On the Sunday of the bank holiday weekend four Honiton Running Club members took part in the Battle of Sedgemoor 10k road race based in Langport. Sunday was a pleasant day sandwiched between two typical wet bank holiday days which meant conditions were pretty good. It's mostly flat and a fast course and Graham Reeves managed to know about 2 ½ minutes of last year’s time which upped his finish position by 72 places meaning he finished 46th in 41 minutes 5 seconds. Nick Bradley-Carter also took part in the event last year and he managed to better his finish position although he was a bit slower. I was Sam Shute’s first attempt at the race and she was delighted to finish in under an hour. She was 251st in 57:03. Val Hales completed Honiton’s line up finishing 316th in 1:10:55. The race was won by David Cooke in a course record time of 29:28. He must have been delighted with that.
It was pouring with rain the day after, on Bank Holiday Monday, but some of the more hardy Honiton runners travelled to Bampton to take part in the Quarryman’s Trail 10k multi-terrain race. This is a low key event which is part of Bampton Open Day and the weather had obviously put a few potential runners off as there were only 47 starters. The race has a very tough start with runners being taken up hill on road and pavement and just before it continued up hill off road it became very slippery. It’s a good job runners were ascending and not descending as there would have been several slip ups. Although the course levels, it was very muddy and slippery throughout with many puddles to either avoid or splash through. At least runners can look forward to the down hill finish taking them back to the start at the Quarryman’s pub. The weather did brighten up for most of the race and at least it wasn’t cold.
Steve Davey was first back for Honiton coming 7th overall in 48:56. Bruce Strawbridge was next back in 17th position in 50:41. John Burgess had overtaken Judy Davey in the early stages but she kept him in her sights throughout taking advantage of a slippery descent to storm past him. She held the lead for a short time before John saw his chance again and managed an uphill take over. He held this lead to finish 25th and one place in front of Judy in 55:32. Steve, Bruce and John all represent different age categories and amazingly they were all awarded bottles of wine for coming first in their respective groups. Judy finished in 55:55 and was quite happy as she was 3rd lady winning a special medal for her efforts. Unfortunately, Olivia Higginson was the only Honiton member to come home empty handed but as this was her inaugural Quarryman’s Trail she was quite happy and will definitely do it again. She finished 37th in 63:33 after taking a very slight deviation from route.
On the same day, Howard Bidmead took part in the Lustleigh 10k which takes place during the Lustleigh Village show in Dartmoor National Park. It is a multi terrain extremely hilly race made worse this year by the damp and muddy conditions. Fortunately the rain stopped just prior to the start of the race which was started by Ann Widdecombe who also presented the prizes. The course is undulating with one major climb during the wooded part of the course which begins at 6K and finishes just prior to 8K before a down hill run back into Lustleigh village and back to the showground. 123 runners completed the course with the winning time being 38.44 by Adam Holland. Howard was pleased to come 31st in 49.24 and delighted to take the first prize in his age category.
It was pouring with rain the day after, on Bank Holiday Monday, but some of the more hardy Honiton runners travelled to Bampton to take part in the Quarryman’s Trail 10k multi-terrain race. This is a low key event which is part of Bampton Open Day and the weather had obviously put a few potential runners off as there were only 47 starters. The race has a very tough start with runners being taken up hill on road and pavement and just before it continued up hill off road it became very slippery. It’s a good job runners were ascending and not descending as there would have been several slip ups. Although the course levels, it was very muddy and slippery throughout with many puddles to either avoid or splash through. At least runners can look forward to the down hill finish taking them back to the start at the Quarryman’s pub. The weather did brighten up for most of the race and at least it wasn’t cold.
Steve Davey was first back for Honiton coming 7th overall in 48:56. Bruce Strawbridge was next back in 17th position in 50:41. John Burgess had overtaken Judy Davey in the early stages but she kept him in her sights throughout taking advantage of a slippery descent to storm past him. She held the lead for a short time before John saw his chance again and managed an uphill take over. He held this lead to finish 25th and one place in front of Judy in 55:32. Steve, Bruce and John all represent different age categories and amazingly they were all awarded bottles of wine for coming first in their respective groups. Judy finished in 55:55 and was quite happy as she was 3rd lady winning a special medal for her efforts. Unfortunately, Olivia Higginson was the only Honiton member to come home empty handed but as this was her inaugural Quarryman’s Trail she was quite happy and will definitely do it again. She finished 37th in 63:33 after taking a very slight deviation from route.
On the same day, Howard Bidmead took part in the Lustleigh 10k which takes place during the Lustleigh Village show in Dartmoor National Park. It is a multi terrain extremely hilly race made worse this year by the damp and muddy conditions. Fortunately the rain stopped just prior to the start of the race which was started by Ann Widdecombe who also presented the prizes. The course is undulating with one major climb during the wooded part of the course which begins at 6K and finishes just prior to 8K before a down hill run back into Lustleigh village and back to the showground. 123 runners completed the course with the winning time being 38.44 by Adam Holland. Howard was pleased to come 31st in 49.24 and delighted to take the first prize in his age category.
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