There was a sea of green at Saturday’s Otter Rail and River 10k when nearly 50 adult and Junior members of Sidmouth Running Club took part and even the rain part way through didn’t dampen their MG spirit.

The Junior warm up

Juniors Dominic, John, Marcus and Amelia represented the club as they lined up at 10.30am to start the mile long Jackie Box fun run.  It didn’t take them long; the adults were soon cheering them over the line before their 10.40am group photo!  All the runners received a medal and a jelly snake which Amelia for one enjoyed.

Our Mighty Green Juniors

Following the adult team photo, which almost everyone was in, a hearty ‘Happy Birthday’ was sung to MG Marion Johnson who was celebrating her 75^th birthday by running the race with some of her family!

Birthday girl Marion and her family

The event raises much needed funds for Tiptons’ community owned playing field which is where the start/finish was. The route is through the beautiful Otter Valley following the river to Harpford, through the woods along the old railway line to Tipton and a loop back around to the finish line.  Despite the rain earlier in the week the ground was very hard, rutty and stony in places which made for tricky running. This did not hinder Colin Ryan, first MG over the finish line, 27^th out of a field of 233, in 46:35, 1^st MV60. SRC’s website officer, Rob Edwards was 1st MV70 in 58.32 and Junior leader Catherine Hilton was 1^st local lady home (not for the first time!) in 55.26.  They were presented with a trophy and all finishers received a bottle of Otter Ale.

Colin Ryan leading the way for SRC

There were several members wearing their Mighty Green shirts at an event for the first time including Jack Crathern, Georgie Lamprill, Alice Gill, Haiden Clapp and the dynamic trio Lucia Hofstetter, Grace and Hannah Wightman.  These ladies joined the beginners’ course in January and set themselves the target to run this 10k event, which they did confidently, with smiles on their faces and with their families cheering them on.  They are great club ambassadors.

10k done! Hannah, Lucia and Grace celebrate

Special mentions must go to MG David Wright for running it twice (once to check the course was clear), club chairman Terry Bewes for liaising with Race Director Jemma Wiltshire and setting up the start/finish line, Jemma and her team for organising this popular local event, press officer Alexa Baker for leading the junior and adult warm ups and the runners who came to the aid of a MG that took a tumble.

Terry overseeing the start

Race results: Colin Ryan 46:35; Louise Dalton 48:28; Tom Knight 48:46; Colin L’Anson 50:36; David King 52:24; Amanda Stokes 53:33; Suzi Rockey 53:54; Ed Brougham 54:18; Becky Knapman 54:34; Richard King 55:24; Catherine Hilton 55:26; Shaun Tipton 55:57; Yasmin Salter 57:08; Katy Cartwright 57:53; Tim Swarbrick 57:58; Rob Edwards 58:32; Christine Farnham 58:32; Naomi Garrick 59:39; Cheryl Boulton 59:46; Charlie Fawell 60:19; Brigid McEleney-Smith 63:02; Sarah Clapham 66:04; Alice Gill 66:25; David Wright 69:43; Haiden Clapp 69:49; Grace Wightman 69:48; Jo Earlam 70:38; Leeann Thomson 70:57; Jack Crathern 72:14; Georgie Lamprill 72:15; Carol McManus 74:30; Jim Hudson 74:31;  Liz Wright 74:32; Nikita Kay 75:01; Marion Johnson 79:08; Ann Cole 79:10; Tracy Scannell 81:30; Lucia Hofstetter 81:48; Emma Grainger 82:30; Hannah Wightman 82:34; Alison Long 82:53; Alexa Baker 82:53; Doreth Lawrence 85:09; Judith Jeeves 85:10.

Have you ever wondered why Sidmouth Running Club call themselves the Mighty Greens?  There has been some good examples recently from members pushing themselves out of their comfort zones, injured members coming out to support fellow runners, members flying the Sidmouth flag and club runners supporting each other.

Adrian ‘Gripper’ Horne and son Ollie Goodchild-Horne headed up to Belvoir Castle near Grantham to join the ‘Son’s of Mudarchy’ OCR (obstacle course race) team. They were taking part in Europe’s Toughest Mudder, a 12 hour race throughout the night where they keep adding in different obstacles as you try and complete as many laps as you can.

Gripper before injury

Almost all the obstacles require team work to get over them as they are very big and very hard some involve barbed wire, water and pitch black tunnels with menthol pumped through them!  Unfortunately, during the first lap going through a smelly lake Gripper felt a niggle in his arm.  This did not deter the Mighty Green and showing MG grit and determination he continued with Ollie’s help to get under and over the obstacles despite his bicep becoming more and more painful. They carried on to complete 3 laps and it was only then that they realised the extent of the injury, a torn bicep, and wisely decided to call it a night.

OUCH!

SRC’s Hannah Maslen showed her Mighty Green spirit as she completed her first 100k (64 mile) event.  Hannah has been fitting in early morning training runs and cross fit sessions to prepare for the Salomon Serpent Trail event.  With her family supporting her all the way, Hannah crossed the finish line with her children having run for over 17 hours.  Well done Hannah what a great achievement.

Hannah crossing the line with her family

Wearing his Mighty Green shirt Neville Hylton took part in his first parkrun in about 13 years at Norman Park, Bromley.  About ¾ of the way around and feeling he’d gone off too fast, he asked a nearby runner is it 2 or 3 laps?  Luckily, he replied 2 then on noticing his MG shirt asked is it flat in Sidmouth, as he was from Torbay.  They chatted for a while before he said don’t let me hold you back so Neville pressed on. At the finish the man commended Neville on his effort and it was then, face to face that Neville thought he recognised him from work so asked did we used to work together as you look familiar?  It turned out to be Olympian javelin thrower, Steve Backley OBE! It goes to show wearing the MG shirt certainly gets a conversation started!

Steve Backley OBE and our very own Neville

LME’s Balmy Bicton 10k took place on Sunday and the Mighty Green spirit was out in force there too.

Balmy Bicton 10k

Pete Norman turned up wearing his MG shirt despite being unable to participate due to injury to cheer on his fellow runners and take photos.

A True MG Pete Norman

MG Becky Proctor and her children were very encouraging to the runners whilst out for a bike ride on the common. SRC’s Grahame Womersley-Westlake had a fantastic race finishing 16^th overall out of a field of 71, his highest ever placing. When Clive Gilbert finished not far behind Grahame they both decided, in true MG spirit, to run back to Donna Womersley-Westlake and Clare Luke to encourage them over the finish line. (It nearly didn’t happen as they took a wrong turn but found them in the end!)

Grahame and Clive bringing the girls home

Organiser Lizzie Mayne was donating a percentage of the entry fee to Mill Water School where the race started and finished from and the school had a team running in the event too.  This included two Mighty Greens Beccy Johnson and Kathy Jordan who swapped their MG shirts for blue ones.  Many members of SRC have donated to their Just Giving page showing their support to Beccy and Kathy and the school whilst Alexa, Donna and Clare showed their support another way-buying cakes from the PTA stall at the end! A big thank you must go to Lizzie and her team, everyone is so friendly and encouraging and the new route this year was great.

Cake anyone?!?

There will be more Mighty Green spirit on display next week when Lucia Hofstetter, Grace and Hannah Wightman line up for The Otter Rail and River 10k, their first race and longest distance since they joined the beginner’s course in January.  You can be sure that all the club runners will be supporting and cheering them on.  Good luck ladies.

Balmy Bicton 10k Results: Grahame Womersley-Westlake 50:53, Clive Gilbert 53:11, Beccy Johnson 1:02:56, Alexa Baker 1:05:16, Kathy Jordan 1:08:35, Donna Womersley Westlake and Clare Luke 1:16:33

When Sidmouth Running Club members Beccy Johnson and Kathy Jordan signed up for Winding Paths Summer Trails 10k, they were hopeful the 6.30pm start would mean a cooler temperature to run in.  This was not the case; in fact, it was 25 degrees, and they were very glad of their Mighty Green running vests!  There were shady spots too through the wooded areas of Dartington Estate as well as gates, hills and some tricky terrain to navigate.

A welcome bit of shade

The MG’s were drawn to enter the event because of the fantastic finishers medal which features a stag’s head and were very pleased to receive one after finishing in 1:17:00.  Beccy said the event was very well organised with lovely friendly marshals and they enjoyed watching the sunset on the way home.

Beccy and Kathy loving their medals

Exmouth Parkrun was the venue for a collaboration with The Box (OJ Gym) and Sidmouth Running Club members of the gym last Saturday.  It was also MG Carol Hounsell’s first park run since her knee injury and was testament to her commitment to rehab training with PT Josh Solman that she had a great run.  Mighty Green Donna Womersley-Westlake was very pleased to finish in 32 minutes, a new PB and MG’s Clare Luke and Nikita Kay both ran sub 30 minutes.  Two Sidmouth Running Club Juniors took part in the parkrun too, running with MG Grahame Womersley-Westlake. Amelia Womersley finished in 41 minutes and brother Jack Westlake finished in 42 minutes; 5^th and 7^th place in the under 10’s category.

Members of SRC and OJ The Box at Exmouth Parkrun

Grahame and Josh were spotted later at Marion Johnson’s London marathon soup and sandwich fundraiser which was very well supported by Mighty Greens, family and friends.  It was a novelty seeing everyone in ‘civvies’ and an opportunity to chat without puffing and panting whilst eating delicious soup and an array of sandwiches and cakes!  Marion, who attends Josh’s fitness sessions,  and her team of helpers did a superb job which was reflected in the total raised, £987, in two hours and amazingly, direct donations to her JustGiving page made by those unable to get to the event has taken her over the £2,000 target!  Marion, who is running the London Marathon for the first time at the age of 75 for Leukaemia Care is, as one of her donors wrote, an inspiration for health, fitness and eternal youth and her energy is amazing. Huge Mighty Green Congratulations Marion.

Incognito Mighty Greens at Marion’s fundraiser

Mother and daughter Sarah and Jess Watkins went on the hunt for the Pirate King of Torbay last Sunday when they took part in Climb South Wests’ Shiver Me Timbers 10 mile trail event.  There wasn’t any shivering though as the day got progressively hotter by the hour, but this did not stop Mighty Green Jess storming home in 1:28:31, finishing first woman and third overall. The scenic route follows the coast path in Torbay and although fancy dress is encouraged Sarah who finished in 2:31:43 stuck to her MG shirt!

Jess and Sarah Watkins

Sidmouth Running Club Junior Amelia Womersley  really entered into the spirit of the 1 mile pirate hunt around Goodrington.  Wearing a pirate hat Amelia found the pirate with the gold coins and ran back to claim her booty at the end.  Amelia, who finished in just under 12 minutes said she loved all the pirate costumes and had a lot of fun.

Amelia Womersley

Sidmouth Running Club had a record turn out for their AGM on Wednesday evening with members struggling to park their cars way ahead of the 7pm start. Is this because chairman Terry Bewes following Covid, has honed it down to a 5 minute affair in an outside space before the club run?  The running club members really appreciate the time Terry, treasurer Tim Clay, secretary Cheryl Boulton and the committee members put into the Mighty Green running machine!

The AGM

With the business over with it was time to run and the club split into four with Sarah Watkins leading the 3 mile group, Alexa Baker leading the 4-5 mile group stepping in for Kyle Baker at the last minute as he had just injured himself sprinting with the 11+ group (was he being too competitive?!?), Clive Gilbert leading the 6 mile group and Ben Chesters leading the fast 6 mile group.

Sarah’s 3 mile group enjoying the view!

Without realising it three of the leaders took their groups via Natasha’s bench and took a group photo with the beautiful coastal view behind them.

Alexa’s 4-5 mile group enjoying the view!

Ben and his group were like deer popping out of the trees and undergrowth all over the place!

Clive’s 6 mile group enjoying the view!

It was a lovely venue for an AGM and run-here’s to another year of Mighty Green running!

Sidmouth Running Club’s Clare Luke and Donna Womersley-Westlake swapped their Mighty Green club shirts for blue ones when they ran in the Great West Run last week.

Clare, Sue, Sarah and Donna before the start

They were part of the Sidmouth Hospice at Home team raising vital funds for their 24/7 specialist palliative care hospice at home service. The ladies enjoyed every minute of the half marathon and finished in 2:48:38 and raised over £200.

Sprint finish

Also running through the streets of Exeter in the glorious sunshine wearing his new MG top was Tom Knight who had a cracking run finishing in 1:38:48, 48^th out of 1,723 runners!

It was a PB for MG Yasmin Salter who rang the bell at the end to celebrate finishing in 2:03:45 and Ollie Goodchild-Horne wasn’t far behind in 2:12:54.

Yasmin rings the bell

Running together and enjoying the supportive crowds along the length of the route Sue Collman and Sarah Clapham finished in 2:30:08, which they were very pleased with as it was very hot!

Flying through the finish line

Sidmouth Running Club Treasurer Tim Clay handed over a cheque for £250 to Christie Burton from the South West Coast Path Association from the proceeds raised from the Sidmouth Celebrates weekend of events.  Donations of £100 to the RNLI via Axe Yacht Club and £100 to Exmouth Beach rescue for the use of their premises where also distributed.

Treasure Tim Clay

In the middle of the Coronation weekend, Honiton Running Clubs’ Ottery 10k and fun run took place which meant SRC’s social secretary, Naomi Garrick, could go to town with the red, white and blue!

Naomi dressed for the occasion

Participating in the 1 mile fun run were 6 SRC Juniors Jonathan, Marcus, Dom, Louis, Harry and Amelia and two mums Carol and Donna, all of whom were pleased with their finishers medal.

The start of the fun run

The 10k route took the runners along quiet country lanes and was enjoyed by everyone.  Tom Knight was the first MG to cross the finish line in 44:41, 44^th in a field of 227. Jo Pavey MBE presented the top 3 male and female awards and although Shaun Tipton was not a recipient, he was delighted to have a photo taken with the Olympian.

Photo opportunity for Shaun Tipton and Jo Pavey MBE

This race saw the return of MG Emma Grainger back from injury and although it has been nice seeing Emma marshalling at many local events cheering on the Mighty Greens it is even better to be running alongside her.

And they are off!

Results: Tom Knight 44:41; Colin Ryan 44:49; Mark Andow 45:55; Colin I’Anson 48:07; Richard King 49:23; Yasmin Salter 50:38; Shaun Tipton 52:05; Christine Farnham 54:18; Tim Swarbrick 55:06; Naomi Garrick 56:02; Karen Farnham 56:21; Georgia King 57:30; Christie Ward 1:00:51; Sarah Clapham 1:02:38; Hannah Maslen 1:03:09; Jo Earlam 1:04:47; Amelia Frankpitt 1:06:22; Marion Johnson 1:06:47; John Doherty 1:11:03; Ann Cole 1:14:30; Emma Grainger 1:17:06

SRC’s David Chipping and Martin Barnard ran the East Devon Round on Saturday, 107kms of absolutely stunning East Devon countryside. Although Martin said there was a fair bit of walking, shuffling and a dose of hobbling too! With wake up alarms set for 03:00 and a 05:30 start time at Ofwell near Honiton they saw the best of the day with a beautiful sunrise along with SRC’s Jess Watkins, Grahame Womersley-Westlake and David Wright who were running the 35 mile ultra option.

David and Martin enjoying the scenery

Ruby Red Running the organisers behind The East Devon Round were amazing and had planned a fabulous route, with endless bluebells and a constant chorus of bird song with the countryside being the real star of the day. David and Martin stopped for ice creams at Lyme Regis,

A well deserved ice cream stop at Lyme Regis

bumped into fellow SRC members doing the ‘half‘ distance and enjoyed plenty of snacks at the wonderfully stocked aid stations. Martin said by linking up so many places they knew and discovering so many more made the time fly by and it was only at about the 80k mark when the endless soup, cake and crisp supplies started to struggle to keep the fuel tank full. As night fell and torches were fired up the two Mighty Greens were met by family and friends which gave them a great boost and a couple of those legends joined them for the last 10K to provide some new conversation topics, a gate opening service and to protect them from some frisky bullocks.

Stunning trig point view

The pair eventually finished just after 22:30, a full 17 hours after the start and quickly got stuck into some sticky toffee pudding. There were 35 finishers and they came in joint 24th, but for them it was never about a position, it was a journey to look back on for years to come and smile. For David looking down at his 10 black toes is a reminder of his amazing achievement! For anyone who has thought “I can’t run that far, but I’d like too” no matter what that distance is, Martin has just learnt you probably can, give it a go. And if you want to see East Devon in all its glory, do the East Devon Round, it’s a belter.

East Devon Round 35 mile ultra Mighty Greens

In the 35 mile ultra, Jess was very happy to finish first lady in 7:30:00.  The Mighty Green highly recommends the race for the beauty of the scenery and the support given. Running his first ultra, Grahame was delighted to finish in 8:15:00, 15^th overall and 9^th male and said he had a great day, enjoying every minute and is now looking for his next challenge!  David Wright ran a marathon distance before stopping at checkpoint 4.

Grahame was spotted by Martin and David

Meanwhile in East Devon, eleven Mighty Greens ran the Sid Valley Ring Half Marathon organised by Climb South West. Starting with an uphill climb the race takes you through quiet country lanes and footpaths to a height of 236m before dropping into Sidbury, follows a section of back lanes through Harcombe, a steep climb to Dunscombe cliffs and the coast path before a short excursion inland to Salcombe Regis, through the woods and back onto the coast path back to Sidmouth.

The Mighty Greens at the start of the Sid Valley Ring (missing Liz and Jim)

Colin Ryan had an exceptional run finishing 22^nd out of a field of 75 in 2:11:29 and Beccy Johnson who was running her first half marathon was very pleased with her time of 3:20:37.

Beccy and Kerry with their medals

Results:  Colin Ryan 2:11:29; Christine Farnham 2:50:01; Karen Farnham 2:50:01; Beccy Johnson 3:20:57; Sarah Watkins 3:20:57; Kerry Salter 3:21:00; Jim Hudson 3:27:46; Liz Wright 3:46:32; Carol McManus 3:46:32; Donna Womersley-Westlake 3:50:56; Clare Luke 3:50:56

Donna and Clare at the finish