WELCOME TO HONITON RUNNING CLUB
We are based in Honiton, East Devon, Southwest England and spend our lives running through some of the most beautiful countryside
in the UK.
in the UK.
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HRC EventsJanuary 25th 2014
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LATEST NEWSClub results up to the end of November can now be found under RESULTS and POINTS TROPHY 2013 Now updated with corrections.
Bicton Blister
Several Honiton Running Club members took part in the Bicton Blister last Sunday based at Bicton College. This is a 10 mile multi-terrain race which takes runners across Woodbury Common. Roland Hall was first back for Honiton in 22nd place in 1 hour 10 minutes with Ian Stewart following 5 minutes later in 48th place. Tom Bornet’s running is getting better and better with every race and he ran well to come 74th in 1:19. Steve Davey managed to keep Richard Harvey behind him for this race finishing just 15 seconds ahead of him both being given the time of 1:20. Steve was 83rd and Richard 85th. Julie Payne continued the success of last week to win her age category finishing in 1:23 in 115th place. Howard Bidmead also had a good run finishing 119th 27 seconds later. Mark Dallyn had a much better run than last year to come 137th in 1:25 and Judy Davey was the only other lady Honiton runner coming 152nd in 1:27 also managing to win her category. It was Steve Briggs’ first time on the course and he found it much tougher than last week’s Drogo race. He finished 193rd in 1:30. Tony Peek raced for the club for the first time and enjoyed the course to finish 229th in 1:34. There were 431 finishers and the winner was Andrew Chambers of Bristol in 1:01. Thanks to Exmouth Harriers and all the supportive marshals for a well organised event.  More photos on photo page
Press Report - The Drogo 10
Last Sunday saw Honiton Running Club members out in force with a brilliant turnout of 18 members for The Drogo 10. The multi-terrain 10 mile race is based in the grounds at Castle Drogo and boasts spectacular views across Dartmoor. The route takes runners to Fingle Bridge before climbing the first major hill. The route undulates before following a track beside the River Teign back to Fingle Bridge. After crossing the bridge, runners ascend the energy sapping infamous Hunters’ Path before going back to Drogo. Roland Hall was first back for Honiton in 31st place in 1 hour 10 minutes. Chris Entwistle followed 5 minutes later in 66th place. Bruce Strawbridge had a great race finishing 84th in 1:18 just 35 second ahead of his race rival Steve Davey who came 92nd. Julie Payne was first lady back for Honiton winning her age category prize and coming 133rd in 1:23. Mark Dallyn and Howard Bidmead had run much of the race together with Mark taking the final sprint to the line to finish 152nd in 1:25 with Howard hot on his heels just 2 seconds later. Judy Davey finished next in 169th place in 1:26 having knocked 7 minutes off last year’s time. Judy had overtaken Steve Selley within a mile of the finish and he mustered all the energy he had to pass her again before admitting defeat following her 2 places and just 8 seconds later. Steve Briggs was running The Drogo for the first time and listened to all the warnings. He had a great run coming 192nd in 1:28 with Rod Inglis just 4 places and 11 seconds later. Richard Harris struggled but was happy to come 227th and just missing out on 1 ½ hours coming back in 1:31. Roger Saunders felt he had not trained enough for this race and also struggled coming 253rd in 1:33. Jennie Sleeman thoroughly enjoyed the race to finish 394th in 1:48. John Burgess had taken his camera to distract him from inevitable pain but the pain won in the end and he was disappointed to finish 429th in 1:53 telling club mates he wasn’t racing next week! Jo Jo Davey looked very strong at the finish and with the encouragement of her supporters she sprinted home to finish 456th in 1:57. Wendy Le Masurier had a consistent race to finish 486th in 2:04 and Michelle Selley completed the line-up having waited at the final corner for 2 fellow runners she had built up an affinity with during the race to finish 495th in 2:06. Tom Merson won the race in an incredible time of 58 minutes and there were 507 finishers. November Handicap Results
Suzanne made a spirited defense of last month's title and equaled her PB but Tony and Carol were both only on their second runs and slashed their PB,s by over a minute. Steve had another good run and Clare's marathon training brought another PB. Vanessa can be pleased with her best time of the year and Iain and Tom have youth on their side and are still getting quicker. Roland was about to set off a minute ahead of Kevin when he revealed that this was his first run round the town course and he didn't know the route, so he started with Kevin who spurred him on to a new PB. Roland also gets promoted up the finish order from last to 9th when his true handicap is taken into account. We welcomed Findlay, another Honiton ex-Junior who had the third quickest time and also Joe who clocked a very respectable first run. Thanks to Jo Jo, and Clare (Iain's mum) for helping record and Rod for marking the turn up the alley. 
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Press Report - US Marine Corps Marathon
Alan Rowe MBE was part of the Allied Forces Foundation Team in the US Marine Corps Marathon on 27th October. The team was 135 strong including many very special guys with varying injuries, some double and triple amputees. Alan felt privileged to make many new friends, especially those from the Danish Armed Forces who he will be keeping in contact with, maybe even running with them and a Baton in the Copenhagen Half next year. The MCM course is by no means an easy one, with quite a few hills in it, especially the cheeky 300 metre steep incline to finish. The weather was beautiful, perfect for running, the race was brilliantly organised, the crowd fabulous with their genuine support and if all goes well Alan will be taking a team over for 2014's run. Alan ran with a great guy and former Royal Marine Stuart Taylor, who has been badly injured in the past. As usual they stopped on their way round talking to the crowd handing out the Baton's message to them as they held the Baton. Alan also took footage from a Go Pro camera which has turned out to be quite useful, though had to stop three times to put in new batteries (a good excuse for a breather!) Alan’s eldest daughter, who is a Baton Trustee, came with him for the trip and they were both taken to the National Guard HQ, The Pentagon and the Senate with the Baton - not the easiest thing to take something that resembles a stick of dynamite into a very security conscious place, but they managed it with a bit of friendly persuasion. All in all Alan found it a wonderful experience!  Click to enlarge
JULIET AND CLARE RUN AMSTERDAM
Great runs from Clare and Juliet in the Amsterdam marathon. Juliet posted on Facebook after the race: That's 2 PBs here. Clare got an amazing 4.28 and I did a respectable 4.39. Thank you all so much for supporting me. She also says: I have three things to say: 1. That is a long way 2. I prefer runs in miles to km 3. Never again! Press Report - Amsterdam Marathon & Eden Half MarathonHontion RC continued its international theme as two runners travelled to Amsterdam to compete in its annual marathon event. The race started and finished in the Olympic Stadium and took runners through the famous Vondelpark as well as through the centre of the Rijksmuseum for a spot of culture before heading out along one of the many canals heading east and then looping back through the centre of the city for a well-supported finish. Despite the distance between fellow club members who were back in Britain, both runners were spurred on by the support received via Facebook getting PBs in the process - Clare Melbourne was first back in a time of 4.28, with Juliet Hall, just a few minutes later in 4.39.
On 20th October, Julie Payne and Mark Andow took part in the Eden Project Half Marathon in heavy down pours and thunder and lightning! The course is hilly following tracks with plenty of mud. Julie found the course tough but completed it in 1 hour 41 and was 7th lady in 50th place overall, just missing an age prize which went to the 6th lady! Mark was pleased to complete the course and get inside 2 hours , he'd had calf problems so wasn't sure if he'd complete the course but managed 171st place in 1:55. There were 510 finishers. The race was won by Peter Le Grice in 1:12. Press Report - Studland Stampede, Great West Run & Exmoor Stagger
On Sunday 13th October Honiton Runner Howard Bidmead ran the 7 mile Studland Stampede. Organised by the National Trust this race starts on Studland Beach in Dorset and takes competitors over the hills and tracks of Studland Heath. The last 3 miles of the race are up on the sand dunes and along the beach back to the finish. 386 runners took part in the event and Howard finished 58th overall in a time of 57m 55s. This was 4 minutes faster than Howard's time last year. On the same day well over 2000 runners including 5 Honiton Running Club members took part in the Great West Run half marathon around the streets of Exeter. This is a brand new route which got a resounding thumbs up from participants. Graham Reeves was first back for Honiton and was pleased to come in under 1 ½ hours (1:29:37) and 86th place. Next back was Tom Bornet who much preferred the new route to come 156th in 1:34:30. Esme Wilson and Alasdair Moffett ran together to finish 422nd in 1:40:18. Alan Rowe MBE completed the Honiton line-up running with a team he had put together made up of former Royal Marines and family running with The Baton. He really enjoyed the race although an old calf injury flared up at 6 miles making the last 7 painful. He finished in 2:31:47 in 2003 place. Last Sunday, 4 HRC runners took part in Minehead Running Club’s Exmoor Stagger. This is a particularly tough 16 mile race crossing Exmoor and climbing to the highest point of Dunkery Beacon involving a total climb of 3627 ft. The weather turned out to be ideal much to the relief of the Honiton group who drove through heavy rain to get to the start. Three of the runners had completed a marathon just 2 weeks previously so found the run tougher than they probably would have done otherwise. Steve Davey was first back in 69th place in 2:42 and his wife Judy followed 4 minutes later in 73rd place. She won a prize for 1st in category and a medal for winning the O50 female UK Trail Middle Distance Championship. Mark Dallyn was next back running the route for the first time to finish 105th in 2:58. Howard Bidmead completed the line-up coming 124th in 3:09. There were 201 finishers. Jersey Marathon photos - Jo's and mine on Club Photos Page
Part of Team Jersey
Jersey Marathon and Relay Race
St Helier in Jersey saw about 40 Honiton Running Club members and supporters converge in the town ready to take part in the Marathon or Relay on Sunday, 5th October. The club trip had come together after months of organisation by Wendy Le Masurier with most members staying at the same hotel. After a bit of sight seeing on Saturday, runners were ready to take on the challenge. The Marathon was won by Reuben Chumba with a new course record of 2 hours 24 minutes and 23 seconds. Judy Davey was first back for Honiton in a time of 3.31 coming 7th lady, 52nd overall and managing to win a vase for being 3rd in the Masters’ category. She also won a huge engraved silver plate for coming 1st in her age category. Judy had caught up with Steve Boyes at about mile 17 and they had kept pace with each other for the rest of the race. Steve was delighted to achieve a pb for the year finishing just 16 seconds and 1 place behind Judy. Next back was Steve Davey running his 2nd ever marathon. He would have been more pleased to have beaten his wife but he was thrilled to have achieved a pb to finish 96th in 3:44. Steve Briggs was next back in 183rd place and 4:05. He was pleased to feel so well afterwards but has vowed to come back next year and finish in under 4 hours. Mark Dallyn had run with Steve for most of the distance but suffered over the last few miles. He did well to finish just 4 minutes behind Steve in 249th place. Jennie Sleeman had run with marathon first timer, Lin Pike for all but the last few miles and Jennie finished just 1 minute and 3 seconds ahead of Lin in 249th place with a time of 4:27. Lin was delighted with her achievement which kept her emotionally on a high for days. Simon Hall was pleased just to finish as he admitted his longest training run had been about 13 miles. He managed 292nd place in 4:56. Pete Lyus is an experienced runner but has always said he would never attempt a marathon. He did brilliantly to crack the 5 hour mark in 4:59 finishing in 301st place. Wendy Williams was also tackling a marathon for the first time and finished just 2 places after Pete and missing out on the 5 hour barrier by just 1 minute. As she had set a target for herself of 5 ½ hours, she was understandably elated with her achievement. There were 336 finishers (but quite a lot more starters!) The relay covers exactly the same route as the marathon with 5 runners in the team each taking a leg varying in length from 3 to 9 miles.Honiton Hurtlers made up of Olivia Higginson (Captain), Bruce Strawbridge, Kevin Hawker, Howard Bidmead and Hadleigh Davies came an amazing 9th place overall. They were disappointed to miss out on a prize by just 7 seconds but they all felt they ran well and tried their hardest. The Hot Steppers consisting of Nick Thorpe, Carol Turnham, John Burgess, Juliet Hall and Clare Melbourne (Captain) finished 155th in 3:55. Honiton’s Jersey Girls were next back in 214th place in 4:09. Runners were Sue Jones, Sandra Thorpe, Claire Pomeroy, Vanessa Glyn-Jones and Jo Jo Davey (Captain). Five Run a Marathon completed Honiton’s teams coming 247th in 4:21 and was made up of Ian Jeeves, Tracey Strawbridge (Captain), Wendy Le Masurier, Maggie Dillon and Liz Corney. There were 270 teams altogether. It was a beautiful late summer’s day and it was a pleasure to take part in such a well organised event on such a beautiful island. Most Honiton visitors are already planning a return visit. Thanks to Wendy for organising a fantastic trip. Meanwhile, back in Devon, on the same day, other runners were representing the club at the Minster Challenge based at Axminster Community College. First back for Honiton was Chris Entwistle coming an excellent 2nd position in 52:49 although this was helped by the front runner Matt Clist going slightly off track and ending up coming 5th. Alasdair Moffett was next in coming 10th in 57:15 closely followed by Tom Bornet in 57:24. Jarrod Brown was putting in a rare appearance for the club and did himself proud coming 13th in 57:43. Suzanne Spiller was 1st lady back for Honiton and 2nd lady overall in a time of 59:28 and 16th place. Mark Andow was next back in 30th place in 1:03:34 followed by Simon Spiller 24 seconds later to complete Honiton’s team. There were 69 runners. Two of the older juniors, Henry Riddle and Iain Ross, took part in the Fun Run coming in together across the line in 7th place in a time of 22:18. There were 66 finishers. Thanks to all involved in organisation and marshalling of another great event. |
This Week2/12/13
Club CalendarWeekdays meet at 6:30 at
Honiton Community College to share cars unless driving direct to venue. What's On & News Page
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