Canal Run

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David Wright tows The Line along the Canal

David Wright represented the Mighty Greens on Thursday the 27th of December, by taking part in the Taunton Running Club’s fun and friendly annual event, The Bridgewater To Taunton Canal Run. He parked the car up at Taunton railway station to catch the 08:36 to Bridgewater train and run back along the canal path to Taunton. This was sociable event with around 80 other brightly coloured runners getting on the train at Taunton. So with high spirits on and off the train David made the 14.5 mile run back only stopping for the hot soup halfway back. It was a great way to burn off the excesses of the season and finish the running year that was 2018.

Xmas Pud Marathon

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Jo’s Christmas Pudding Marathon Run In Portsmouth
Jo Earlam took part in the 8th Portsmouth Coastal Waterside Marathon on Sunday the 23rd of December making this her 10th this year and the 66th marathon in total. 
A chilly and windy day greeted the competitors on the start line at the South Parade Pier, Portsmouth. The route takes the runners east along the seafront to Langston Harbour and then north along the edge of the estuary and onto the Farlington Marshes. It continues onto Hayling Island following the Hayling Billy Leisure Trail all the way to the Station Theatre. Then the runners turn around and retrace their footsteps back to Portsmouth. This is a flat multi terrain competition with some fantastic views across Langstone Harbour.
There were a few runners dressed in Rudolf or Santa costumes and a lot of Elves. Jo decided to run as the only Christmas Pudding. The outfit turned out to be problematic! The first malfunction  with the costume required a pit stop after only 2.5 miles! Jo fixed the problem but lost a lot of time in the process! Then just before the turn-around point on a wind swept Hayling Island she lost the rear half! Ouch, pain-full thing to have happen and would perhaps have been a very draughty run back! Her time for this race was still a very respectable 5h37m35s.

Carol Singing Run

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SRC Carol Singing Party Run.
On Wednesday the 19th of December for the weekly club evening meet up, there were two running groups, one did a more serious six mile route and the other took a more leisurely three and a bit mile with a carol singing tour around the town.
We called on some ex-members and friends of the club giving our best rendition of Oh Come All Ye Faithful and Silent Night. There were more songs sung at various points and as we ran past the Fields Department Store, a  couple out for a walk received a perfected version of Jingle Bells. Then lastly onto The Kingswood And Deboran Hotel on the seafront where we Wished A Merry Christmas to the town council as they were waiting for the Christmas Pudding to be served. We think they enjoyed our efforts as there was plenty of applause after.
A quick jog back to Port Royal for our Christmas get together with food, drinks, a quiz and raffle. After the raffle Jo Earlam presented on behalf of the club, for all the hard work done by Chairman Terry Bewes, a tee-shirt with Captain Terry, King of the Mighty Greens emblazoned upon it.
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Plym Trail Marathon

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The 2018 Plym Merry Xmas Trail marathon

The organisers, First And Last Running Ltd normally hold this as a four seasons (winter, spring, summer and autumn) event throughout the year. This year they added The 2018 Merry Xmas Plym Trail Marathon. O Sunday the 16th of December two Mighty Green ladies, Jo Earlam and Jane Hemsworth took part.

The race started at Clearbrook, near Yelverton and continued south towards Plymouth along the old railway line, now the Cycle Route 27. It is downhill all the way out, with the turnaround point being Coypool. This meant it was an uphill trek all the way back! The half marathon competitors ran the one circuit. Our two MG ladies took on the full marathon, so they had to do two circuits. It’s a beautiful scenic route on a path shared by walkers, runners, cyclists, cows and sheep! There is no traffic to contend with, making this marathon pleasurable to take part in. The refreshment stations were well stocked with chocolate, crisps, peanuts and satsumas as well as sports drinks and gels! Both ladies ran together giving moral support and were very happy with their finishing times of 4h:47m. Respect goes to both runners with Jane finishing her 22nd marathon and Jo, now having completed 65 marathons in total. Does this qualify her for marathon OAP status? I think it should, but i hope that it doesn’t mean that Jo is going to retire from the marathon scene.

Both ladies enjoyed the well organised event and would really recommend this one. Jo rates it as her favourite so far.

Exmouth 1-way

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One Way Ticket To Exmouth. Run, Jog Or Walk Back To Sidmouth.

The annual coach trip to Exmouth on Sunday 16th December included 27 SRC members and 4 dogs. The coach made a stop at Budleigh for Christie Ward, Julia Haddrell, Alexa Baker and a few other members, to make their way back along nine miles of the coastal path. Then Janice Long, Greg Ward, John Sharples, Peter Bishop and a Whippet were dropped off at the Exmouth Lifeboat Station for a longer eleven mile jaunt back. The final drop-off point was at Exmouth Rugby Club giving a fourteen mile trek back to Sidmouth. On disembarking the coach, Tim Mitchell and Richard Summerhayes shot off leaving The Rusty Runners (Terry’s words not mine) Monica Read, HelenPalmer, Cathy Keast and Terry Bewes to their more leisurely paced Jog back along the coastal path. There were some heavy showers, lots of mud to wade through and many hills to climb on what was a great day out.

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Cockington Caper

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Deb and Don Capering around Cockington

Don Cawthera and Deb Marriott both ran at the Cockington Christmas Caper this weekend. Every year since 2004, Christian charity The Barnabas Sports Trust has organised this event. It was 7.5 miles of mud and hills. Fancy dress was an option and a great route around the footpaths and cycle paths of the Cockington Estate in Torquay. Running the route together they managed placings of 161 and 162 out of 240. Dons time was 1h:32m:31s and Deb’s was 1h:32:39. They still had enough energy after the run for a bit of Christmas shopping at the craft stalls much to Don’s delight! 

Sunday Training

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Sunday Training
There were two Sunday training groups on Sunday, which both met up at the Mutters Moor carpark for a 9 o’clock start. A group of six led by Tim Mitchell took on the Hangover Route, so named by the Keast boys. It seems a mostly flat route…seems! It actually comes with 900ft of accumulated ascent, most of which is at the end. The route from the carpark goes to Four Elms Hill to Northmostown, Colaton, Otterton, (the hilly part started now). Over to Ladram where some of the coastal paths are used and then a bit of a circuit around Mutters Moor to get the distance above 10 miles and back to the carpark. It was a great morning for it and the rain and wind were avoided.
The more sociable run was led by Terry Bewes. Two dogs and eight runners took a more leisurely trek over eight miles, taking a very similar route but not doing an extra circuit of Mutters Moor. The group crossed paths with twins Karen and Christine Farnham en-route to Peak Hill. 
Both groups have successfully upped the mileage this week and are well on target for the distance events to come in the New Year.

Dorset Ultra

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Endurancelife Coastal Trail
Jessica Raynor took part in the super tough Endurance Coastal trail on Saturday 1st of December. This race is very tough, in fact the description given was Brutal! It is very scenic and followes the Jurassic coastal path from Lulworth Cove.  Rollercoaster hills, descents and more hills all the way!
Jess was expecting this race to be 50k, however it ended up 55k! She was exhausted by the end after so many hills to climb (almost 2000m) and descend, with wet and windy weather conditions to contend with, meaning lots of mud to wade through. But, after all of that, she still claimed the 6th lady and 36th over the finish line, out of about 350 runners. She said it was well organised but by far, one of the toughest races she’d ever taken part in! Well done Jessica.

 

Devon Champion

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Kirsteen Welch Is Devon’s XC Senior Champion
Seen here after the Drogo 10, last weekend Kirsteen Welch was the 1st senior woman in the Devon county XC (Cross Country) championships. Held at Exeter Arena, it was a 5K race that Kirsteen ran in a time of 18m:16s. She said that she was not used to the short, fast furious stuff and this race hurt…a lot! 
Winning this race means that she will be representing Devon in the Southwest XC championships on the 6th January 2019 in Yeovil. Good luck Kirsteen.