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.

Thank you Roger for organising the club's first run-walk-ride evening at Payhembury. Lovely evening and a good time had by all. Click photo to enlarge 

Honiton Running Club members Olivia Higginson and Nick Bradley-Carter ran the Prague International Marathon on Sunday 13th May. After a few weeks of Prague having hot weather, it had cooled down to a nice temperature for running a marathon, a cool 12 degrees. The route was relatively flat with a few inclines and lots of cobbles which Olivia found annoying towards the end. It was a pleasant route along the river, across various bridges, lots of loops and a few out and back sections. Nick was extremely happy to finish in a great time of 4:02:12 and he had enjoyed it more than his first marathon two years ago. Olivia started a few minutes after Nick and managed to close the gap and finished in 4:03:41 which Olivia was excited about. The winner was Chimsa Deressa from Ethiopia in 2:06:25. Nick and Olivia celebrated with homemade cake as the day before they had found a nice little café. They like to continue the tradition of having yummy cakes post race. On the Monday, they did some sightseeing but found walking down stairs an issue which made everyone laugh.

With the Ottery 10k being such a local race for HRC members, it wasn’t surprising that it managed a better turnout from Honiton than Prague. Fresh from their exploits, Olivia and Nick turned up to spectate and support and there were plenty of other supporters from the club as well as partners and children making HRC runners feel at home. Local Sidmouth runner, Naomi Garrick, ran in a wedding dress. She achieved a Guinness World Record recently at the London Marathon for being the fastest person ever to complete the LM dressed in a wedding dress. Amazingly, she managed 3rd lady position and very proudly showed off her official world record certificate. The race was won by Peter Monaghan of Torbay AC in a time of 34:36.

First in for Honiton was Graham Reeves in the great time of 40:55 and 18th place. There were lots of personal best times for Honiton runners helped by the perfect weather conditions for running. Steve Briggs was the first of them; he managed to knock about a minute off his time achieved recently at Yeovilton on a very flat course. He said he was helped along by having a battle with Judy Davey and eventually getting the better of her. Other notable performances included Tracey Strawbridge who also managed a great pb coming in well under the hour which she has only managed once before. Wendy Williams has recently undergone a knee operation but is coming back nicely to form. Wendy Le Masurier is fairly new to running but put in a truly gutsy performance impressing all her club mates.

Honiton results: 18th Graham Reeves 40:55, 24th Steve Davey 41:50, 34th Julie Payne 43:15, 45th Howard Bidmead 44:22, 54th Roger Saunders 45:30, 62nd Steve Briggs 46:15, 66th Judy Davey 46:34, 69th Helen Davy 46:55, 73rd Mark Andow 47:31, 120th John Burgess 52:18, 136th Clare Melbourne 54:43, 156th Tracey Strawbridge 58:20, 166th Wendy Le Masurier 1:00:49, 175th Jo Davey 1:01:40 and 187th Wendy Williams 1:06:08. There were 201 runners.

There was also a fun run which Honiton juniors Harry Whiteley and Sasha Davy took part in. Sasha had a great race finishing as first girl and Harry also had an enjoyable and successful run.                                    

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.