On Sunday 13th October Honiton Runner Howard Bidmead ran the 7 mile Studland Stampede. Organised by the National Trust this race starts on Studland Beach in Dorset and takes competitors over the hills and tracks of Studland Heath. The last 3 miles of the race are up on the sand dunes and along the beach back to the finish. 386 runners took part in the event and Howard finished 58th overall in a time of 57m 55s. This was 4 minutes faster than Howard's time last year.

On the same day well over 2000 runners including 5 Honiton Running Club members took part in the Great West Run half marathon around the streets of Exeter. This is a brand new route which got a resounding thumbs up from participants. Graham Reeves was first back for Honiton and was pleased to come in under 1 ½ hours (1:29:37) and 86th place. Next back was Tom Bornet who much preferred the new route to come 156th in 1:34:30. Esme Wilson and Alasdair Moffett ran together to finish 422nd in 1:40:18. Alan Rowe MBE completed the Honiton line-up running with a team he had put together made up of former Royal Marines and family running with The Baton.  He really enjoyed the race although an old calf injury flared up at 6 miles making the last 7 painful. He finished in 2:31:47 in 2003 place.

Last Sunday, 4 HRC runners took part in Minehead Running Club’s Exmoor Stagger. This is a particularly tough 16 mile race crossing Exmoor and climbing  to the highest point of Dunkery Beacon involving a total climb of 3627 ft. The weather turned out to be ideal much to the relief of the Honiton group who drove through heavy rain to get to the start. Three of the runners had completed a marathon just 2 weeks previously so found the run tougher than they probably would have done otherwise. Steve Davey was first  back in 69th place in 2:42 and his wife Judy followed 4 minutes later in 73rd place. She won a prize for 1st in category and a medal for winning the O50 female UK Trail Middle Distance Championship. Mark Dallyn was next back running the route for the first time to finish 105th in 2:58. Howard Bidmead completed the line-up coming 124th in 3:09. There were 201 finishers.    

St Helier in Jersey saw about 40 Honiton Running Club members and supporters converge in the town ready to take part in the Marathon or Relay on Sunday, 5th October. The club trip had come together after months of organisation by Wendy Le Masurier with most members staying at the same hotel. After a bit of sight seeing on Saturday, runners were ready to take on the challenge. The Marathon was won by Reuben Chumba with a new course record of 2 hours 24 minutes and 23 seconds. Judy Davey was first back for Honiton in a time of 3.31 coming 7th lady, 52nd overall and managing to win a vase for being 3rd in the Masters’ category. She also won a huge engraved silver plate for coming 1st in her age category. Judy had caught up with Steve Boyes at about mile 17 and they had kept pace with each other for the rest of the race. Steve was delighted to achieve a pb for the year finishing just 16 seconds and 1 place behind Judy. Next back was Steve Davey running his 2nd ever marathon. He would have been more pleased to have beaten his wife but he was thrilled to have achieved a pb to finish 96th in 3:44. Steve Briggs was next back in 183rd place and 4:05. He was pleased to feel so well afterwards but has vowed to come back next year and finish in under 4 hours. Mark Dallyn had run with Steve for most of the distance but suffered over the last few miles. He did well to finish just 4 minutes behind Steve in 249th place. Jennie Sleeman had run with marathon first timer, Lin Pike for all but the last few miles and Jennie finished just 1 minute and 3 seconds ahead of Lin in 249th place with a time of 4:27. Lin was delighted with her achievement which kept her emotionally on a high for days. Simon Hall was pleased just to finish as he admitted his longest training run had been about 13 miles. He managed 292nd place in 4:56. Pete Lyus is an experienced runner but has always said he would never attempt a marathon. He did brilliantly to crack the 5 hour mark in 4:59 finishing in 301st place. Wendy Williams was also tackling a marathon for the first time and finished just 2 places after Pete and missing out on the 5 hour barrier by just 1 minute. As she had set a target for herself of 5 ½ hours, she was understandably elated with her achievement. There were 336 finishers (but quite a lot more starters!)

The relay covers exactly the same route as the marathon with 5 runners in the team each taking a leg varying in length from 3 to 9 miles.Honiton Hurtlers made up of Olivia Higginson (Captain), Bruce Strawbridge, Kevin Hawker, Howard Bidmead and Hadleigh Davies came an amazing 9th place overall. They were disappointed to miss out on a prize by just 7 seconds but they all felt they ran well and tried their hardest. The Hot Steppers consisting of Nick Thorpe, Carol Turnham, John Burgess, Juliet Hall and Clare Melbourne (Captain) finished 155th in 3:55. Honiton’s Jersey Girls were next back in 214th place in 4:09. Runners were Sue Jones, Sandra Thorpe, Claire Pomeroy, Vanessa Glyn-Jones and Jo Jo Davey (Captain). Five Run a Marathon completed Honiton’s teams coming 247th in 4:21 and was made up of Ian Jeeves, Tracey Strawbridge (Captain), Wendy Le Masurier, Maggie Dillon and Liz Corney. There were 270 teams altogether.

It was a beautiful late summer’s day and it was a pleasure to take part in such a well organised event on such a beautiful island. Most Honiton visitors are already planning a return visit. Thanks to Wendy for organising a fantastic trip.

Meanwhile, back in Devon, on the same day, other runners were representing the club at the Minster Challenge based at Axminster Community College. First back for Honiton was Chris Entwistle coming an excellent 2nd position in 52:49 although this was helped by the front runner Matt Clist going slightly off track and ending up coming 5th. Alasdair Moffett was next in coming 10th in 57:15 closely followed by Tom Bornet in 57:24. Jarrod Brown was putting in a rare appearance for the club and did himself proud coming 13th in 57:43. Suzanne Spiller was 1st lady back for Honiton and 2nd lady overall in a time of 59:28 and 16th place. Mark Andow was next back in 30th place in 1:03:34 followed by Simon Spiller 24 seconds later to complete Honiton’s team. There were 69 runners. Two of the older juniors, Henry Riddle and Iain Ross, took part in the Fun Run coming in together across the line in 7th place in a time of 22:18. There were 66 finishers. Thanks to all involved in organisation and marshalling of another great event. 

Sunday, 29th September saw the running of this year’s Doone Run. This was the 30th anniversary and for one year only the race was run in reverse. The race organised by North Devon Road Runners is probably the most scenic and toughest 10 mile race in Devon with over 2000 metres of climb. Starting in Lynmouth runners ran up the zig zag path underneath the Lynton to Lynmouth Cliff Railway followed by a descent of the coast path at Valley of the Rocks. The race then climbed the Cleave above Lynmouth and the runners were greeted with superb views of the North Devon coast. The race finished with a run along the path from Watersmeet back to Lynmouth. Howard Bidmead from Honiton RC had a good race finishing in 1hr. 37m and took the trophy for 1st male O55.