A First  Marathon For Allan Kay 

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A First  Marathon For Allan Kay 

Allan Kay took part in the Trail running challenge, Dartmoor marathon which was organised by Trail Events Co writes Hamish Spence. 

Allan, who is 46, took part in this, his first ever marathon and found it quite a tough race. However, as he is running the 2020 London Marathon for charity he wanted to push himself with his training program and see where his fitness level has got too. Allan really enjoyed the race up until mile 22, where he felt he started to struggle. However, he was not about to give up and he knew he would complete the route. He was really pleased with his time-keeping, although he didn’t have a set finish time in mind, his only goal was to finish it. Allan finished 21st out of 39 runners and 5th out of 9 in the vets category.

Featured image: Allan Kay during The Dartmoor Marathon 2019. Photo by @kb_pho_vid. 

Sidbury Fun Run.

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The 21st Sidbury Fun Run, part of the Sidbury Fair Week, was held on a beautiful, very warm morning last Sunday writes Sarah Ginsberg. 

There were over 180 entrants, both runners and walkers, ranging in age from babies in buggies to grandparents, together with many of their four legged friends. Eight Mighty Greens took part; Naomi Garrick, Rachel Burrows, Michael Ginsberg, Sarah Ginsberg, Paula Farrand, Bert Dykema, Emma Grainger and Jenny Benattar. 

The Sidbury Fun Run is a surprisingly tough run although relatively short. It starts up hill, all the way to the top of Evergreen Hill, a mere 550 feet of climbing. Then follows an even longer uphill section of 596ft with a very welcomed downhill and cooler run through the woods. A short pass in-front of Sidbury Manor and on to the finish line at the Village Hall. Here, a delicious hog roast and cold beer was on offer, along with a fine pottery souvenir mug for all finishers. This was a great family event with a fabulous community atmosphere.

First Mighty Green home was Sarah Ginsberg (2nd Open Lady), followed by Naomi Garrick and Paula Farrand (2nd Local Lady).

Kirsteen wins Chippenham Half

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Kirsteen Smashes The Chippenham Half Marathon
   The Chippenham Half Marathon was selected as the event for the SW Inter Counties Road Championships. There were teams from all over the South West in attendance all there with the opportunity of winning team medals writes Hamish Spence. 
   This half marathon took pace along a fast and pancake flat route and is known for competitors achieving personal best times, as Kirsteen Welch was to find out. The event which is organised by Chippenham Harriers, started by heading through the town centre of Chippenham and out into the rural roads passing through the villages of Stanley The Tythertons, Avon, Kellaways, Langley Burrell and back into the town to finish at  the Chippenham Sports Club. 
   This was a good opportunity for Kirsteen to pit herself against some top county road runners. Her coach, Norman Wilson gave the advice for her to “Go out with the top women, hang on in there and see how you do”. This is exactly what happened.
   Annabel Granger representing Bristol went out fast right from the start (a sub 6min/ mile pace). Kirsteen followed her immediately, fully expecting to blow up halfway around. But that never happened. Sticking with Annabel, Kirsteen felt strong and comfortable with the pace. Mile eight passed, both ladies were still averaging a six and a bit min/miles until mile 9 when Kirsteen started to tire. She had dropped back by about 5metres! Giving herself a good talking too, digging deep and embracing the pain, Kirsteen picked up the pace and managed to close the gap. At around mile twelve, Kirsteen took the lead. She manage to hold on to that lead and even extended it all the way to the finish line. With the crowd cheering her on, she took 1st place for the ladies in what was to be a PB time of 1h20m16s. Her previous PB of 1:24:18 which she set back in February this year when taking part in the Gloucester half marathon. She has bittersweet memories of that event as she got injured not long afterwards. 
   Both Devon teams had a fantastic day, the Ladies taking gold and the Men’s team the silver with Tom Merson also being 1st man across the finish line.

City to Sea

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City To Sea Again For Jo
Jo Earlam took part in the City To Sea Marathon on the 7th of September for the second year in succession. This is a very challenging event which starts from the Exeter Riverside and follows the coast path to Babbacombe Downs in Torquay. This event lulls the runner into a very false sense of ease with around twenty miles of relatively flat running along the River Exe, the canal and down the Exe Estuary passing Starcross and Dawlish Warren. It is only after you leave Shaldon and re-join the South West Coastal Path, that the real challenge actually begins.
Jo was keeping up a steady 12 min/mile pace until halfway, then slowed to a jog/walk pace for the next six miles. After Shaldon, for the hilly section which she knew was coming up, her pace dropped to a mostly walk pace. Even though she had slowed dramatically for the last six miles, Jo was still passing other competitors. This was Jo’s first run of more than six miles since spraining her ankle back in July. More importantly this was her 71st Marathon to date.

Dartmoor Marathon

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Dartmoor Marathon

Adrian looking pleased at the end of the Dartmoor Marathon on 31st August. It’s a 26.5 mile off-road race over wild Dartmoor and includes the tops of Yes Tor and High Willhays.

Exmouth to Erddig – Mighty Greens out and about

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The Mighty Greens were out at 5 different parkruns last Saturday, 24th August.