On Sunday a small group from Honiton Running Club set off for Bideford in the torrential rain unaware of the astonishing performance they were about to witness. By the time they arrived in Bideford thankfully the rain had cleared and the town was taken over with well over 1000 runners from all over the South West to take part in the Bideford Half Marathon. The route is slightly undulating on the way out but the route back is on the Tarka Trail, a disused railway line, and therefore almost flat which can lead to good times. Honiton runners have a habit of doing fast times and gaining PBs on this course (e.g. Nick Bradley-Carter, Pete Ruhen to name but two) and today was no exception. First back for Honiton, after battling against the wind over the last couple of miles, was Julie Payne who managed a PB at 1:35:19 and was 3rd in her category confirming her excellent form at the moment which bodes well for the London Marathon. Second back was Roger Saunders in a time of 1:37:18 closely followed by Grahame Rooms at 1:37:24 though both were unaware of each other. For Grahame this was a new PB so he was well pleased and Roger was within a minute of his run last year. Next came the amazing performance of Brent Dicks who absolutely smashed his previous PB by 17 mins to finish in 1:42:51 thanks to all the hard London Marathon training he has been doing. Warren Oak followed in Brent’s wake in 1:49:32 also training for London. Vanessa Glyn Jones, also running the London Marathon finished in 2:15:29 which was 10th in her category so a very respectable time. So with 3 PBs Honiton runners returned with smiles on their faces glad they had braved the rain and enjoyed the Tarka Trail.  

Spring had sprung in Dalwood last Sunday as the Dalwood 3 Hills Challenge, mini challenge and fun run saw a fantastic turnout of both Honiton Running Club adults and juniors. The 3 Hills Challenge is 10 miles of multi-terrain and very tough, mainly off road with runners taken through streams on several occasions. The weather was perfect but there was still plenty of mud to wade through. There are definitely more than 3 hills that see virtually all racers walking the steepest ascents.

Ian Stewart doesn’t do many races but he usually turns up to Dalwood and this week he stormed home to lead the Honiton runners in. Next in was Bruce Strawbridge. Richard Harvey and Steve Davey had had a battle for some of the route with Richard finally coming in first. Steve had Richard Harris almost catch him on one of the hills so Steve was kept on his toes but he did manage to hold the second Richard off. Judy Davey had a great race, managing to knock over 8 minutes off last year’s time to come 3rd lady overall and win her age category. Judy had overtaken Howard Bidmead on the last knap with Howard finishing just a few seconds after her. It was Rod Inglis’ first attempt at this race and he thoroughly enjoyed it coming in next for Honiton. Vernon Gillard was fresh back from an all inclusive holiday in Jamaica so he knew he was slightly off form but turned up anyway to come home next. Nick Bradley-Carter is getting better at those steep descents finishing next ahead of Pippa Westall who ran out of steam at some point during the race. Denis Costello treated Dalwood as a training run for London Marathon and finished next with newish Honiton runner Mark Andow hot on his heals. Olivia Higginson finished not too far behind less than a minute ahead of Wayne Spiller. Pete Lyus was next back followed by John Burgess who had stopped to admire the view and take a few photos along the way including the finishing line just before he crossed it! Linda Pike and Carol Turnham ran the whole course together and completed the Honiton line up.

Honiton results: 11th Ian Stewart 1:17, 19th Bruce Strawbridge 1:22, 20th Richard Harvey 1:25, 21st Steve Davey 1:26, 24th Richard Harris 1:27, 34th Judy Davey 1:32, 38th Howard Bidmead 1:32, 46th Rod Inglis 1:35, 52nd Vernon Gillard 1:38, 59th Nick Bradley-Carter 1:39, 67th Pippa Westall 1:43, 84th Denis Costello 1:48, 87th Mark Andow 1:48, 90th Olivia Higginson 1:49, 93rd Wayne Spiller 1:50, 100th Pete Lyus 1:53, 102nd John Burgess 1:55, 113th Linda Pike 2:12 and 114th Carol Turnham 2:12. There were 122 finishers.

The mini challenge is approximately 4 miles long and attracted 5 Honiton juniors. The race was won by Josh Coates of AVR  in 23 minutes 58 and the next three places were all taken by Honiton members. Reuben Heeler-Frood was 2nd in 25:50, Iain Ross was 3rd in 26:02 and Findlay Fuller was 3rd in 28:44. Jake Harvey and Morgan Davy were the other Honiton runners coming 7th in 31:28 and 8th in 32:41 respectively. There were 13 runners.

The fun run is open to everyone of any age and two younger Honiton members took part. Arthur Heeler-Frood and Sasha Davy had great runs taking the 1st and 3rd positions. There were 15 runners.

Thanks to the Dalwood Run Committee for putting on such a great event with the help of Axe Valley Runners. Thanks also to everyone else involved with organisation including the marshals and cake makers and, of course, the land owners for the loan of their land on the day.

It’s The Dalwood 3 Hills Challenge next Sunday. The main run is 10 miles but the mini-challenge is only 4. We normally have a good turnout of adults and juniors for this and the mini-challenge is a good event for those who don’t feel up to the full run. Not everyone wants to run but some of you might like to dust off the bike and ride over and some of you might fancy a walk along part of the course near the village. At the same time you can give the runners a cheer as they finish. 
The event starts at 11:00.
Share cars from Sports Centre at 9:45
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On Sunday, 5th February three Honiton runners set off to Sherborne for the Blackmore Vale Half Marathon with an honorary member in tow, Simon Earl. They all awoke expecting ice but it turned out to be a clear and sunny morning. The race starts off down hill but this lulls the runners in to false hope as the next 12 miles is hilly with the last mile up hill to the finish.

First to finish was Graham Reeves with a personal best time for the distance in 102nd place in 1.35.33. Nick Bradley-Carter was happy to get under the 1 hour 50 mark in a great time of 1.49.18 in 268th place. Simon is in training for the Grizzly and this was his first ever half marathon which he finished in a stunning time of 1.51.23 and was 295th. Last to finish for the team was Olivia Higginson who two years ago said never again will she run this race as all she remembered were all the hills and not the flattish few miles in the middle. She was extremely happy to gain a pb in 1.53.47. She was 322nd out of 517 runners. The winner was Stephen Way from Bournemouth AC in 1.10.33. Everyone enjoyed a sandwich and cake before heading back to Devon.

Graham Reeves was out again last Sunday, chasing another Half Marathon pb. He took part in the Exeter Half which is a 3 lap, traffic free course on the footpaths and cycle ways beside the River Exe and the Exeter Canal. He was delighted to manage his pb coming 47th in 1:33:04. The winner was Martyn Bean of Brighton and Hove AC in a time of 1:15:09 and there were 268 finishers.

17 Honiton Juniors took part in the 4th of the Exeter 3K series last night. As there were only 60 competitors Honiton was by far the biggest club. As always they ran very well and did the club proud. Six managed to run PB's and three of these, Layla Felgate, Jack Elsom, and Iain Ross made it 3 PB's in a row. The slowest Junior still ran at 8.3 min/mile pace so half  the senior club would have been left trailing in her wake and the 5 fastest sped round at 6 min/mile including an 11 year old boy. Don't you wish you were young again! As it is half-term next week expect to see some of the Juniors taking part in the club handicap. 

Axe Valley who are know for their zany ideas suddenly had an explosion of new events. Any Which Way You Can was one of these. You are given a map,some check points and off you go into the wide blue yonder to try and find your way round. The intrepid Honiton teams had no problems.Tracey, Clare and Mark (Andow) did the shorter 9 mile route while the rest of us opted for 15 miles. The weather was kind, the scenery fabulous,the hills steeper than ever, and at the finish the pasty was delicious and the tea like nectar, Bring on the Beast 

The third running of Honiton Running Club’s Blackdown Beast took place last Saturday. Every year it has become more popular and this year it was a sell out weeks before the event when the 100th runner was registered. It is a social run and not a race and participants could choose to run the full distance of 16 miles or stop at 10 miles where a mini-bus was waiting to return shorter route runners back to their cars. For the first time the headquarters was at Highfield Social Club, Dunkeswell which proved to be ideal with plenty of parking and more importantly great value food on offer afterwards.

There are no marshals as such but runners are given a booklet produced and illustrated by Chairman, John Burgess. This includes written directions as well as maps of the various legs and from this runners find their own way (hopefully). After leaving the Social Club runners undertake the longest and toughest leg before arriving at Smeatharpe Village Hall and very welcome mulled cider and succulent hot pasties courtesy of the ladies of Smeatharpe W.I. and dogsbody Colvin. After Smeatharpe, it’s hard to get going again but next stop is the Sidmouth Arms at Upottery and more sustenance. Then onto the Luppitt Inn which thankfully had been pre warned of the arrival of 100 muddy, thirsty runners. For those who had never been to Luppitt, the pub was one not to be forgotten as it is not much more than the landlady’s lounge and definitely standing room only. It’s a good job the crowd were well spread out at that point. The final stretch was a different route to previous years and a much more interesting way of getting back to Dunkeswell.

Weather conditions were ideal following a damp week which meant plenty of mud and other similar substances to wade through but a clear sky meant stunning views. Thanks to everyone involved with organisation especially behind the scenes or supporting runners on the day including the Smeatharpe ladies, Highfield Social Club caterers as well as all the landowners who kindly allowed 200 feet to trample their land.

Blackdown Beast 2012 Page with comments from runners and photos here

The previous weekend saw Stephen Boyes run the Gloucester Marathon. There was a mix up with the recording of his time but Steve actually ran it in 3 hour 42 mins which he was reasonably pleased with as it was quite a hilly course.

10 intrepid runners and two dogs explored Leg one of the Blackdown Beast today. After a bit of a mix up and delay over "Highfield" being taken for "Airfield" we got under way. Warning to Beast runners in two weeks - it's very very muddy, ankle deep in places. The weather was cold but sunny so a very enjoyable run, but unfortunately two weeks too early for the mulled cider and hot pasty at Smeatharpe. The stupidity of the chairman meant he had left his car keys at Dunkeswell while his car was at Smeatharpe - poor old boy!