On a blistering Saturday evening last weekend, four Honiton Running Club members took part in the inaugural running of the Little Long Run organised by Graham Hill with the help of Sidmouth Running Club. The race was about 4 miles and classed as a grade B fell race with nearly 1000 ft of climb. The race was run on the grounds of Clinton Devon Estates in the Otter Valley and the first 2 miles were up, up and more up. Graham had warned runners at the start that they had to focus on fell running being all about getting to the top and then enjoying the run down. The terrain was very uneven underfoot throughout with plenty of wood and branches to clamber over. Once the finish was in sight, runners were taken through the river around the edge of a field and back through the river before the sprint to the finish. Steve Davey was 9th overall and first back for Honiton in a time of 39 minutes 43 seconds and Bruce Strawbridge was just one place later in 40:22. Judy Davey was 17th in 46:36 and 3rd lady and John Burgess completed the line up finishing just 2 places behind in 48:42. The race was won by Chris Gill in the speedy time of 32:21. There were 40 runners. Taking part in this low key event was a great chance to run on private land not normally accessible by the public.
On Sunday, Howard Bidmead ran the Swimbridge 10k; a tough multi-terrain race along lanes, tracks and hills of North Devon. Howard finished in 49:22 and was 26th out of 126 runners. The weather was slightly cooler than it had been recently but plenty hot enough to race in.
On Sunday, Howard Bidmead ran the Swimbridge 10k; a tough multi-terrain race along lanes, tracks and hills of North Devon. Howard finished in 49:22 and was 26th out of 126 runners. The weather was slightly cooler than it had been recently but plenty hot enough to race in.