Three Honiton runners took part in the second running of the Herepath Half which follows the Staple Fitzpaine Herepath Trail in the Blackdown Hills and is approximately 13.7 miles long. The trail reaches the highest point in the Blackdowns with fabulous views. Herepaths were originally important trade and communication routes between settlements during the ninth century  - they are often referred to as people’s paths. The race was won by Tom Mellor of Hydrographic Harriers in a time of 1:34:31. Ben Stone was first back for Honiton coming 7th in 1:43:13. Bruce Strawbridge was next back coming 25th in 1:51:58 having thoroughly enjoyed the route. Tim Wigram was the final Honiton runner finishing 56th in 2:09:19. There were 145 finishers.
 
Honiton runner to be mentored by world triathlon champ

Honiton RC member Katy Campbell recently won a competition run by 220 Triathlon magazine to be mentored by four time Ironman world champion and world record holder Chrissie Wellington.  After saying for years that she would never dabble in triathlon due to her hatred of swimming, Katy finally took the plunge to raise money for Bristol-based St Peter's hospice after her good friend Laura was diagnosed with cancer.  She was well and truly hooked after her first event, so when the competition was advertised, it seemed like too good an opportunity to miss.  

Katy now has Chrissie on speed dial, and regularly meets up with her and a qualified triathlon coach on a regular basis, often with a photographer and magazine editor in attendance!  As well as expert advice and the odd freebie, it's providing Katy with added confidence and inspiration, and certainly helped her round her first Olympic distance event at Dorney Lake a couple of weeks ago.  She's now planning a tribute to Laura, who sadly died on Boxing Day last year, by entering a trio of events based around the places she lived.  This will involve the Edinburgh half marathon in May, the Bristol triathlon in June and then the Alpe d'Huez triathlon in July, which incorporates the famous Tour de France climb amongst others!

Katy will be continuing to raise money for St Peter's Hospice, so if you would like to help, please visit her justgiving site:  http://justgiving.com/triathlonforlaura.  You can also follow her story in blog form:  http://mrskatycampbell.wordpress.com and on twitter:  @mrskatycampbell.

Honiton Running Club members filled a mini bus heading for Minehead last Sunday to take part in the Exmoor Stagger and Stumble. The Stagger is  a 16 mile off road course using the steep and varied terrain surrounding Minehead. There were plenty of spectacular views as it was a bright clear day and the race has a total ascent of 3627 ft. The route runs from Minehead to the highest point on Exmoor, Dunkery Beacon and then back to Minehead following a mixture of paths, rough terrain and tracks and both the outward and return leg involved tough climbs. James Baker won the Stagger for the 5th year running with a time of 1 hour 56 minutes and 20 seconds. Ben Stone was first back for Honiton and one of four of the Honiton contingency to take a wrong turn adding about ¼ mile to the distance. Ben finished 29th in 2:27:04. Richard Harvey was 42nd finishing in 2:37:12 with Alasdair Moffett one place and 20 seconds behind with Alasdair taking in the added distance. Steve Davey was next back in 51st place in 2:40:16 closely followed by Bruce Strawbridge who finished 60th in 2:43:10. Judy Davey was the first Honiton lady back and also took the wrong turn. She was 68th in 2:46:44. Mark Dallyn finished next in 93rd place in 2:59:21 and Esme Moffett also went wrong and finished 107th in 3:03:18. There were 175 finishers.

Runners had the choice of tackling the much shorter Stumble race which is 6.8 miles long. Although not taking runners to Dunkery Beacon, it is still a testing course. Anthony Vangasse won the race in 46:57. Howard Bidmead was first back for Honiton winning his age category and coming 22nd in 1:00:18. Richard Harris had been overtaken by Howard just before the finish line and had to be content to finish 1 place and just 4 seconds later. Pippa Westall was first Honiton lady home in that race coming 39th in 1:05:55. Juliet Hall and Clare Melbourne ran together to complete the Honiton contingent coming 75th and 76th with Juliet 1:21:03 and Clare 9 seconds later. There were 90 finishers. 

Several Honiton runners took a mini bus to beautiful Studland in Dorset to take part in the Studland Stampede 12k race last Sunday. This is a tough off-road race that takes runners over heath land and sandy beaches offering stunning views of Old Harry Rocks, Brownsea Island and the Isle of Wight. The race is fairly flat but the last 2 ½ miles is particularly tough with runners having to cope with soft sand in the dunes and then 2 miles of beach back to the finish. The race was won by Andrew Ridley in a time of 45 minutes 55 seconds and the first back for Honiton was Kevin Hawker who came 6th in 48:08. Tom Bornet is a regular at this race and he came 35th in 54:47. Rod Inglis had yet another great race to finish 41st in 55:22 and he was followed by Steve Davey who came 55th in 56:51. Howard Bidmead had organised the club outing and he was delighted with his race to come 82nd in 58:57. Stephen Boyes had overtaken Judy Davey on the sand dunes and he did well to come 91st in 1:00:17 with Judy coming 6 places and 37 seconds later. Nick and Sandra Thorpe couldn’t remember the last time they had raced so they were pleased with their finish positions of 296 and 368 respectively with times of 1:14:08 and 1:19:56. Gerry Evans enjoyed his race coming 407th in 1:25:29 and Wendy Williams took a tumble bruising her leg as well as her ego. She finished 424th in 1:29:39. There were 446 finishers. Upon their return, finishers were given a wonderful goody bag packed full of beauty products, flapjack and jam!

Honiton Running Club had a good number of runners at the Minster Challenge 7 ½ mile multi-terrain race based in Axminster. It was a beautiful morning, perfect for running and after heavy rain the day before it had the added bonus of a bit of mud! The race was won by Matt Clist of Axe Valley Runners in the brilliant time of 45 minutes 54 seconds. He was followed in 2nd place by Honiton’s Ben Stone who finished in 52:03 having battled to hold his position at times. Alasdair Moffett had a great run to finish in 55:12 in 7th place and he was followed just two places later by Tom Bornet who finished in 56:06. Rod Inglis continues his top form to finish 11th in 57:07 followed not as closely as usual by Steve Davey who came 16th in 59:36 having found the race particularly hard. Mark Dallyn had a steady race to come 18th in 1:00:56 whilst Judy Davey finished 22nd in1:02:19 coming 2nd lady overall. Howard Bidmead had beaten Judy the previous week over a shorter distance but he had to be content to have her overtake him and finish one place behind her in 1:02:57. Richard Harris turned his ankle which caused pain slowing him down to finish 29th in 1:05:57. The next three Honiton ladies were very close throughout the race with Esme Moffett finishing 30th in 1:06:04 followed by Pippa Westall and Louise Crisp who came 32nd and 33rd respectively with Pippa finishing one second ahead of Louise in 1:06:29. Kathy Layzell completed the Honiton line-up finishing as usual with a huge smile on her face in a time of 1:19:52 and 60th place. There were 79 finishers.

As well as the main race there was also a 5k. Honiton’s Iain Ross took part in this as he is concentrating on shorter distances for a few weeks. He won the race in 18:30. Honiton junior Katelyn Wells finished 14th overall and 2nd girl in a time of 24:44. She also won her age category. The Honiton trio was completed by Ashleigh Ford-Cosens who had a great race to finish 21st in 28:29. There were 63 finishers.

There was also a 3k fun run on offer and Honiton’s Jasmine Stone came 3rd overall which also made her 3rd girl. Her brother Harrison did really well to finish 12th. There were 51 runners.