Honiton Running Club had a great turn out at last Sunday’s Bicton Blister. This is a 10 mile race on Woodbury Common with the base at Bicton College. The route has changed from previous years but still includes a road section at the start and finish with the rest being sandy, stony and muddy paths around the Common. In previous years it has often been a freezing cold day but not so this year. The sun shone making conditions excellent. There wasn’t even too much mud around. Ceri Rees won the race in 59 minutes 27 seconds; the only runner who came in under the hour. Ben Stone was first back for Honiton finishing 19th in 1:08:52. Steve Selley had an excellent race coming 79th in 1:18:15. Hadleigh Davies only just made it to the start on time but he came next in 89th place in 1:18:46.  Rod Inglis won a trophy for coming 3rd in his age category coming 100th in 1:19:38 followed by Steve Davey 2 places and just 10 seconds later. Julie Payne was first lady back for Honiton coming 2nd in her category and 124th overall in 1:22:21. Richard Harris also arrived at the race with not too much time to spare but he was delighted with his race coming 132nd in 1:23:09. Bruce Strawbridge was next back coming 142nd in 1:23:49 followed directly by Mark Dallyn who finished 4 seconds behind. Judy Davey came 3rd in her age group finishing 154th in 1:24:46. Howard Bidmead was pleased with his run coming 181st in 1:27:32  as he has been injured recently. Mark Andow found the race tough but enjoyable coming 191st in 1:28:48. He was followed by Roger Saunders who isn’t as fit as he would like but came 196th , 8 seconds after Mark. Pippa Westall was next back coming 203rd in 1:29:24 followed by Shane Hudd who came 210th in 1:30:17. Louise Crisp found it tough but enjoyable to come 233rd in 1:32:29. Jim Hill thought it was a cracking race coming 265th in 1:36:23 and Tony Peek completed the Honiton line up to come 316th in 1:41:11. There were 442 finishers.

Young Florence Swan was the sole Honiton runner to take part in the 4 ½ mile Bicton Lite which follows much the same terrain as the Blister but not going quite as far. Flo had a great race coming 5th overall and 3rd female in 36 minutes 19 seconds. The race was won by Michael Lesniak in 29:43. All runners approved of the new route and agreed it was a brilliantly organised race by Exmouth Harriers so thank you to them and also thanks to the cheery marshals. 

Honiton Running Club had a great turnout for the South West Road Runners’ Drogo 10 mile race last Sunday. This is a very challenging off road race with the start and finish at Castle Drogo. There are two major hills; the first coming out of Fingle Bridge and the second at the 8 mile mark up the infamous Hunters’ Path. There are breathtaking views once at the top of the hills which almost make the pain worthwhile. The race was won by Johnny Gilby in the incredible time of 57 minutes 37 seconds. Not too far behind was Honiton’s Ian Stewart who finished 19th in 1:09:45. It was Ben Stone’s first attempt at the race and he was happy to come 23rd in 1:10:14. Steve Selley had a great race even though he fell over. He finished 89th in 1:21:03 beating Steve Davey by just 3 places and 7 seconds. Paul Williams was running his first race for Honiton RC and had a fantastic race finishing right behind Steve with just 1 second splitting them. Bruce Strawbridge was next back delighted with his race coming 100th in 1:22:04 less than a minute behind the previous three. Mark Dallyn’s sore ankle held up meaning he finished 125th in 1:23:03. Richard Harris finished next in 131st place in 1:25:39. Judy Davey was the first back for the Honiton ladies to come 162nd in 1:28:59. She was followed by Pippa Westall who came 236th in 1:36:10. The other Honiton lady, Louise Crisp, came next in 250th place in 1:37:45. Jim Hill is an experienced racer but this was his first for Honiton. He last ran Drogo in 2002 when the route was a little different and he was pleased to finish 342nd in 1:47:05. Steve Briggs has moved near Plymouth and doesn’t get out to club nights so it was great to see him. He finished 370th in 1:50:24. There were 496 finishers. 

Honiton Running Club’s President, Alan Rowe MBE ran the Marine Corps Marathon on 26th October as part of the Allied Forces Foundation’s SideXSide Team.  The AFF are the Baton’s spiritual partners in the USA and custodians of the US Baton. It was a warm day (over 70 degrees) and as usual Alan ran with the Baton and a pack of leaflets, stopping to chat to the crowd along the way about the Baton’s cause and leaving copies of the Baton’s Message of Conscience with them, this was often very emotional. Alan also ran with US servicemen and women.

Alan also ran The Canada Army Run (half marathon) on 21st September in Ottawa. Again Alan ran with the same formula, Baton, stopping etc. The run was warm until the last quarter of the race when it poured, but the rain was so welcome - even warm itself! One sad reflection is that Alan stood on the Ottawa Memorial steps with the Navy detail 4 weeks to the day that the cowardly attack took place.

On both runs the support, hospitality and organisation was incredible, Alan has already been invited back for next year’s MCM which will be the 40th - so quite special.

On Sunday, 2nd November, Mark Dallyn ran the Teignbridge Trotter Templar 10 race as he was unable to do the local Yarcombe Yomp the previous day. The race is actually 9.3 miles and is multi-terrain but about a third is on road.  It is based in Kingsteignton and offers runners some lovely views over the River Teign. This was a really well organised event and despite a late night the previous night, Mark was happy with the time of 1hr 12mins 42. The race was won by former Honiton RC member James Denne, now of Exeter Harriers in the time of 53:35. There were 165 finishers. 

On Sunday, 24th October, 3 Honiton Running Club members travelled to South Molton to take part in the South Molton Struggle which is a multi-terrain 7.8 mile run based at the Rugby Club. The weather gave lovely conditions for this well organised race. Money raised went to North Devon Hospice and the winner was Paul Cooke in a time of 47 minutes 35 seconds. Mark Dallyn was first back for Honiton coming 55th in 1:00:21 feeling much happier about his race than he had the week before. Shane and Michala Hudd had run most of the race together and Shane finished in 1:07:28 in 89th place with Michala finishing in 1:08:34 and 96th place. There were 197 finishers.

Last Saturday Honiton runners took part in the Yarcombe Yomp being the last race in the East Devon Series for the year. Runners could choose to complete one lap of 5 miles or go on for the full race of 10 miles by running the route twice.  The weather was perfect and it wasn’t as muddy as it often is. The race was won by Axe Valley Runner’s Matt Clist in a new course record of 1:05:49. First back for Honiton was Ian Stewart coming 4th in 1:10:51. This was Ben Stone’s first go at this race and he came 7th in 1:13:59.  Rod Inglis flew round the course to come 18th in 1:21:43 well ahead of Steve Davey who came just one place later in 1:24:40. Judy Davey was the sole Honiton lady out and she came 24th overall in1:29:28 winning a bottle of cider for coming 3rd lady. Tim Wigram completed the line-up coming 30th in 1:32:50 winning a sprint to the line with an AVR runner.  There were 66 finishers although there were a few more starters! With the 10 mile race being 2 laps of the 5 mile race, it is tempting for some to finish early. Roger Saunders took this option coming 7th in the 5 mile race in 45:36. The race was won by AVR Ollie Caute who finished in 35:08 having beaten Honiton’s Iain Ross at a sprint finish. There were 26 finishers.  Numbers for both races were record breaking. Upon their return to the village hall, runners were treated to delicious homemade soup and cakes. Thanks to all the organisers and landowners but special thanks to Robin Carter for another great event.