20 intrepid runners turned out for this month's handicap, including, qualifiers, Malcolm, Hayden, Jo (young Jo) and Henry Riddle, the fastest Honiton Junior. It was Liz's turn to blast the field away with an impressive PB win with no other runner in sight. Then Henry and Jordon came sprinting for the line but Henry had youth on his side and held off the Ethiopian internationaL. But Jordon can be delighted with knocking over a minute off his PB.. Next in was Katie who made a great attempt to defend the monthly trophy running just one second short of last month's PB. She was chased over the line by her dad and the effort just gave Steve another PB. Other PB's were recorded by the fitter, faster Thorpes and Rod. Actually when I checked through the results Liz's win was not quite as impressive as it appeared, she and Kathy both had an extra minute's start on everyone else as I had deducted 3 minutes off their start times and two minutes from everyone else...durrrrr!. This means that Kathy slips down the actual finish order. There was another small start time error which results in Graham and Lesley swapping places. Mention must be made of Jo Jo who had to pull out with a thigh problem - she blames Howard's sprinting sessions, and Becky Matthews was really suffering with a stitch but kept battling on to the finish. 
The Handicap Trophy is currently headed by Wendy LeM but Nick B-C and Steve are hard on her heels. But Wendy W could snatch the title with one more run.
Thanks to  Mary, (Henry's mum), and Sam, Clare and Bruce for helping out at the finish.

Maggie was first away this month and stayed ahead of the chasing pack all the way round to record her first handicap win and an impressive new PB by 1 min 12 sec. 
She also did Killerton Parkrun for the first time last Saturday so watch out everyone Maggie is upping her game! JoJo and Wendy LM were second and third to start and that's how they finished, with JoJo very close to a Pb and Wendy shaving hers by 21 sec. Lesley was next in, having overtaken 4 of the runners in front of her. She has been putting in a lot more runs recently and the result was a new PB by 1 min. Nick T had a good run also recording a PB by 14 sec. The next half-minute saw the 7 runners charging for the line. Sam held off Bruce who had just past Sandra, Gerry and John, and these three quickly followed him over the line. John was spurred on over the last 150m by a shout from behind and Steve and Roger came in hard on his heels. With so many runners getting PB's Graham who started last could not make up the time to catch most of them, and Nick BC and Olivia likewise found themselves for once bringing up the rear.

We also had six runners turning out for their first handicap - Howard, Kathy, Jordon, Suzanne (who has started to come along over the last 3 weeks and whose husband Simon came for the first time last Monday), Katy who has been along from time to time (Dunkeswell pub run was the last time) and Ross who came on the Farway run on Monday. They all found it bit brutal but that's what a 5K time trial is like - all good for the fitness and perhaps good for the soul. Unfortunately Jordon lost touch with Graham who he started with, missed the turn back down to Cotleigh and headed off to Tower Cross. A lady on horseback gave him directions but the timer had been turned off by the time he got back.

Many thanks to Tracey, Vanessa and Pete for doing the timing and recording.

Having recruited Jennie and Jackie to do the timing I decided to dust off my handicap shoes and join in the fun. The great thing about this course is that all the climb comes in the first mile and none of it is really steep so I was looking forward to having a go. I  set off 46 secs after Handicap Queen Olivia, which was a tad depressing as I knew I had no chance of closing the gap. I did glimpse her in the distance from time to time and seemed to be gaining a bit but I was more concerned about the galloping hoard bearing down on me from behind. The first to come past was Nick BC who depressingly came by at just over half way. I hung on behind him and made a half-hearted attempt to go past, but that's just a red rag to Nick and he immediately moved out of cruise mode and sprinted away. So I resigned myself to at least 3rd place I set off down the hill where I could see that I was closing in on Gerry. As my downhill sprinting speed would bring me to the finish of a 100m after Usain Bolt had done his victory lap and was in the shower! it took longer than I hoped to overtake Gerry. Then there was the incentive of a few more victims ahead as I powered(?) down to the finish. However I soon heard the patter of galloping feet and Steve surged past on his way to 2nd place and a 5s PB followed a few moments later by Tim who had closed down the gap of over 3 minutes between us in a mere two-and-a-half miles! Next, running superbly in tandem, Graham and Richard came flying by. Graham had closed the 48s gap to Richard but Richard wasn't going to let him get away and they raced each other all the way to the line and both recorded PB's. As they disappeared into the distance I knew that Kevin, Bruce and Roger must be bearing down on me so there could be no let up on the run in and I managed to stay ahead to the finish. Hard work but I had a better run than expected and was close to my PB so very satisfied. 

Wendy, who I never saw, made it a hat-trick of wins and a hat-trick of PB's so a new Handicap Queen is usurping Olivia's throne. Sarah (Dean) having completed Paul & Jo's course did her qualifying run and will be one to watch next month.

The club runners were absent this month (not put off by the rain, surely?) so I couldn't grab anyone to help with recording. Not being a multi-tasking female I was just wondering how I could write down names and press a button at the same time when Pete appeared on his bike. Problem solved. Another plus was Pete's company which solved the other problem of the loneliness of the long distance timer.

We had a good turnout with Sam (Shute) coming along as a first-timer. Wendy (W) was first away and Graham had an 11 minute wait before he set off as last runner. Without the runners passing the finish as they do on their way round the 3 laps in town, Pete and I could only speculate as to who would round the final bend first. I was just saying to Pete that we could expect the runners after about 31 minutes when Wendy hurtled round the corner on 29 mins. with Jayne in hot pursuit a few yards behind. Wendy hung on to her lead recording a new PB by 42secs and so retained the shield that she won last month. But Jayne  knocked a staggering 2:15 off her last run in February. Then came Sam who recorded a good qualifying time of 27:31, followed by Jake and Wendy L. before  Rod, Olivia and Richard came in, all with PB performances - yes Olivia with another PB! Then we had a race for the line, with Bruce holding off Lesley who just held off Graham by a yard. Lesley was very pleased to notch up a 15 sec PB ahead of her Torbay HM on Sunday. The next 80 seconds saw the rest of the field home apart from Tracey who wasn't feeling too good so jogged back.

The Cotleigh loop is definitely a more enjoyable venue than the town course, so come and give it a go next month.

I could scarcely get in the Cotleigh Village Hall carpark when I turned up for this inaugural running of the Cotleigh loop in the handicap series. There were the usual handicap runners and some first-timers and also some club runners who had come to do a run and give their support. When everything had been sorted out and we were ready to go we had the welcome addition of Gerry & Maggie who drove leisurely into the carpark - Gerry never likes to rush his tea. We had the short walk to the start in Cleverhayes Lane where we sorted out starting times for the five new runners. These included the surprising addition of club captain Warren who normally sends Ceri out to do the handicap while he watches the tele. Several times we had to flatten ourselves against the hedge while the locals drove past in their battered 4x4's They probably thought we were an Olympic training camp - or perhaps not! Wendy (W) and Maggie were first away and then we slowly worked our way through the list, listening to the usual moans and excuses - "I don't know why I'm doing this", "I've got this peculiar problem in my little toe", etc etc. One runner kept disappearing up the road then shooting off down the road. Eventually I realised this was Kevin who was desperately trying to keep warm while he waited at the back of the queue. A wait of 17:29 minutes and nearly 2 minutes after the next fastest runner, Graham. After they had all gone Nick (starter's assistant) and I set off back  to the village hall only to hear the patter of feet behind us. Had someone had a lift or taken a short cut? It was the club runners returning  after doing the loop. I pointed out they could add another 3K by running round the Holmsleigh Green loop but apart from the lean mean running machine, Pete Lyus, they were happy to stay and cheer. We chatted to a car driver who told us the runners were on the way and had all asked her for a lift. The finish is 30m from a sharp bend - who would round it first? To the delight of the cheering spectators and sprinting like a proper athlete came Wendy (W) who collapsed over the line having knocked a huge 3:18 off last month's qualifying time. Then came April's winner Dan who also put in a great PB performance (1:43) that would normally have taken 1st place. He had just overtaken Wendy (Le M) who was hard on his heels also with a race-winning PB (2:29). Yet another of our ladies who just keeps on improving her distance and speed. Now I was kept busy logging the times while Nick was busy scribbling down names. A life-time spent trying to decipher kid's homework stood me in good stead when I had to read these later - who are Jovvy and Kovis? 4th home was young Jake Harvey, also with a whopping PB and well ahead of his old man, then good PB runs from Tracey & Rod before Steve D came in (wot no Bruce?). Then more PB's from Richard, Graham and Jennie (Jovvy?). Kovis only managed to overtake 2 handicap runners but  nevertheless he made up about 3 minutes on Tom and 3:30 on Bruce, and ran the course only 16 secs outside his PB at an astonishing 5:38 pace! It was good to have Tom back from uni. where he hasn't been doing much running and also good that Sascha could get away from his studies to have a run. 
 
Handicap newcomers, Sarah (S), Warren, Steve (Briggs), Gerry, Maggie & Lesley all laid down their marks but I had sadly over-estimated Gerry's fitness and sent him off with Dan who promptly opened up a lead of 30m by the first bend and that was the last Gerry saw of him.

Many thanks to Ian who set off running with Maggie and ended up encouraging Josh (Kevin's son) round the course.

Is there more climb on the Cotleigh course? Do all the PB's mean it's faster? Actually the climb is almost identical at about 225ft. Also the course was about 20m short as we should have finished on the grass through the carpark. Next month we will move the start up to the bend in Cleverhayes lane, to keep out of the way of the traffic and also to make up the missing 20m.

BRET WINS HIS FIRST HANDICAP RUN
As I was coughing for England at the time I wasn't there to witness Bret's triumph. Neither did I witness the late arrival of those who had gone over to Cotleigh, thinking that the venue had changed this month and not next. Thanks to Roger for taking charge