Last Sunday saw 9 members take part in the Dalwood Fayre 10k multi-terrain race. There is not much that’s flat in this race with undulations throughout. Thankfully, it was a little cooler than it has been recently. The race was won by Axe Valley Runners’ Matt Clist in the fantastic time of 39:24. Honiton’s Kevin Hawker was 2nd in 40:56 and Ian Stewart was not too far behind in 4th place in 43:09. Ben Stone was next back finishing 5th in 44:06. Rod Inglis had another great race coming 11th in 49:18 and he was followed by Steve Davey who found the race unusually hard to come 15th in 51:20. Howard Bidmead was next back in 17th place in 52:09 and he was followed by Mark Dallyn who finished 19th in 53:42 having just overtaken a young lad on holiday in Dalwood running his first ever 10k. Mark had been overtaken by Judy Davey during the race but paced himself well to overtake her and keep in front. Judy finished 21st in 54:19 being first lady back for Honiton and 3rd lady overall winning a bottle of wine for her efforts. Louise Crisp was the only other Honiton lady representative finishing 29th in 57:36. There were 49 runners altogether. Thanks to the Fayre Committee for great organisation and providing an abundance of cheery marshals.

Ian Stewart and Louise Crisp of Honiton Running Club took part in Teignbridge Trotter’s Haytor Heller last Saturday evening. This popular, well established moorland race starts below Haytor Rock and follows a hilly, circular route before returning once again to Haytor Rock with a fast downhill finale to the finish. The 6 mile course is challenging with several steep ascents and descents and is run across rugged, open moorland, apart from two sections through woodland; firstly below Hound Tor and secondly below Haytor which includes a stream crossing. The course is completely off-road. Ian came 11th overall in a time of 47 minutes15 seconds and Louise came 118th in 1:04:30 winning a prize for coming first in her category. The race was won by Jamie Parkinson in 39:44 and there were 264 finishers.

On Sunday morning,on a sweltering day, several Honiton members took part in Mrs E’s Big Wheeze based at Mrs Ethleston’s Primary School, Uplyme. There are 10k and 5k multi-terrain races as well as a Small Wheeze Fun Run of approximately 2km. The 10k route is exhilarating following river banks, going through beautiful woods and climbing hills giving glimpses of the sea. Ben Stone was first back for Honiton in the 10k coming 6th in  41:50 and hot on his heels was Chris Entwistle who finished in 42:07. Hadleigh Davies had a great race finishing 12th in 43:57 and Ross Penwill continues his great form to come 19th in 45:23. Suzanne Spiller knocked a minute of last year’s time despite the heat and finished 2nd lady, 21st overall in 46:19.  Rod Inglis flew around the course once again to finish 24th in 46:37 with young Findlay Fuller chasing him down to finish 17 seconds later. Richard Harvey was happy with his race finishing 27th in 47:46 and Steve Davey found the race quite tough but finished well to come 29th in 48:07. Steve Selley enjoyed the race coming 33rd in 50:20 closely followed by Mark Dallyn who ran well to finish in 51:08. Judy Davey could see him for most of the race but he must have got away a bit towards the end as she finished 40th in 52:16. Bruce Strawbridge has been dogged by injury recently and hasn’t raced much this year. He battled the race demons to come 53rd in 56:21 with Kathy Layzell completing the line-up to come 73rd in 1:04:15. There were 87 finishers. The 5k was won by Honiton’s very own Iain Ross who finished in 21:59 and the 1st girl was Flo Swan, also from Honiton. She finished in 25:13. Sharon Wells also decided on the 5k option finishing 16th in 29:46. There were 23 finishers. Honiton’s girls did very well in the Small Wheeze with Katelyn Wells, Jasmine Stone and Ashley Ford-Cosens coming 2nd 3rd and 4th girls respectively.  There were 63 runners altogether. 

A good few Honiton Running Club members graced the Otter Rail and River Run 10k based at Tipton last Saturday. James Reeves of South West Road Runners won the race in the excellent time of 36 minutes 57 seconds. Running for Honiton, his brother Graham was not too far behind coming 5th in 40:03. Tim Legg came 10th in 42:54 winning his age category as did Julie Payne who came 36th in 47:44. Esme Moffett had a great run to come 55th in 50:09 and Mark Andow was next back finishing 63rd in 51:18. Sam Shute completed the Honiton line-up to come 127th in 1:06:43. There were 141 finishers.

Honiton Running Club’s own Blackdown Beauty took place last Saturday around the Blackdown Hills’ countryside. It started off as another hot one but it cooled down during the afternoon to ideal running conditions. The rain came down but it did stay off until most of the runners had finished and were able to shelter in a barn whilst still enjoying the barbecue. The main choice of routes was either 18 miles or 10 miles with runners able to pick which points they ran enabling them to run a distance of their choice. The base was at Priors Park Farm, Culmhead courtesy of Jim Hill and family. The long route took in 4 pubs as well as a cream tea taking runners to Pitminster and then on to Clayhidon before a visit to Pear Tree Cottage, Stapley for the delicious cream tea, appreciated by all. Thank you to the Parry family for the use of their gorgeous garden and all the ladies of Smeatharpe WI for making the scones and serving welcome cups of tea. Once fed and watered, runners went on to Churchinford before running back to base. Thanks to everyone who helped in any way as well as all the landowners but especially Jim Hill for giving up part of his farm for the day by providing the ideal base for the run including a barn for the post race barbecue. Keep an eye on the website www.honitonrc.com for the winter version - The Blackdown Beast due to be held in January.

Howard Bidmead was in charge of the backup car for the Beauty so didn’t run the route which meant he could run the Bridport Jurassic Coast 10K on Sunday. It's starts and finishes at the Bridport Leisure Centre and is nearer 12K than 10. It winds its way out to the coast path where the runners climb Thorncombe Hill, the second highest point on the Coast path. Runners are greeted there with spectacular views of the Jurassic Coast before the descent back to Bridport via West Bay. Howard was extremely pleased with his run finishing in 58m 21s and taking a prize for 3rd O50 vet male. There were close to 100 runners and Howard finished well up the field. 

There was a huge turnout for Honiton Running Club’s Woodland Relay last Wednesday at Core Copse on a perfect evening for running. Honiton itself had about 60 adult members running and another 20 Honiton juniors taking part. Honiton were joined by Axe Valley Runners, The Met Office, N1 Tri Club, Exmouth and Sidmouth Running Clubs. The 3 adults in each team ran a leg each of just under 2 ½ miles before tagging their next team mate. The first team back overall was Axe Valley Runners ‘Young Uns’ consisting of Chris Keefe, Matt Clist and Liam Roberts in a time of 42 minutes 7 seconds. Honiton had the winning mixed team which was made up of Suzanne Spiller, Ben Stone and Ian Stewart. They finished in 46:32. Honiton also took the vets prize made up of Steve Davey, Rod Inglis and Richard Harris. They finished in 50:30 and AVR had another success with their ladies’ team which finished in 50:57 and was made up of Amy Greenhalgh, Robin Carter and Eleanor Wood. The junior teams ran a shorter distance of approximately one mile each and this race was won by AVR’s Bobbie, Ollie and Iain in a time of 33:36. Honiton’s girls won their category finishing in 39:38 with the team made up of Flo Swan, Morgan and Sasha Davy. Thanks to everyone who helped in any way especially the chief organisers Bruce Strawbridge and Roger Saunders. Also thanks to the cake makers, marshals and landowner for providing the car park!

Five Honiton runners went to Charmouth last Saturday to take part in the Charmouth Challenge organised by Charmouth Primary School. The weather was ideal for spectating but too hot to make for good running conditions. The race is the most southerly fell race in the country and includes two steep and long climbs. The first is within the first mile climbing the infamous Stone Barrow Lane and later on in the race runners climb up Golden Cap, the highest point on the South Coast at 191m. It’s all worthwhile though as racers are treated to the breathtaking views of the Jurassic Coast. The winner was Michael Robinson of Tamar Trotters in the amazing time of 52:09. Honiton’s Steve Davey and Alasdair Moffett thoroughly enjoyed racing each other spending much of the race vying to be in front of the other.  The finish line saw Steve as the victor of this battle; he came45th in 1:09:32 with Alasdair one place and 21 seconds behind. Howard Bidmead had a much better race than last year coming 77th in 1:16:33 whilst Judy Davey put all her efforts into climbing the first hill and suffered as a result. She fought the urge to stop several times but did walk a lot more than she usually would. She finished 117th in 1:21:21 and couldn’t wait to sit down at the finish. There were 234 finishers. Iain Ross is too young to take part in the full Challenge so had to settle for the fun run of 1.8 miles. He showed them how it was done though and stormed home to win the race in 10:48 which is a huge achievement with 140 runners behind him!