Great We(s)t Run

Posted on by

The Great West Wet Run Of 2018

A great turn out of the Mighty Green Sidmouth Running Club members for The Great West Run. In very wet weather on Sunday the 14th of October, 14 MG’s turned up to do battle with the elements.They all did themselves proud and achieved some fantastic results, there were some new PB’s and some first half marathon finishes. The Great West Run half marathon started from the Exeter Arena, taking the competitors on a tour of the city with masses of spectator support all the way along, to a stadium finish.

The first Sidmouth runner and 8th MV50 was Richard Summerhayes, completing this half marathon in a fantastic time of 1h:27m:45s with an overall position of 88th. A personal best for George Burgess removing a whole minute from a previous attempt giving him a time of 1h:27:55s and a 91st past the post position. This half marathon was Greg Ward’s first. He did very well and is very happy with his result. He achieved a 492nd place in a fast time of 1h:45m:23s, meaning that a sub four hour full marathon is possible. Go Greg go. Chris Day-Kerry managed a PB time of 1h:52m:22s, enjoying the support and encouragement from the spectators along the route coming in 752nd. Sarah Clapham was not much further behind Chris and running very well with a time of 1h:53m:31s and a place of 809th. Sam Ingram followed shortly after in 968th place in 1h:54m:59s and a 978th past the post for Rocker Shepard in a fast time of 1h:58m10s.

Paul Wright decided to give himself a massive handicap by wearing a bin bag! Why Paul, why would you do that to yourself? Thank goodness he took it off after two miles. Imagine how much better he would have d… oh actually, Paul did extremely well with a finishing time of 1h:58m:32s and a place of 1054th. Kerry Salter made it around in 2h:06m:29s and got a 1341st position and Jodie Hawkins who had put in four months of training for this event, got a time of 2h:13m:29s coming in 1594th place, a remarkable effort having just recovered from an injury which had threatened this race.

Fresh from the Atlantic Coast Challenge (three marathons in three days), Jo Earlam must have felt like she was taking a casual walk in the park. Her good time would suggest otherwise with a cool 2h:16m:46s. Jo ran the route with a first half marathoner Amelia Frankpitt, who ran the route in 2h:17m:10 and came in 1670th place. Amelia thanks all in the club who have encouraged her and coach Jo Earlam especially, for writing a training plan. Christie Ward has been training very hard throughout the Summer and on one occasion dragged a reluctant Paul Wright out up onto Peak Hill. This was Christie’s second half marathon and she managed to better her previous attempt by fifteen minutes, to a fantastic 2h:15m:53s. With a push for the finish line she got into 1689th place. John Sharples really enjoyed the event and helped motivate running partner Christie Ward (daughter) to keep going. His reward, satisfaction of a 2h:15m:55s finishing time, a 1692nd placing and a nice glass of Rioja.

Antony Hall had to go back to the finish line so officially his chip time and placing don’t do him justice at 2h:20m:18, a place of 1743rd and at the back end of the SRC runners! His Strava times were a more believable at 1h:34m:41s and a nifty pace of 7:12 minute miles.

Swimathon

Posted on by

Mighty Green Swimathon

Team leader Tony Velterop, led Claire and Justin Ashby, Becky and Ian Robson, Charles Edward Keen, Bert Dykema and John Ball in the bid for the Mighty Green Team to beat the previous years total of lengths swum.
With no extensive training programme for the team members and with very little swimming done all summer, the team of eight got on with the task at hand.
They were hopeful of beating the previous running club record of just over 130 lengths in the allocated hour of swimming. They had a brief team talk at the start, primarily consisting of each of them trying to remember the number which had been allocated to each in the team – 1 to 8… Also, despite all the bravado and heroic talk of swimming in Mighty Green mankinis and bikinis, it was agreed that being realistic was much more functional, indeed more sensible and very fortunate for the spectators and all others involved!
The whole team worked very hard and the Mighty Green spirit was not quashed, despite the fact that they were all flagging somewhat by the end. The team felt it was all worth the effort especially when they learnt that they had reached 149 lengths and gained a new Running Club record. Also the MG’s had third place overall amongst the 25 teams that took part.
Back to running again this week!

AtlanticCoast Challenge

Posted on by

Atlantic coast challenge

Sarah Watkins, Jessica Raynor and Jo Earlam all took part in the Atlantic Coast Challenge, a three marathons in three days event which follows the coast line along North Cornwall.

Day one of the Atlantic Coast Challenge started North of Constantine Bay (near Padstow) and finished at Perranporth. Jo enjoyed every six hours and 54 minutes of it, especially the trek along a sandy beach at the end, where she decided to barefoot it through the sand and waves. Jessica and Sarah pulled ahead of Jo after the fist mile. Jessica had a fast pace gaining a time of 4h:29m and got in 5th. Sarah came in 119th with a time of 6h:27m:43s.

Atlantic Challenge day 2, (Perranporth to St Ives Bay Holiday Park). The ladies were welcomed to real North Cornish weather with horizontal rain and very strong blustering gales straight from the ocean! The route was also tough going with hills, steps, sand dunes and two miles of beach. Jo had some serious struggles with holding her hat down on her head every time the wind blew and then holding her leggings up as the elastic finally broke! However, considering her kit malfunctions her pace was quicker, shaving 30 minutes from the first day giving her 6h:21m:12s. Sarah came in a few minutes after at 6h:27m:55s. Jessica had an amazing race and an improved time, coming in at 4th position and first lady, with a great time of 4h:25m:16s.

Day 3 of the Atlantic Challenge and a beautiful sunrise. This section between St Ives Holiday Park and Lands End along the coastal path was rocky, hilly and almost 28 miles. . Jo lost her footing at mile 16 causing a gash to her hand and bruising to her leg, but it didn’t stop her for longer than it takes to enjoy the scenery and take some photos.

The first MG on the third day and for the third time, steaming into Lands End was Jessica Raynor in 6h:50m17s achieving a 21st position, Jo Earlam 114th in 8h:52m:36s who has now completed a total of 63 marathons and 119th for Sarah Watkins in 8m:56m:46s.
A huge effort by the three Mighty Green Ladies. After 80+ miles of tough running, Jessica managed a massive over all position of 7th. An evenly matched Sarah 105th and Jo 107th out of 165 finishers.

Two Moors Ultra

Posted on by

Two Moors Ultra

David Chipping and Jim Forrer took part in the Drogo Ultra. This run was part of the 2 Moors Ultra, which consists of the 100 miler, 50 miler, and 35 miler. David and Jim tackled the 35 miler. Due to this event being a self navigating ultra, it turned into a 38.2 miler and just as impressively it was 4888ft of elevation.

Aside from the stunning scenery, the guys were accompanied for almost the entire run by British legendary fell runner Nicky Spinks, who was recovering from her UTMR attempt a few weeks ago by running the 38 miles through Dartmoor. Nicky proved to be a fantastic running partner, providing tips, tricks and some added motivation throughout the race – it was amazing to have her with us! Els, Charlotte and accompanying children provided support and encouragement midway through the race and on the finish line
They were finished in just over 7h:28m with only minor injuries!

Three Peaks

Posted on by

Rocker Climbs The Three Peaks

On the 22nd of September Rocker Shepperd took The Mighty Green on The Tree Peaks Challenge. This epic endurance adventure takes the participant up the three highest peaks of the U.K. Starting in Scotland with Ben Nevis then on to Scafell Pike in the Lake District and finally Snowdon in North Wales. The total distance covered is around 42 kilometres (26 miles) with a total ascent of 9,800 feet (3,000 m). The challenge is to achieve all three peaks within 24 hours.

Rocker was part of a group of eight people who got together to take on this challenge and raise money for a local charity while doing it. The team chose to support Sidmouth Living With Cancer and consisted of Snowdon White (Gwenan Paewai) and the 7 Sids (Rodney Cross, Jud Lascelles, Mark Bishop, Rocker Shepard our Mighty Green, Ollie Derryman, and Jake Voss).


At this time of year it can get very cold at the top of these mountains. The weather can also change very quickly as Rocker was about to experience!! He was leading at the time and had not been up Ben Nevis before, with no footpath to follow and a white out to greet them at the top, navigation became difficult. However, he followed the marker stones that he’d read about up to the trig point. The Mighty Green shirt was worn with pride at the top of Ben Nevis.


A bite to eat en-route, some shut eye during the long drive down to the Lake district to Scafell Pike. They set off up Scafell Pike with fading light. At the top of the Pike, the Mighty Green was shown, but as it was wet and had a slight aroma, it was not worn. The distance covered on this mountain was 8.6km and took 2h:45m. By the time they arrived at the summit of Snowdon it was pitch black but distant lights from various towns could be seen. The MG running shirt was by now smelling rank! It was still wet, and was in no way fit for the owner to wear it!

All three mountains were completed in under the 24hours so Rocker and his team retreated to the comforts of The Red Lion for a debrief and well earned rest and drink.
If you wish to donate to their chosen charity then please visit https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/7sids

Exmouth 10k

Posted on by

Exmouth 10K

A team of eight Mighty Greens took part in the Bradleys Exmouth 10k today. This event takes the competitors along the seafront and back, so it is a pancake flat race and is know for competitors to gain personal bests. The Sidmouth runners took full advantage of this venue and did themselves proud.
Theo Burgess was the first MG to cross the finish line taking a whole three minutes from his previous years time giving him a PB, a time of 39m:17s and a place of 10th over all. Next was Antony Hall blasting around in 39m:58s and 17th over the line. Tim clay did well in 66th position in 45m:05s with Sarah Chapham completing the run in 50m:05s giving her the 134th place.
Terry Bewes has been doing a lot of strengthening and stretch training this summer, was thrilled with his performance during this race. He managed to record 8.59 minute miles, with a timing of 55m:45s, a PB and a position of 228th. Another PB with Cheryl Boulton who spent some of her time keeping up with Terry until he shot off leaving her for dust! She got around in 57m:12s, rewarding her with 253rd past the post. David Skinner also managed a PB in 1h:03m:49s, 333rd over all. Julia Haddrell scooped up the 381st place in a respectable time of 1h:08:25. There were 435 competitors.

Loch Ness Marathon

Posted on by

The 2018 Loch Ness Marathon

On Sunday 23 September at 6.45am, with the temperature down to 6 degrees, both Martin Truman and wife Kate were queing up with 2,910 other runners ready to board the coaches to take them to the start line of the Loch Ness Marathon for 10am. There were many nervous glances on the coach as they were driven west, along the 23 mile northern shore of Loch Ness, the competitors eyed the route back on the opposite southern shore with the anticipation of what was to come. The start line was quite high up above the Loch and could easily have been in the middle of Dartmoor. The road shut to traffic and a Scottish pipe band lead the way up for a long wait at the start line for all to assemble.

This Loch Ness Marathon quest all started in December 2017 with a message from Kate saying, “Happy Birthday Martin, think you need to lose a bit of weight! Your present is an entry to the Loch Ness Marathon in September. To sweeten the pain I’ve booked us both a long weekend in Inverness in a lovely hotel near the start, flights from Bristol included in your gift” She then announced that she had entered herself too. Training began and the discovery of all the green lanes, bridleways and paths of the Sid Valley and East Devon were made. The dog got double doses of long runs with each of them on consecutive days at the weekends.

East of Inverness by 26 miles is exactly where the novice Nessie first time marathon runner comes unstuck. Martin’s Loch Ness story was written in these first few miles. Traversing downhill for a couple of miles down to the shore of the Loch, then cruising on comfortably along the route is not necessarily a good idea. He knew he had not heeded the take your foot off the pedal from the start. When Martin reached the half way point, he realised he was on a PB time of just under 1 and 3/4 hours. At this point he was still feeling ok and beginning to think he could really do it in 4 hours. Then, two heavy rain showers and a two mile hill climb at the 19 mile mark, the nagging doubts were starting to creep in! With his pace dropping off and a hamstring cramp kicking in, Martin hobbled on, but he could swear someone was pulling him back, like a tug of war but with him on the wrong end of a rope! Martin kept going, despite the pain he sprinted to the finish line, almost beating the 4 hour target. He crossed the line just 14 seconds over four hours. Martins final position was a top third in the field of 893th.

Kate on the other hand, being the more sensible family member, ran a more measure pace in her maiden marathon, running home in 5.05 to great cheers and with much pride. She was in far better shape than her husband at the finish line and raised £730 for Prostate Cancer research.

Dornafield 10k

Posted on by

Dornafield 10k

On the 23rd of September, Emma Grainger took part in The Dornafield 10k ladies race, helping raise funds for Bowel Cancer UK. The event was organised by Teignbridge Trotters and this was it’s 21st year. The race started at the Dornafield Caravan and Camping Site at 11am and followed a scenic course along undulating rural lanes, passing through the local hamlets of Ogwell and Denbury, finishing back at the campsite.

Emma was the only Mighty Green to take part this year, coming in 151st over all, with a much improved time of 1:10:30, Knocking a whopping 10 minutes off her previous attempt last year!