On the hottest day of the year Honiton runner Howard Bidmead travelled to North Devon to take part in the Arlington Court Canter. Probably the most scenic off road 10K in Devon starting and finishing at the front of Arlington House. The run took in outstanding views, woodland tracks and lakeside paths as well as several hills. Howard finished in 30th place and was first O55 male finishing in 48m 43s. Over 150 runners took part.

About 300 runners took part in last Sunday’s Sport Relief runs organised by Honiton Running Club’s Warren Oak. Following a mass warm up by an instructor from Honiton Leisure Centre, most runners took part in the mile option but some were braver and tackled either 3 or 6 miles. It was a chilly day and just as the runs were started it began to hail. Luckily, this didn’t last too long and the sun came out again. With online entries in advance, entries on the day, a street collection and refreshment donations, over £1300 was raised for Sport Relief. The money raised will be used by Comic Relief to help change lives. The atmosphere was amazing with different generations taking part and thoroughly enjoying the day. Spectators and run finishers were entertained by Exeter Drumming Band and when the hard work was done, supporters and runners enjoyed delicious homemade cakes in Mackerness Hall. Special thanks to Warren but thanks also to everyone else at Honiton Running Club who helped with the event.   

As usual Honiton Running Club was extremely well represented at last weekend’s Grizzly events. The race was about 19 ½ miles long and just for a change the weather was beautiful. The sun shone and there was a cool breeze enjoyed by runners. There was still plenty of mud and the bogs were taxing as usual. There were the infamous challenging hills but some of these led to breathtaking views. There were several stretches of beech running which take their toll on already tired muscles. There were plenty of Honiton Grizzly first timers and plenty who had run it many times before. Kevin Hawker was first back for Honiton in an amazing time of 2 hours 44 minutes coming 27th. Ian Stewart had a cracking run finishing in 2:49 in 41st place.Ben Stone told his wife he’d be back in 3 hours and he was – just; he finished in 2:59:59 in 90th place! Fran Bond was 1st lady back for Honiton and 8th lady overall to finish 124th in 3:04. The next few Honiton runners tussled for positions throughout  ending up just 5 minutes apart with Steve Davey coming 181st in 3:13, Alasdair Moffett 186th in 3:14, Hadleigh Davies 188th in 3:15, Chris Entwistle 206th in 3:16 and Richard Harvey 215th in 3:18. Vernon Gillard in a very ungentlemanly fashion overtook Judy Davey on the finish straight coming 279th in 3:24 with Judy one place and 5 seconds later. Tom Bornet had struggled with the latter part of the race but finished within a minute of Judy in 289th place. Steve Boyes followed coming 356th in 3:32. Suzanne Spiller had run the first 15 miles with her husband before leaving him behind to come 593rd in 3:49 beating Mark Dallyn by 1 minute and Simon, her husband, by 4 minutes. Anthony Rowe followed in 697th place in 3:56. Helen Davy ran with her sister and finished 806th in 4:04. This was Howard Bidmead’s 17th Grizzly and he said days before the event that it may be his last. He’s now decided, he’ll try for 20. He came 817th in 4:05. Esme Wilson found the race very tough coming 897th in 4:11 followed 1 minute later by Steve Briggs who has been fighting an injury. He came 914th. Louise Crisp followed 1010th in 4:21 and Lesley Crocker was back running for Honiton having moved out of the area. She was 1051st in 4:24. Linda Pike followed 1 minute later in 1082nd place. Carol Turnham came 1290th in 4:47, Katy Campbell 1350th in 4:56 and Jo Taylor 1391st in 5:04. The race was won by Ceri Rees in the incredible time of 2:20 and there were 1541 finishers.

Several Honiton runners took the shorter and arguably slightly easier option of the Cub. This is about 9 miles long and has all the challenges of the main run without the bog. Clare Melbourne was 1st back for Honiton coming 135th in 1:44. Denis Costello was delighted to be taking part after being told by a specialist that an injury would never allow him to run again. Ignoring the advice, he got himself fit and was very proud to take part and absolutely delighted with his 138th place in 1:45. Pete Lyus has taken part in the Grizzly or Cub many times before and was pleased to come 189th in 1:51.  Mark Andow had swapped from the Grizzly that morning and managed to finish just under 2 hours in 255th place. Val Hales was 303rd in 2:05 and Wendy Williams was 307th in 2:05. Sara Trumper  only started running last year and finished 375th in 2:19. The race was won by Arran Tocknell in 1:01 and there were 415 runners.

Some of the club’s younger runners took part in the Saturday events including Jasmine Stone, Charlie and Ben Entwistle and Max and Ella Spiller.

Thank you to AVR for putting on such a well organised great event. Thanks also to the entertainers, land owners, sponsors and marshals who offered much needed encouragement and flap jack and jelly babies at regular intervals. 

It was a cold and slightly damp start for the 8 Honiton runners who took part in the Bideford Half Marathon on Sunday. However, the weather soon cleared up and there was even sunshine along the way. The course takes runners out of Bideford for around 6 miles and then loops back bringing runners back into the town via the Tarka Trail. First back for Honiton was Ian Stewart in a great time of 1 hour 27 minutes, closely followed by Julie Payne in 1.34 who achieved a personal best time and was 3rd in her category. Louise Crisp had a brilliant race finishing next in 1.49, followed by Tony Peek in 1.50 and Joe Daly in 1.54. A PB followed for the Honiton line-up with Juliet Hall finishing in 2.03. The final two runners in for Honiton were Clare Melbourne in 2.09 and JoJo Davey in 2.11. There were 924 finishers and the winner was Shaun Antell from Bideford AAC in a time of 1.10. On the same day Hadleigh Davies travelled slightly further afield to take part in the Bath Half Marathon and was rewarded for his training regime by finishing in the very quick time of 1:28. Bath was won by Nicholas Kirui in the amazing time of 1:03. Over 11,000 runners took part with Hadleigh coming 414th.