The Drogo 10

Last Sunday saw Honiton Running Club members out in force with a brilliant turnout of 18 members for The Drogo 10. The multi-terrain 10 mile race is based in the grounds at Castle Drogo and boasts spectacular views across Dartmoor. The route takes runners to Fingle Bridge before climbing the first major hill. The route undulates before following a track beside the River Teign back to Fingle Bridge. After crossing the bridge, runners ascend the energy sapping infamous Hunters’ Path before going back to Drogo. Roland Hall was first back for Honiton in 31st place in 1 hour 10 minutes. Chris Entwistle followed 5 minutes later in 66th place. Bruce Strawbridge had a great race finishing 84th in 1:18 just 35 second ahead of his race rival Steve Davey who came 92nd. Julie Payne was first lady back for Honiton winning her age category prize and coming 133rd in 1:23. Mark Dallyn and Howard Bidmead had run much of the race together with Mark taking the final sprint to the line to finish 152nd in 1:25 with Howard hot on his heels just 2 seconds later.  Judy Davey finished next in 169th place in 1:26 having knocked 7 minutes off last year’s time. Judy had overtaken Steve Selley within a mile of the finish and he mustered all the energy he had to pass her again before admitting defeat following her 2 places and just 8 seconds later. Steve Briggs was running The Drogo for the first time and listened to all the warnings. He had a great run coming 192nd in 1:28 with Rod Inglis just 4 places and 11 seconds later. Richard Harris struggled but was happy to come 227th and just missing out on 1 ½ hours coming back in 1:31. Roger Saunders felt he had not trained enough for this race and also struggled coming 253rd in 1:33. Jennie Sleeman thoroughly enjoyed the race to finish 394th in 1:48. John Burgess had taken his camera to distract him from inevitable pain but the pain won in the end and he was disappointed to finish 429th in 1:53 telling club mates he wasn’t racing next week! Jo Jo Davey looked very strong at the finish and with the encouragement of her supporters she sprinted home to finish 456th in 1:57. Wendy Le Masurier had a consistent race to finish 486th in 2:04 and Michelle Selley completed the line-up having waited at the final corner for 2 fellow runners she had built up an affinity with during the race to finish 495th in 2:06. Tom Merson won the race in an incredible time of 58 minutes and there were 507 finishers.