Last Sunday, Howard Bidmead ran the Jack ‘n’ Jill Challenge in Midsomer Norton, Bath. It was 6 ½ miles of challenging off road running with virtually no tarmac to be seen. There was mud galore, rivers and the odd hill but beautiful countryside, rolling fields, hidden valleys, footpaths and woodland tracks and styles. A gem of a race and one to be repeated next year. Howard was pleased with his finish in 51.47.
Also on Sunday, Stephen Boyes chose to run the Waendel Walk Marathon in Wellingborough instead of taking the more usual option of walking it. He was pleased with his time of 5 hours 29 minutes and the fact that he only managed to get lost once and visit a village not on route which added an extra two miles. He didn’t mind too much as he saw it as extra training for the Forces March in 10 days. Visit Steve’s Just Giving page to support The Veterans Charity.
Meanwhile, Steve and Judy Davey took a trip to Combe Sydenham Country Park near Taunton to take part in the Black Death Run. This boasts itself as a very challenging off road run taking in over 2800 foot of climb. It was the first time they had taken part and they did find it tough. Despite this, the views were beautiful on a gloriously clear sunny day meaning you could see for miles. The run is so named as the route passes through a hamlet wiped out by The Plague in 1349. It was disconcerting for runners at times as they kept coming across marshals dressed as Grim Reapers pointing the way. Steve finished in 1:30:44 in 30th place and Judy finished in 1:37:55 in 60th place. The race was won by Martin Shoots in a time of 1:17 and there were 261 finishers.
Honiton Running Club’s very own Honiton Hippo took place last Sunday. Earlier in the week, the threat of a very swollen River Otter threatened to put a stop to the infamous river crossings but the weather had turned in the Running Club’s favour and a quick risk assessment meant that the run could stick to its usual route. Sticky was certainly the order of the day as there was plenty of mud which all added to the experience as well as some good old Devon hills throughout the 7 ½ miles of woods, fields, paths and roads. If runners weren’t too quick, there was the chance to spot the resident Hippo wallowing in the Land Rover Experience!
The race was won by Colin Snook of Cornwall AC in a time of 51:17 and the first lady was Niki Morgan of Chepstow in 1:00:44. Second lady was local Axe Valley Runner, Eleanor Wood in 1:03:54.
Although many Honiton Running Club members were involved with organisation and marshalling, some did manage to run. First home was Steve Davey who had turned up expecting to marshal but put on his trainers ready for the off. He was glad he did as a very surprised Steve managed 1st Vet 50 coming 22nd in 1 hour, 1 minute and 54 seconds. Another very surprised first time Honiton runner to win her category was Lesley Crocker who came 70th in 1:19:05.
Other Honiton runners’ results: 34th Rod Inglis 1:05:58, 42nd Tom Dunn 1:08:05, 50th Steve Briggs 1:09:44, 66th Sarah Warren 1:17:22, 86th Gerry Evans 1:25:49 and 100th Pete Lyus 1:34:07. There were 112 finishers.
The Hippo Calf also took place at the same time which is mainly aimed at juniors aged 9 and over. It is approximately 1 ½ miles and is a mixture of roads and woods although the youngsters are taken back through the same river crossing as the adults. The race was won by Johnny Livingstone in a time of 18 minutes 2 seconds. Honiton’s own Iain Ross came 2nd in a time of 18:05. He also took 1st U13 boy. Johnny’s sister Florence was the first girl in 18:47 and 8th place overall. There were 66 finishers and the primary school cup was awarded to Feniton who also won two years ago. There were 39 primary school runners from 11 different primary schools with schools needing 3 or more runners to be eligible for the cup.
(Note 5min should be deducted from the following times)
There were plenty of Honiton junior members achieving some very creditable results with several taking home category prizes. The first three U15 Boys were all Honiton RC members: Harry Felgate was 4th overall in 18:12, Sam Pragley 14th in 19:18 and Jake Harvey 15th in 19:24. Sasha Davey was 1st U11G in 19:57, Jack Elsom came 5th overall in 18:13 and 3rd U13B, Morgan Davy 2nd U13G in 20:36. Other Honiton junior members included: 6th Rowan Westall 18:34, 13th Arthur Heeler-Frood 19:12, 13th Ruth Squires 19:13, 16th Harry Whiteley 19:31, 19th Thomas Lilley 20:05, 23rd Olly Talbot 20:27, 27th Joe Hollox 20:42, 28th Jack Lovegrove 20:50, 41st Ben Pragley 23:13, 42nd Hannah Land 23:35,
Thanks to the many people who supported and assisted in any way and especially the landowners for allowing many muddy feet to cross their land.
Meanwhile, in Sturminster Newton, Graham Reeves ran the North Dorset Village Marathon and after a rather chilly start to the morning, the sun came out just in time for the start of the race. Graham started the race really well and at half way he was well on course for a quick debut marathon. However, the wheels came well and truly off at about mile 18 with both legs starting to seize up causing him to drop the pace and literally crawl over the finish line in 3 hours 47 minutes. Nevertheless he was very pleased and looking forward to many more marathons in the future.
Eight Honiton Running Club members joined the thousands of other runners to take part in the recent Virgin London Marathon. Several were running for the Club’s charity this year of The Baton whose founder is the Running Club’s president Alan Rowe MBE. The charity raises and maintains awareness of life for service personnel in the armed services and their families. The runners would like to thank all those who sponsored them generously.
Fran Bond was first Honiton runner home in 3:18 having run a race with very even 5k splits throughout the 26.2 miles. She finished within the first 3000 places which is a great result with a very similar time to when she last ran it 2 years ago. All the Honiton runners have been training extremely hard for the event and Julie Payne was definitely no exception. She has seen some personal best times over recent weeks for races over different lengths and she managed another pb at London knocking 10 minutes off last year’s time to break the magic 3 ½ hour mark in 3:28.
This was Brent Dick’s first marathon and although he was nursing a cold and suffered during the second half, he managed a respectable time of 4:14. Amazingly he finished just 5 seconds quicker than Claire Pomeroy. Claire went really well until about 20 miles when a recurring foot problem came back, plus blisters and a bit of dizziness, so lost a lot of time from then but nevertheless was still pleased with her time.
Nicola Campbell finished next in 4:24 and Warren Oak was not too far behind. Warren took part last year and was determined to have a better experience this year. He set himself a realistic pace and managed to stick to it for about 18 miles. He did manage to beat last year’s time to finish in 4:33 but despite appreciating his family supporting him, he still felt a little disappointed.
Denis Costello found the congestion particularly challenging and crossing the finish line was definitely a highlight. He completed in 5:15. Vanessa Glyn-Jones finished three minutes later finding it too long and hard and vowing never again.
All Honiton runners really appreciated the cheers and encouragement of their fellow club mates particularly on Tower Bridge which gave them a massive boost particularly at the point when they were at a particularly low ebb having run over 20 miles.
By contrast, the previous weekend Stephen Boyes and Ian Stewart ran the hilly Brighton Marathon in a cold wind. Ian Stewart was running his first marathon and finished in 3 hours 38 minutes whereas Steve has run many more and finished in 3:42. Both the men’s and ladies’ course records were broken by Kenya’s Peter Some in 2:12 and Belarus’s Sviatlana Kouhan 2:29 respectively.
On Easter Monday three Honiton Running Club members took part in the Easter Bunny 10k based at Yeovilton. This is a fast flat course with the first half going through West Camel and Podimore before the final 5k which follows the route of the summer Yeovilton 5k series circling the air base. The race attracts the novice runner as well as the personal best time hunter. The Honiton members were all of the latter group and were not disappointed as there were pbs all round. Julie Payne was first back in 103rd position in the fantastic time of 42 minutes and 1 second. This proves her good form ready for the London Marathon in a few weeks time. This was Steve Briggs first race for the club and he was pleased with the 198th position in 47:56. Clare Melbourne has been improving rapidly and confirmed that she was justly awarded the most improved runner award at the Club’s AGM recently. She came 257th in 53:28. All runners were rewarded with a very welcome Easter Egg as they crossed the line making the run worthwhile even if a pb wasn’t achieved! Kevin Heywood of Bideford AAC won the race in 30:19 and there were 373 finishers.
The inaugural running of the Kilmington Kanter on Good Friday saw a good turnout of Honiton Running Club members. The race is a multi-terrain 7 mile race in the woods, fields and roads around Kilmington with money raised going to the primary school. The race boasts 2 hills of about a mile long each although the Honiton contingent felt they had known a lot worse. Kevin Hawker was first home for Honiton in 4th place overall in 45 minutes 38 seconds but he would have finished higher if he hadn’t taken a wrong turn. Bruce Strawbridge and Steve Davey had a battle throughout the race and ended up sprinting together at the finish only to be given exactly the same finishing time of 50:33. However, Bruce did just get in front and came 18th to Steve’s 19th place. Richard Harris was next back in 25th place in 52:29 with Howard Bidmead finishing one place behind, having had a great run, to finish in 53:31. Vernon Gillard finished 29th in 54:13. The next three were vying for positions throughout the run and swapping several times. Nick Bradley-Carter was the eventual victor coming 36th in 56:17 with Judy Davey 37th in 56:26 and Pippa Westall 38th in 56:59. John Burgess treated this as a warm up for the Easter Bunny 10k in Yeovilton and was delighted to finish just under the hour in 59:55. Olivia wasn’t far behind coming in 31 seconds and 3 places later. Tracey had her usual fantastic sprint finish to come in 64th in 72:29. Tom Merson of Exmouth Harriers won the race setting the target for future years of 39:07. There were 81 runners.
There was also a 2.5 mile fun run and junior race on offer which was a challenging course through Kilmington woods. Honiton’s Rowan Westall took part coming 9th in 21:55. This was the first run for Wendy Williams after a knee operation and she was pleased with how it went coming 18th in 27:51. There were 20 runners.
On Saturday three Honiton runners decided to participate in a once in lifetime experience to run through the brand new London Olympic Park and finish in the new Olympic Stadium. The Olympic Park Run was organised by the National Lottery as a tester event for the games and 5000 runners were selected to take part. As luck would have it for the runners the unseasonal heat wave came to an end and so it was cool, ideal for running. Princess Beatrice (running herself) got the 5 mile race underway and the runners then looped round most of the venues in the park though some were still in the final stages of construction. Entering the stadium in the final mile involved running in a subterranean service tunnel for half a mile before emerging into the stadium with 10,000 spectators cheering you on which was an inspiring experience. Julian Gigg finished first in 384th place with a time of 34 minutes 3 seconds for the 5 miles and closely followed by Roger Saunders in 743rd place at 36:22. Greg Axsel was taking lots of photos around the course so had a more leisurely run finishing at 42:51 as the 2352 runner to finish. Roger and Julian found themselves rubbing shoulders with the likes of Sally Gunnell and Steve Backley at the finish. The event no doubt tested out things and on arrival there was a huge queue through Westfield Shopping Centre to get through the airport style security but it moved fairly swiftly. Roll on July when the elite runners get into action there!
On Sunday with the weather warming up again 6 Honiton RC members took part in the Taunton Half Marathon posting some great times. First back was Vernon Gillard in 1 hour 37 minutes followed not too far behind by Nick Bradley-Carter in 1:40. Olivia Higginson had a great run finishing in 1:47 and next back was John Burgess who was having a good run until his legs cramped up at 11 1/5 miles. His target was 1:55 but he just missed this to finish in 1:56. Nevertheless, John was pleased as this is the longest distance he has run for 18 months. John had passed Clare Melbourne within the first mile and was waiting for her to overtake him at any point. This didn’t happen but Clare was delighted with her time just 1 minute after John of 1:57. These times meant personal bests for Nick, Olivia and Clare so well done to them. Helen Davy also took part but she was running with a friend and finished in 2:13. They were treated to delicious cakes after the race, courtesy of Clare. Wayne Spiller bravely took on the two lap challenge to run the full marathon. The two races start at the same time so the second lap does get a bit lonely. Wayne should be pleased with his time of 4:18.
Also on Sunday, four other Honiton runners took on the huge challenge of Sidmouth Running Club’s Exe to Axe which starts at Exmouth and follows the coastal path all the way to Seaton. The route is all but 21 miles and took runners through Budleigh Salterton, Sidmouth, Weston beach, Branscombe and Beer. The race boasts over 4000 feet of climb (more than the Grizzly). Bruce Strawbridge came in first for Honiton getting his own back on Steve Davey who beat him in the Grizzly. Bruce finished in 26th place in 3 hours 28 with Steve coming 32nd in 3:30. Judy Davey was next back and was delighted to manage not only to find her way without deviation but she finished as 3rd lady. She finished 44th overall in 3:39. Howard Bidmead, the final runner for Honiton, took it fairly easy to finish in 90th place in 4:32. There were 101 finishers and Tom Merson won the race in an incredible 2:26.
 Glorious weather, unprecedented numbers, thunderous drumming from Tano Taiko and a wonderful range of costumes combined to make last Sunday the best Honiton Sport Relief day so far. The steady trickle of entries over the last few weeks gradually built to a flood on Sunday morning as mums, dads, children and grandparents poured into The Mackarness Hall to join the event. Honiton Running Club was hard pressed to keep up with taking money, issuing numbers and serving cakes. One couple had come up from Torquay to take part because they said that the Honiton Mile had been such a friendly atmosphere. Eventually over 530 participants were registered – 130 on the day. The Mile participants were put through their paces in a warm up by Tracey Strawbridge before making their way to the start. At 10:30 they were given a rousing send off by Matt Young from Radio Exe and the front of the crowd sprinted off down the High St. Spectators were treated to a great sight as Honiton Primary school runners in blue tops, dodged round Sylvester the cat, a large green hippo, Bob the Builder and a jogging banana. Fairies and princesses competed with Batman and Robin, and Mario and Toad. The sprinters were way down the High street by the time mayor Vernon Whitlock in full regalia sedately crossed the start line in company with the other walkers. One very young child hitched a lift on her dad’s shoulders but most of the children were way ahead of their parents. As they approached New St they were cheered on by a crowd of spectators and the strong rhythmic Japanese-style drumming of Tana Taiko. It was not long before the first runner, Stephen Crompton came sprinting down New St to the finish, quickly followed by Honiton Running Club junior Jordan Roe-Lavery. Then came charging children with red-faced parents puffing along behind - – “ I never knew she could run so fast and so far” said one exhausted mum about her 6 year-old daughter. Medals, bottles of water and real bananas were handed out and the runners enjoyed the sun and the stunning performance of the drummers. An hour later it was the turn of the 3 mile and 6 mile runners, to set off. They did a loop down the High St and round the top of the town via Tesco and St Michael’s church. Lots of juniors from Honiton Running Club took part with Rowan Westall coming in second, followed by Harry Whitely and Lydia Clapp. The young lad who came in first was quickly recruited to the club by leader Richard Harvey. First home in the 6 mile event was Dominic Schneider of the Axe Valley club. It was a great occasion and a fitting climax to weeks of preparation by Honiton club members, particularly Warren Oak, and also to the many Sport Relief activities by local schools and other groups. £561 pounds was raised by the street collection so with the entry fees, sponsorship and other fund-raising activities we expect to exceed the £7505 donated in 2010. Photos of the event are available to see and download from Honiton Running Club website at www.honitonrc.com.
Honiton Running Club held its AGM and awards evening recently when deserving members were awarded for their efforts during 2011. The Captain’s cup for male runner of the year went to Nick Bradley-Carter and the female version went to Julie Payne. Bruce Strawbridge took home three awards which included the Members’ Member of the Year Award, the Points’ Trophy and the Cross Country Award. Olivia Higginson did almost as well winning the monthly Handicap Cup as well as the Runner Up Points’ Trophy. Brent Dicks was the runner up for the monthly Handicap and Clare Melbourne was voted by the committee as the Most Improved Runner. The Chairman’s Cup was awarded to Paul Lowman for his work on the website for many years. Flowers and chocolates were awarded to individual members who have helped with organising events or generally helping the club behind the scenes. The committee of 2011 was dissolved and new members elected. The 2011 officers were all reinstated for another year meaning that John Burgess will once again be Chairperson until the next AGM.
Honiton Running Club junior members have been taking part every month during the winter in the Exeter 3k series run on the track at Exeter Arena. The final round of the series finished with some great personal best times and the juniors collected overall category prizes in nearly all the age categories. The end of season awards are for the best 4 position finishes within their age group and our juniors proved that they have been training hard over the winter. Layla Felgate and Becky Matthews took the top awards in their age group with Katie Davey achieving a very respectable 2nd place in the u17 age group. Florence Swan and Lydia Clapp took the 2nd place in very competitive age categories and should be pushing to win them next year. Jack Elsom and Ian Ross were 2nd and 3rd respectively in the largest age group (U13 boys) with Harry Whiteley very close in 4th. The under 15 boys’ category was another hard age group with the Honiton boys producing some great results. Henry Riddle came home with the 3rd place and Reuben Heeler-Frood and Jake Harvey tying for 4th. Honiton RC is the largest participating club in the Exeter 3k series with an average of 16 juniors competing at each event and they are all a credit to the club and themselves in the way they compete and support their fellow athletes.
Julie Payne was the sole Honiton runner at the Gloucester 20 mile race last Sunday and she was thrilled to finish in exactly 2 ½ hours which must be a real boost of confidence before she tackles the London Marathon.
 At the club AGM last night the trophies for 2011 were awarded:
Julie Payne: Female runner of the year
Bruce Strawbridge: Points Trophy, Cross-country trophy and Members Shield
Nick Bradley-Carter: Male runner of the year
Brent Dicks: Handicap Trophy - runner up
Olivia Higginson: Handicap Trophy and Points Trophy runner up.
Clare Melbourne: Most Improved
Paul Lowman - Chairman's Good Egg Trophy - years of work managing old website
Honiton Running Club managed a good turnout for Axe Valley Runners’ 25th anniversary Grizzly & Cub runs on Sunday. The Grizzly boasts it is an extremely tough race of twentyish miles taking in plenty of mud, hills, bogs and beach and runners were definitely not disappointed. Although, arguably, the course was a little kinder this year with not as much beach. The weather was unseasonably warm for the time of year and, at times, runners did find it a little hot and even managed a sun tan.
Ian Stewart was first back for Honiton in exactly 3 hours, knocking an amazing 31 minutes off his time from last year. Richard Harvey also had a cracking race coming in next in a time of 3:13 and he also managed to knock an incredible 34 minutes off last year. Steve Davey has been beaten by Bruce Strawbridge with monotonous regularity in recent races but today it was Steve’s turn to come out on top finishing in 3:26, two minutes ahead of Bruce. Steve’s wife, Judy was next back very pleased with her 3:32 finish. She had overtaken Julian Gigg and Richard Harris during the second half of the race as they were both suffering with fatigue. They finished in 3:35 and 3:40 respectively. Stephen Boyes was next back in 3:42 followed two minutes later by Vernon Gillard. There was a bit of a gap until the next Honiton runner made an appearance at the finish line in the form of Howard Bidmead in 3:53. Rod Inglis pushed himself to finish in exactly 4 hours after only obtaining a Grizzly place earlier in the week. This was Helen Davy’s first Grizzly and she found it tough finishing 2 minutes after Rod. Olivia Higginson and Nick Bradley- Carter were also running the race for the first time and ran much of it together before Nick’s wheels dropped off so Olivia pulled away to finish in 4:06 just 2 minutes ahead of Nick. Warren Oak has been training for London Marathon recently and has obviously got used to road running as he struggled with this race to finish in 4:14. Wayne Spiller also struggled to finish in 4:39 as he has just finished a cold but Tracey Strawbridge was very pleased with her finishing time of 4:44.
The Cub run is a little under 9 miles and still challenging without the bogs. Runners are still treated to a fair stretch of beach right at the start which saps the energy of even the fastest runners. Pippa Westall was delighted to be first back for Honiton in 1:25 followed by Sarah Warren five minutes later. Pete Lyus enjoyed his run to finish in 1:46 and this was by far the toughest run young Becky Matthews had completed finishing in 1:49. Louise Saunders finished the line up for Honiton to finish in 1:55.
Thanks to AVR for organising the race, especially Race Director Garry Perratt. Also the cheerful marshals, some of whom were out for over 6 hours, as well as the landowners for allowing thousands of feet to churn up their land.
On the same day but on very different terrain, Graham Reeves completed the Bath Half Marathon. He finished in 1:35: 45 seconds: not quite another P.B. The weather was fantastic and the course was nice and fast. The race was won by Edwin Kiptoo of Kenya setting a new course record.
Congratulations to Heather Foundling-Hawker who has been selected to represent Great Britain in the world 100km championships to be held in Italy later this year following her win at the 40 mile track race of the Welsh Ultra Championships last weekend. Well done Heather!
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