It was an early start on Saturday for six Sidmouth Running Club members as they headed to Exwick for the start of the City to Sea Marathon. Organised by the charity Torbay Holiday Helpers Network the route followed the canal path to the Iron Bridge with a cheeky loop back to the river before crossing over the road to follow the train line to Starcross, Dawlish Warren, Dawlish, Teignmouth and Shaldon. This section was a relatively flat scenic 20 miles with swans, trains and two check points to distract you.  This event was Mighty Green Jo Earlam’s fifth City to Sea and her 91^st marathon so the group were pleased to follow her lead as she knew what was coming! The final 6.58 miles were very unforgiving following the SW coast path from Shaldon to Babbacombe Downs and the pace dropped dramatically but the group climbed their way up and down steep steps and valleys to the finish line in one piece.  Jo’s experience had paid off and the group were very proud to receive a very snazzy weighty medal and a bar of chocolate! Finishing the City to Sea meant Jane Hemsworth has now completed 35 marathons, Sarah Watkins 17, Rachel Barnard and Leeann Thomson 3 and Alexa Baker her first.  All ladies were pleased the rain stayed away until the end and enjoyed the train ride back to Exeter!

Wearing A Marathon Medal To Be Proud Of

On Sunday a band of Mighty Greens lined up at the start of the inaugural Budleigh Salterton Lions 10k Trail event starting from Withycombe Raleigh Common and heading out and around Woodbury Common.

Thirteen Mighty Greens Ran The Inaugural Budleigh Lions Trail 10k

The route was full of ups, downs, twists and turns with two river crossings which made for an interesting challenging run.  The route was very clearly marked out and had plenty of cheerful encouraging marshals to keep you on the right track. Ollie Goodchild Horne was the first Mighty Green over the finish line in 56:16 with Mark Norton and Clive Gilbert close behind and under the hour too; a great run from all three as it was a demanding course.  Special mentions go to Carol Hounsell who carried on running to Budleigh and followed the coast path back to Sidmouth as part of her London Marathon training, to Donna Womersley Westlake for running up those hills and not stopping until the end, to Terry Bewes for completing his first race following injury and to Alexa Baker who didn’t let a marathon run the day before stop her from taking part in one of the Autumn series club challenge races.

Results

Ollie Goodchild-Horne 56:16, Mark Norton 59:53, Clive Gilbert 1:00:56, Christine Farnham 1:06:26, Becky Knapman 1:08:04, Karen Farnham 1:09:08, Becky Procter 1:09:04, Sarah Clapham 1:12:25, Adrian Horne 1:15:30, Carol Hounsell 1:17:40, Donna Womersley Westlake 1:37:12, Alexa Baker 1:37:18, Terry Bewes 1:38:21

The Juniors are also preparing their return and are offering a taster session on Sunday 11^th September 3-5pm at St Johns school.  This is an ideal opportunity if you and your 8-11 year old would like to find out what is on offer, have the chance to try out the equipment and meet the coaches and helpers.  There are spaces available in the 11+ group too.  It’s not all about the running, the children will concentrate on different skills each week including jumping and throwing.  This year the club have been delighted to see the youngsters’ confidence grow and take part in local fun runs and races wearing their Mighty Green.

Come along and meet this friendly lot!

Please contact Junior coach Kerry via the web page www.sidmouthrunningclub.co.uk Juniors for further details about the taster day, the 8-11 year old group and the 11+ group.

Last Wednesday saw Derek Blackburn complete his in house run leader training taking the 4-5 mile group run along the Jurassic coastline.  The Mighty Green was presented with his run leader top and first aid kit by vice chair Sarah Watkins.  Derek joins a merry band of run leaders within the club, all of whom bring enthusiasm, encouragement and a different run route with almost the exact number of miles required!

With the nights drawing in the club is preparing to re-start the Monday and Wednesday club runs from their base at St Johns School but will trial an off road torchlight run in September for those missing off road running.

Vice Chair Sarah Watkins presenting the Club’s newest Run Leader Derek Blackburn with his SRL shirt

On a glorious morning at Killerton Park Run Sidmouth Running club member David Skinner completed his 200th parkrun.

David Skinner on his 200th parkrun at Killerton

David’s first park run was in January 2016 and in that time he has taken part in four Christmas Day park runs and broken 30 minute on 6 occasions. David who only started running when he was 68 3/4 and runs in the VM75-79 category has also completed another park run challenge.  The Mighty Green has travelled over 15,198km to visit 51 park run locations and has successfully run the park run alphabet in the UK as his recent holiday to Durham and Scotland saw him run in the Jubilee parkrun at Spennymoor and the Vogrie park run near Edinburgh.  (There isn’t a X or Z).

David Skinner has travelled across the UK to complete the Parkrun alphabet including Vogrie in Scotland

Huge congratulations from SRC who look forward to seeing what your next challenge will be!

Derek Blackburn is another MG who is participating in park runs up and down the country.  Whilst visiting the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, Derek ran at Oaklands and Edgebaston.

Derek Blackburn at Oaklands parkrun on a recent trip to Birmingham

Proving how committed Sidmouth Running Club members are even on holiday run leader and vice chair Sarah Watkins wore her Mighty Green top at Glacier Bay, Alaska!

Sarah Watkins wearing the Mighty Green at Glacier Bay, Alaska.

The club is still enjoying off road runs on Monday and Wednesday evenings and welcome visitors to join them on the runs.  Please contact Terry via the web page www.sidmouthrunningclub.co.uk for further details.

The Blackdown Beauty organised by Honiton Running Club fell in the middle of the recent heatwave but this did not deter Mighty Green Mark Andow who was, as it turned out, the only SRC member to represent the club.  Despite this the self-navigating run was well supported-mad dogs and Devon folk in the midday sun sprung to Mark’s mind!  Mark thoroughly enjoyed the route aside from the stinging nettles and enjoyed a lovely cream tea at mile 13 before completing the 18 mile charity run in the top three.

Mark Andow likes it hot!

Whilst many of the clubs’ runners were cooling off in the sea last Monday evening a dedicated core of Mighty Greens ran with run leader Clive Gilbert.  Taking advantage of the track on Tipton St Johns playing fields they did some warm climate speed training!

Warm Climate Speed Training

Not only was Mighty Green Derek Blackburn celebrating his 25^th volunteer credit as 30 minute pacer at Cranbrook parkrun this weekend, it was also his 50^th parkrun.  The race director said Derek has helped a lot of people achieve an awesome sub 30 minute 5km.

Derek Blackburn celebrating parkrun milestones

When SRC’s Kirsteen Welch travelled up to Wales to compete in the UTMB World Series Ultra Trail Snowdonia 50k, she hoped to finish in the top three having changed her training to include more hill work.  The Mighty Green had an exceptional race helped by following advice and fuelling up during the event to avoid muscle cramps that she has struggled with in the past when racing in the mountains. Kirsteen finished 1^st female and 8^th overall in 6:23:34 and was over the moon to be on the podium alongside incredible athletes. Kirsteen is very grateful for her family’s never ending support and to everyone who is sharing her running adventure.

The only way is up for Kirsteen (photo by David Miller)

What a difference a year makes for the Otter Rail and River Run which took place on Saturday. Long gone were the memories of being knee deep in mud and instead finding shade was a priority!

The event is organised by Tipton St John Playing Field Association in conjunction with Sidmouth Running Club and is based at Tipton St John playing field where the Jackie Box fun run took place first at 10.30am with 10 Mighty Green Juniors taking part.

Our Mighty Green Fun Runners

They all enjoyed the warm up taken by SRC Junior helper Catherine Hilton before setting off on the mile long off road loop.

Catherine Hilton taking the Junior pre-run warm up

Barney Baxter was second over the line and first SRC junior with the others following not far behind to loud cheers from parents and SRC supporters.

And they are off-Junior Fun Run

At 11am, following a warm up by SRC’s Alexa Baker, 42 Mighty Greens lined up at the start of the 10k race looking forward to reaching the shade of Harpford Woods.

Pre-Race Warm Up

The route is very picturesque, alongside the river (which was looked at longingly!) through Harpford Woods, along the old railway line, back towards Tipton, through fields out to Fluxton and along tracks back to Tipton.  Mark Andow was the first SRC over the line in 49:45 in a field of 205 and not for the first time MG Catherine Hilton was the first local woman over the line in 53:27 and was presented with a trophy and prize. Special mention to MG David Wright who ran the route earlier in the morning to check the signage then took part in the event.  Race director Jemma Wiltshire did a fantastic job reminding runners to take on water at the 3 water stations on the route, but the heat certainly tested the runners.  Thankfully dizziness and nausea were overcome and the juicy oranges at the finish were much appreciated as was the bottle of Otter Brewery Ale all runners received.

Sunday wasn’t any cooler for Derek Blackburn, Donna and Grahame Womersley-Westlake who represented the club at GWC 10k charity run.  The Mighty Greens ran from Tiverton to Samford Peverell for Young Lives V Cancer.

Derek Blackburn, Donna and Grahame Womersley-Westlake at GWC 10K

Otter Rail and River 10K Results: Mark Andow 49:45, Darren Pearce 52:37, Greg Ward 53:06, Catherine Hilton 53:27, David King 53:35, Tim Swarbrick 55:44, Becky Knapman 56:03, Simon Stokes 57:42, Paul Reeve 57:51, Christine Farnham 58:02, Rachel Barnard 58:26, Clive Gilbert 59:35, Tim Clay 60:20, Simon Hollyer 60:24, Karen Farnham 60:40, Sarah Clapham 61:33, Naomi Garrick 61:48, Becky Procter 62:20, Becky McDonald 63:31, Adrian Horne 63:54, Jane Hemsworth 65.21, Brigid McEleney-Smith 65:22, Graham Sheppard 65:45, Sue Collman 67:54, David Wright 67:54, Alexa Baker 68:02, John Doherty 70:14, Carol Hounsell 70:33, Christie Ward 70:50, Judith Jeeves 71:54, Clare Luke 71:54, Colin Flood 72:53, Paul Mitchell 72:53, Amelia Frankpitt 76:04, Marion Johnson 79:01, Jenni Yeoman 80:43, Beccy Johnson 80:51, Kate Jenkins 85:05, Liz Goodman 85:05, Ann Cole 85:30, Terry Bewes 85:30, Jo Earlam 89:57

Mighty Green Mark Andow took part in the Plymouth Hope 24 Trail Festival starting at midday on Saturday and finishing midday on Sunday!  The 24 hour endurance event took place in the beautiful wooded valley at the heart of a 1550 acre country estate, Newnham Park. Mark ran 14 laps of the 5 mile course, 75 miles in total and was very pleased to learn he came 12^th out of 177 runners. An amazing achievement!

Mark Andow in training for his 24 hour challenge

All of Hannah Maslens’ training came to the fore on Saturday when she competed in her first ultra-marathon, the Salomon Serpents 50k trail race.  The race organised by Freedom Racing starts in a field in Petworth and follows the South Downs Serpent Trail to the finish at Petersfield rugby club. and Hannah said it was a stunning route. The Mighty Green was delighted with her time of 6:54:39 and finishing 314^th out of 459 runners despite everything starting to hurt in the last six miles and being a huge mental challenge. Well done Hannah!

Hannah Maslen with her ultra marathon medal

Meanwhile five Mighty Greens represented Sidmouth Running Club on Sunday 3rd July at LME Events’ well organised Balmy Bicton 10k covering the same distance as Hannah did on her own!  Perhaps more humid than balmy with the odd sprinkling of rain the runners enjoyed the undulating course which starts and finishes at Bicton College and takes you along quiet country lanes. LME Events were supporting Millwater School who are based in the grounds of Bicton College and as well as marshalling the route with Budleigh Rotary Club the school provided a very popular cake stall at the end.  Pete Norman was very pleased with his run and not surprising as he finished 7^th overall and first in his age category in 46:49. Gail Goldsmith and Terry Bewes also finished first in their age categories in 1:05:18 and 1:10:55 respectively with Carol Hounsell and Alexa Baker finishing 1:06:26 and 1:10.15 respectively.

Five MG’s at Balmy Bicton 10k

Brenda Perratt presented £250 to Teresa Loynd of Woolbrook News, the organiser of aid for local Ukrainian refugee families on Thursday.

Brenda Perratt puts the donation into the jar at Woolbrook News

This was part of a larger sum raised by Sidmouth Running Club’s annual JP’s Exe to Axe Race. Brenda’s late husband John was the inspiration and organiser of this race over many years. The club are very grateful to David Lee, race director, Paul Mitchell and Rob Edwards, the organising committee as they were instrumental in the decision to support the appeal. Teresa is doing a fantastic job locally, making the community aware of useful donations needed eg clothes, bikes, school uniform and by providing a networking hub.

Teresa Loynd accepts the donation from Brenda Perratt with Terry Bewes and Rob Edwards

The club donated a further £2,200 to the Red Cross Ukrainian Appeal which included £100 donated by the club auditor Jeanina Puckey and £100 was also donated to the RNLI on behalf of Axe Yacht Club for the use of their club house on race day.

On Sunday morning while several club members were supporting Ottertons’ Open Garden event, Kirsteen Welch and Carol Hounsell took to the streets of Paignton to run the Torbay half marathon.

Mighty Green Kirsteen ran hard tempo in preparation of next week’s Ultra Trail Snowdonia, part of the UTMB World series where elite runners compete for guaranteed places on the start line of OCC-the UTMB World Series Finals.  Despite the undulating 2 lap course and 20mph wind the Mighty Green finished in 1:21:24, first female overall and 8^th out of a field of 635 runners.  Kirsteen said the atmosphere was fantastic with lots of support on the course from marshals, spectators and fellow half marathon and 10k runners.

A Delighted Kirsteen Welch On The Podium

It was Carols’ first half marathon which she thoroughly enjoyed and was very happy with her time of 2:27:04.  Carol is busy preparing for her Hospiscare charity place in the London Marathon which takes place in October. This means the Mighty Green has to fit in fundraising events to meet the £2,000.00 target alongside her training program, the next one being a disco in Alphington, Exeter on Saturday 23^rd July. If you would like to support Carol and Hospiscare please follow the link www.justgiving.com/fundraising/carol-hounsell1 .

Carol Hounsell Was Very Happy With Her First Half Marathon

Derek Blackburn had cause to celebrate at Cranbrook park run on Saturday in his volunteer role as 30 minute pace marker.  It had taken 11 park runs in this role to finish spot on 30 minutes and he was over the moon!  Can he do it again?

Derek The Pace Maker