Chudleigh and back down leafy country lanes. The course is relatively flat but has quite a hill at mile 6 which is repeated at mile 18.
David set off at a steady pace, allowing himself to complete his first marathon in 4hr 44m 46s, feeling pleased with his result and contemplating the next long distance event. ‘I’m going to concentrate on Sidmouth Running Club events next, I’m looking forward to The Four Trigs in February. In the meantime I’m really pleased with my first marathon. I don’t think I would have been able to complete 26.2 miles without the support of the Club – I would urge anyone to join, it does make a tremendous difference’.

Any Mile is Better for Dementia Campaigner Jo

Sidmouth Running Club member and coach Jo Earlam has just completed an epic 10 half marathons in 4 weeks to raise money and awareness for dementia, with the vision that ‘Any Mile is Better’. The 130 mile route was completed in sections by former south west journalist Jo, supported by friends and family.

The challenge began with the Bristol Half Marathon on Sunday 17th September 2017 and ended with the Exeter Half Marathon on Sunday 15th October.In between the route covered a further eight half-marathon distances, also taking in the dementia fundraising Muddifords Cheese Run, on Sunday 8th October.

Jo, a 52-year-old former newspaper and BBC local radio journalist, has completed a variety of self-organised challenges for several different charities over the last 20 years. As a supporter of the Bristol based dementia research charity BRACE, she wanted to organise a special event to mark the charity’s 30th anniversary year – the original idea being to run from Swansea to Plymouth, taking in all the centres where BRACE funds research, covering a distance of around 260 miles, or 10 marathons.

Following the sudden death of her mum, Rosemary, in April, and the diagnosis of her husband John with cognitive impairment and early signs of dementia in June, Jo decide to modify her plans.

Jo said: “These life events had a significant impact on me and the type of challenge I can commit to. As a carer, I need to balance things I now do around John. Being away from home for an extended time would be difficult, also fitting in the extra training needed for a longer sustained physical challenge.

“John’s has already suffered strokes and the prognosis of increased risk of developing vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s makes me determined to do something. My original idea was no longer feasible, but the reduced route distance and staggered time lapse of this challenge was achievable.

“The concept that any mile is better than none was inspired by a walk I regularly do, of about a mile, with scenic views and points of interest. It’s always a boost to get out in the fresh air and countryside even for 15 or 20 minutes.

“Physical activity plays an important part in helping to stave off dementia, which is one of my worries about my own health. The more we can do to raise money, awareness and stay healthy, the better chance there is of combatting this cruel disease.”

BRACE chief executive Mark Poarch said Jo’s a true inspiration to fundraisers across the region. “I’m always impressed by people who run to raise money for BRACE, but going from Bristol to Exeter is something else.The money Jo is raising will help fund leading edge research into the causes of dementia so we can move closer to developing effective treatments in the future.”

Read more about Jo’s experiences and make a donation at https://anymileisbetter.com

The Mighty Green Conquers Exeter

One of Exeter’s biggest sporting events took place last weekend when the Great West Run returned. The annual half marathon, now in its 32nd year, saw 2500 participants race through the city’s streets for 13.1 miles cheered on by thousands of supporters.

Sidmouth Running Club fielded a near battalion with at least 15 runners in the ‘Mighty Green’ in Exeter last Sunday. Leading the way for the East Devon Club was experienced speed man Justin Ashby who turned in an impressive 32^nd position overall before commenting, ‘oh man, that was hard work’. Justin was hotly pursued by Sidmouth runners Antony Hall and Julian Bartlett. Father and daughter duo Alan and Sasha Colwill turned in sub 2 hour times, as did the Queen of Stamina, Jo Earlam, in the final stage of her campaign to complete 10 half marathons in four weeks.

Jo and David

Whilst David Wright, Rocker Sheppard and Paul Wright narrowly missed the two hour mark, and were closely followed in by Sam Ingram and Kat Hall, secret training from Mike Lee delivered an excellent result in under 2 hours 10 minutes Amelia Frankpitt, was not far behind, going from strength to strength and the Green field was completed by good runs from John Sharples and Christie Ward

Polly at the Eden Project Marathon

In late April my dream of running a marathon came to an abrupt halt after spraining my ankle on the Cornish coast path. Frustrated, but determined, I lay on the sofa, elevating said ‘cankle’, and started looking into possible future marathons. The Eden Project Marathon, with its variety of terrain and spectacular scenery immediately stood out. Family and friends can visit for free on the day, which was also a massive bonus.

As I nervously waited for the race to start they announced that the route might have to be cut short because they couldn’t remove the cows from Helman Tor. I’m not a big fan of cows, but my first thought was whether I would have the energy to do an extra loop in order to complete the full 26.2 miles? That thought was interrupted by the starter’s gun, and I forgot all about it, too busy taking in the sights and watching my feet as I jumped over rocks and tree stumps in the woodland trails.

Shortly after the 4-mile marker we were back on the road, climbing the steep hill through the village of Luxulyan. I definitely would have walked this bit had it not been for the fact that my family had said they might try and spot me here. My legs were starting to burn just as I heard some very welcome voices shouting from the top of the hill. On a high, I ran up to grab some jelly babies from both my boys.

The course was pretty hilly, totalling 2782 feet of elevation gain, and at mile 5 we all seemed to slow to a gentle plod just as the leaders of the half-marathon, who set off 20 minutes later, started sprinting past us up the hill. Everyone was cheering and it really broke the ice. The runners all began chatting, and for a while I kind of forgot where I was, and could have just been out on a social run.

A few miles later, the 850 half-marathoners peeled off leaving 250 of us to plod on towards Helman Tor. As the Tor came into view I remembered the announcement at the start. I was relieved to see a steady stream of people walking up the hill, but couldn’t fail to notice all the cows. As I started to climb, two of them were very close, possibly wanting to cross our path. I was jogging cautiously and then suddenly one of them ran straight at me. I legged it… straight into a thorny bush. The cow turned & I just kept on moving. My heart was racing, my head was blurry, but before I knew it I was at the top of the Tor, having been totally distracted by the random bovine encounter. I took a moment to breathe some air and take in the stunning view before starting the precarious descent.

After a short stretch on the road the course became a bit grimmer. The weather on the day was pretty darn perfect for running, but recent wet weather had taken its toll on some of the trails and the mud became gloopier, before I found myself ankle deep in water. Trying to ignore how heavy my feet had become I was spurred on by the long downhill and the half-way point. The course is a figure of eight, so soon we were back on familiar ground and running through Luxulyan a second time. After seeing some photos of the flooding on the course the week before, I’d asked my husband to bring some dry shoes and socks in case mine got soaked. The marathon had started to do funny things to me by this point though and I no longer noticed how wet my feet were or that my legs were cut by thorns. I think I was in the zone! But it didn’t last long. Around mile 18 my energy was running out, I started feeling a bit light-headed and my legs suddenly felt like dead weights. It was time to have a walk and get some flapjack & energy drink inside. The next few miles were tough so I started doing some drills which we had been taught on Tim’s running course… head high, hips forward, arms back, elbows in, and pretending to clean dog mess off your shoes on the downhill sections. Focussing on my form distracted me from my aching limbs.

At mile 21, my husband & my mum appeared unexpectedly and it gave me just the boost I needed. My body hurt but I realised how close I was. I started getting my energy back and was enjoying the ever-changing landscape from the rolling hills to the clay pits on the Eden approach. As I started to descend towards the Biomes my legs started moving faster and faster and I felt so lucky to be doing this and to have this impressive backdrop at the finish. I crossed the line in 4:38:52, which I was chuffed to bits with. I passed on the family ice skating and went to grab my goody bag… a hot burrito (they’d run out of pasties) and a pint of ice cold Tribute ale.

This was a really well organised event, supported by a fantastic bunch of marshals. I’m not sure what I expected, but it was an awesome day and an incredible first marathon experience.