A hot summer heats up the Club Championship!

All the fantastic weather we've had over the past few months has clearly drawn a lot of Exmouth Harrier runners out onto the race circuit and at the close of play at the end of August, we now have 5 men and 6 women who have already completed their club championship, with 2 months left to go.

Men's Championship

In the men's championship, Marc Cox, Rich Hawes, Adam Miller, Mike Musgrove and Dave Stone have all completed the requisite number of races across the 4 different categories. They are now in the favourable position of knowing that whatever they do now, their percentage cannot decrease, but some good performances between now and the end of October could see them increase.

Things are certainly tight at the top in that men's competition, with Dave Stone just edging it - being the only man to break the 80% age-graded average (81.15%) - with Mike Musgrove not far behind in 2nd (79.71%), followed very closely by men's captain, Adam Miller (79.34%). However, with Mike's training now focusing around his Atlantic Coast Challenge attempt in October, Adam could well sneak a few extra percent in the next couple of months to just edge past him. It could be down to the wire between those two!

However, those are by no means settled as being the top 3 in the men's championship as some other contenders, who still need to complete one or two more races, could put a spanner in the works. Both Hugh Marsden (78.55%) and Tony Hatchard (78%) were late starters to the championship, having only started their racing seasons this summer, but they are sure making up for it now. With a few more key races pencilled in, such as the Dartmouth Regatta 5 mile this coming weekend, we could see changes in those top 5 positions by the end of the week!

The overall standard in the men's competition has been high across the board, with a number of men not far behind the leading pack all averaging around 75/76%. Rich Hawes is at the top of the chasing group (76.30%), just 0.01% ahead of Jon Garrity (76.29%); however, Rich has the advantage in having completed all of his races, whereas Jon still needs to add 2 more races across 2 new categories to achieve a full portfolio.

Hot on this pair's heels are Ray Elston (75.51%) and Dave Eveleigh (75.19%). Ray needs 2 more races from 2 different categories, whilst Dave only needs one final race from either the Half-marathon, Marathon (unlikely for our 1 mile specialist!) or a wild-card distance.... Dartmouth Regatta 5m this weekend, perhaps?!

Marc Cox has completed his championship already (72.42%) and so he could now look to improve upon a couple of the results he's had at tricky races that are pulling down his overall percent. For example, finding a faster race to replace his Totnes 10k result would erase his only sub-70% mark from the board. A fast 5k at Run Exe or Yeovilton or else Woodbury 10k could do this and see Marc also creeping up to join the 75+ percenters!!

Rob Orton and Lee Russell have a bit more work to do if they are to complete their championships in the next couple of months, as at the moment they have only got races in one section (5ks) and so need 3 more races of 3 different distances to get a full set.

Women's Championship

In the women's championship, 5 of the 8 ladies have now completed. The podium positions are a little bit more settled here than they are in the men's, with Cathy Newman streaking ahead as a clear and unreachable winner. Cathy has now completed her full set of races with an astounding average age-graded percentage of 88.40%.

Second place is being occupied by myself, Ellie Sutcliffe, on an average of 79.32% - tanatlisingly close to breaking the 80% barrier, but that is unlikely to happen now with only 2 months left.

Third spot is fairly secure in the hands of Hannah Bown, who has completed on an average of 73.19%. I say "fairly" secure as ladies' captain, Dawn Teed, is not massively far behind her (71.04%) and has been enjoying a good season of racing this summer, so there is still a small chance that she could close that gap between now and the end of October. However, a good run at an autumn half marathon could also see Hannah stretch ahead again, so it's still all to play for!

After these 4, the positions are as tight as you could ever get, with the remaining 4 ladies all within 1% of each other! With her sparkling new 5K PB, Carly Miller has just stolen the advantage, in 5th spot overall (66.40%), from her sparring partner, Lisa Hatchard (66.18%): this pair have both completed their full set of races so can now work at further improving their percentages. With them being so closely matched, this little battle really will go right down to the wire!

Joan Mason (65.90%) and Emma White (née Dupain) (65.30%) are then having a battle of their own. Neither has yet completed all the required races (indeed, Joan was unfortunate not to have been able to get a score in the 10k section last Sunday as she felt unwell at Torbay and so decided not to run). Emma just needs one race in a different section to complete, whilst Joan needs 3 races across 2 different sections; one of which could be a 5k, so get yourself to a parkrun Joan!

Beginners' Championship

There still remains only the one contender in this category and that is Karen Hawes. Credit to Karen for giving this a go within her first year of running. She is doing superbly well, especially considering that she doesn't tend to target easy races! Her 2 10ks so far have been the hilly Umborne Ug and the seeringly hot Tipton Rail and River Run! She's also completed a Run Exe 5k, giving her a current average percentage of 49.89%. With one more race left to complete from a third category, we're sure that Karen could finish up on a 50% score.

She'd love to have someone else to battle with though! Yes, there's an element of competitivity to it, but it's primarily meant to be a bit of fun and to encourage people to try out different events and races. If you are new to competitive running this past year, then you can enter it. It's not too late: you only need 3 races in the next 2 months. It can still be done: just ask if you are interested but not sure and we can tell you more about it!

Well done to everyone who has given it a go this year. We will be awarding prizes and momentoes at the Christmas party to recognise your efforts. 2 months left to improve your scores, so get racing!!