On Sunday 27th May, and an uncharacteristically hot day for Scotland, the 10th Edinburgh Marathon was run and Clare Melbourne of Honiton Running Club chose this event to take part in her first marathon. The race starts in Edinburgh but runners are quickly diverted out to the coast and along to Musselburgh. Anyone hoping for a sea breeze to cool them down en-route was disappointed as the temperature just seemed to go up and up! The course was well supported in places, but the spectators thinned towards mile 16, and as the course looped back on itself, this lasted until about mile 24. The sight of Musselburgh racecourse, and the finish line, was a welcome relief and the reunion area had a festival feel as runners relaxed on the grass with well deserved pints of Edinburgh Marathon Festival ale! All-in-all a well organised event with great weather for spectators but a little too hot for the runners! Clare was pleased to finish in 4 hours 51 seconds.
Honiton’s Stephen Boyes joined AVR’s Geoff Woodward and Steve Reynolds to complete the third Forces March which raises funds for the Veterans Charity. The challenge involves completing the equivalent of 5 marathons in 5 days. Participants make their way from Ilfracombe in the stunning North Devon coast through Exmoor, over the Quantock Hills and onwards through rural Somerset finally crossing much of Salisbury Plain to arrive at the finish point at Bulford Camp, Wiltshire. Runners found the blistering heat in the mid day sun slowed them up a bit but Steve still managed to complete the distance in an overall time of 22 hours 26mins. Donations are welcome by visiting the Just Giving web site.
Nine Honiton RC members took part in the local Talaton Trotter on Jubilee Day last Saturday and it was a relief that the temperature had cooled a bit from what it had been recently as the race starts at 12 noon and could have sapped even more of the runners’ energy than it did anyway. Steve Davey was first back for Honiton in 13th position in 53 minutes 12 seconds. His biggest rival Bruce Strawbridge was next back in exactly 55 minutes in 20th place. Roger Saunders came 26th in 57:11 followed by Judy Davey in 39th place in 1:00:22. The terrain suited Nick Bradley-Carter as there was quite a bit of road and it was undulating rather than hilly. He finished in 46th place in 1:01:50. Honiton’s newest member Yordanos Teferi definitely doesn’t do hills as he is more used to sprinting 100m for Ethiopia, his native country, rather than 7 miles but he bravely tackled the race coming 48th in 1:02:45. He’ll run it a lot faster next time! John Burgess was next in 50th place in 1:03:08. Olivia Higginson didn’t particularly enjoy her race but wore a fetching pair of Union Jack knickers over her shorts which detracted from her pain. She finished in 55th place in 1:05:29. Louise Saunders lives close to Talaton and admitted she took part because she couldn’t find a good enough excuse not to race. She completed the Honiton contingent finishing in 66th place in 1:10:40. There were 83 runners.
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