5 Harriers keep their powder dry for Powderham 10k!

With the off-roadie contingent down the road in Ivy Bridge, those Harriers fancying a rather more sedate option of a 10k run in the stunning setting of the Powderham Castle Estate headed across the water to take part in the Force 10k @Powderham.

Promising a bit of everything, with the first 5k being flat and on road, and the last 5k being undulating and mainly off-road on woodland trails, this run attracted some top level club runners and first time charity entrants alike and had a great atmosphere.

5 Harriers toed the startline, all opting for the 10k rather than the shorter 5k option. Conditions were hot and humid with little breeze and so the shaded sections under the trees were very welcome. With the route following an accurately measured 10k loop of tracks in and around the Castle grounds and with any public roads used - e.g. the stretch along the River Exe - being closed to traffic, this was a safe and enjoyable run for all.

Following a much needed 2 week rest period, the first Harrier home on the day was myself, Ellie Sutcliffe. I finished 9th overall and 1st female in 39:32. My prize was a signed copy of Adharanand Finn's new book, 'Running with the Kenyans', and Adharanand was also running in the race on Sunday, finishing 4th overall in 37:00. (Good job he didn't finish in the top 3 or he'd have won his own book!).

Next in, having a fine run, was Moira Glen. Moira tried to hang onto super-vet runner, Karen Cook, but Karen proved a little too strong for Moira on the long 1 mile climb at mile 4 and a gap opened up, with Moira hanging on for 4th place in the ladies race and 22nd overall in 42:28. She was also 1st in her FV45 age category but unfortunately no category prizes were awarded.

Then came new Harrier, Kurt Margison, having a strong run, despite the hot and sunny conditions, to clock 51:04 which placed him 98th overall and so in the top third of all finishers.

Having their own little private battle were Stan and Joan Mason. After Joan came out on top at the Torbay Regatta 10k, Stan had a point to prove at Powderham and so he went out hard, stuck to his task, and sure enough managed to score the equaliser! Stan finished in 55:48 for 146th place overall and Joan was not far behind, 174th, 57th female, in 57:53. And so to Woodbury 10k in 2 weeks time which has been selected as the decider! Who will it be? Place your bets please!

With live music, a good selection of excellently prized refreshments, post-race massage available and 50% discount for runners and their supporters into the castle after, this was a superb event and one which other Harriers should definitely give a go next year!

Moira finishing strongly for 4th place.

The 5 participating Harriers in front of the Castle: great backdrop to a race!

Lisa, Scott and Terry hit the hills!

On Sunday 9th September was the annual staging of the Erme Valley Harriers' organised 'Beacon Challenge'. A run of between 7.5 and 8 miles in length, this run takes runners up a huge climb to the beacon sat way above Ivy Bridge on the edge of the moor, and then sees them turn around and tare back down again towards the town. Although it is a marshalled route, it is similar to a fell race in all other aspects and so it attracted some top local off-road athletes and the Harriers' trail loving trio of Lisa Hatchard, Scott-2 Trigs-Jordan and Terry-The Dark Destroyer-Oldham.

Top of the Harriers pile on the day was Scott. Getting stronger and stronger on these tough, trail type races, 2 Trigs managed to find the trig point that was the Beacon on this occasion (!), before turning turtle and using his very fast descending skills to good effect as he tore down the hill towards the finish to post a time of 1:07:14. This gave him a highly respectable 35th place overall and 7th MV40.

Terry didn't get the nickname 'The Dark Destroyer' for nothing and he will have tried to hang onto Scott's tails for as long as possible, but 2 Trigs proved to be too strong on this occasion and a gap of just over 3 minutes managed to open up with Terry crossing the line in 1:10:40 for 55th place. Still well up the field and a highly commendable 2nd place in the MV55 category.

Lisa has clearly been bitten by the fell running bug after her exploits at Stourton Tor last week and so she signed up for another tough, hilly off-roader straight away and got stuck in. Not deterred by the fact that this race was over 3 times longer, she ran a solid run for 89th place overall in a time of 1:18:14.

The race was won in a new course record time of 50:30 by Tamar Trotters' Mike Robinson.
Top woman, placing an impressive 7th overall, was Emma Hitchins of Haldon Trail Runners, in 58:32.
122 finishers.

Terry, Lisa and Scott were supported at the Ivy Bridge Beacon Challenge by a Harriers' mini-mascot (a.k.a. Lisa's daughter and Harrier in waiting!)

Run Exe Summer 5k series: that's a wrap!

On 4^th September was the final round of the Ironbridge Runner Run Exe Summer 5k Series and back in town to guest star for Exmouth Harriers was Eithiopian runner, Berihu Tesfay, who won the race comfortably in 14:57. This was an improvement of over a minute on his attempt at the same course this time last year and was pretty close to the course record, set last month by Tom Merson, despite Berihu being unchallenged for first place and having to push the pace himself. Rumour has it that this Wednesday he is going to run in the final round of the Yeovilton 5k series, which boasts a slightly faster course still than the Exeter track, so watch this space for another sub-15 clocking from Berihu!

There have always been great rivalries in athletics and often intra-club contests are more intense than those across clubs. There was certainly a bit of friendly sparring going on between Andrew Johnson and Dave Eveleigh throughout the summer 5ks as these were the only Exmouth Harriers to complete all three races in the series. Coe and Ovett it may not be, but going into this final run of this year’s event each had finished in front of the other once and so both were vying for the deciding victory in the last round. With no more than 200 metres to go Dave looked to have done enough when he slowed drastically, allowing Andrew to pass him and claim club bragging rights!
On the night Andrew was 47^th in 20:38 in and Dave 48^thin 20:43. For the overall series standings, both finished 3^rd in their age group (Dave V55, Andrew V45) and Dave in particular can take encouragement from the fact that his times for this year were well up, by around 2 minutes, on those he posted last year. Will this pair have a rematch at the Winter 3k track series? We'll have to wait and see!

Lisa falls for the fells!!

Lisa Hatchard was down in Stourton on Wednesday 5th September for the Stourton Tour fell race. Organised by Okehampton Running Club, this is a small, low-key and friendly event - all in the true manner of fell running - and so proved ideal for Lisa as she was running a fell race for the first time ever!

For those of you who are familiar with the fell running scene, you will know that races are ranked according to both the ascent involved, as either category A, B or C, and to the distance of the race, as S (short, less than 6 miles), M (medium, 6-12 miles) or L (long, over 12 miles). Measuring in at 2.6 miles and with 800ft of total climb, this race is catgegorised as AS: short, but steep!

Below is a post-race report by Okehampton RC, which gives a real flavour of the race:

"The second running of the Sourton Tors Race in its new format  saw 15 runners make their way to the north west edge of Dartmoor to take on the steep ascent up to Sourton Tor.  With almost perfect  weather conditions the 15 hardy souls set off along the 300m track which lead them on to the open moor. As the path steepened, three runners broke away from the pack John Yells, Ben Bradford and Paul Crease (Okehampton RC).  As the three crossed the summit of Sourton Tor John held a 30sec lead over Ben with Paul another 20secs behind.  During the descent Paul used all his local knowledge to make up his deficit over Ben passing him within the final 1km  but could not catch John who took the race win with a new course record of 20:04.  The next five male runners saw the battle of the vets with Kavin Hagley (SWRR) edging out the MV O/50 winner Brain Charters (Exeter Harriers).  Roger Nosworthy (Bude Rats) completed the results taking home the MV O/60 award.

The ladies event saw a battle between the two local clubs Okehampton Running Club and Bude Rats with Helen Heard (Bude Rats) edging out Lucy and Karen Skye (Okehampton RC) to take the ladies crown in a new course record of 24:49.  Bridget Funnell (Bude Rats) took home the LV O/50 prize with Lisa Hatchard (Exmouth Harriers) completing her first fell race crossing the line with a giant grin across her face.

Okehampton Running Club would like to thank Sue and Brian for their help with the marshalling and all the runners who made it a very enjoyable evening event. Also a special thank you to The Bearslake Inn Lake who kindly let us use their facilities."

RESULTS:

MEN (including overall race position)
1. J.Yells 20:042. P.Crease O/40 Okehampton RC 20:39
3. B.Bradford 21:06
4. K.Hagley O/40 SWRR 22.48
5. B.Charters O/50 Exeter Harriers 23:30
6. M.Rice O/50 Okehampton RC 24.25
9. R.Ensor O/40 26.04
12. G.Miller O/40 Okehampton RC 28.18
13. I.Moor 28.25
15. R.Nosworthy O/60 Bude Rats 31.59

LADIES (with overall race position in brackets)
1.(7) H.Heard O/35 Bude Rats 24:49
2.(8) L.Skye Okehampton RC 26:00
3.(10) K Skye O/35 Okehampton RC 27:23
4.(11) B.Funnell O/55 Bude Rats 28:00
5.(14) L.Hatchard Exmouth Harriers 30.34

So although Lisa finished 5th of the 5 ladies, all 5 women finished within 6 minutes of each other, so it was a small but competitive race, and Lisa still manage to beat a male competitor! Girl power!! Most importantly, she thoroughly enjoyed her first fell run experience and we are sure that this will be the first of many races for her! Well done Lisa!

Adam sets yet another half-marathon PB at Bridgwater!

The second event of the first weekend of September, which attracted one lone Harrier, was the inaugural Bridgwater Half Marathon. A welcome new event over this distance in the area, it boasts a flat and fast course and offers competitors in the Southwest the chance to set a new PB. Fired up by this challenge, Exmouth's own Adam Miller ventured up the M5 and did exactly that.

Adam had already set an already impressive new half-marathon PB of 78:14 at the Torbay event back in June. Whilst the Bridgwater course is advertised as being fast Adam didn't know whether he was in PB shape having backed off his training to take a few months rest over the summer. He has nevertheless kept his legs sharp by running weekly fast 5ks at the Killerton Parkrun events.

On the day Adam felt that he had the speed but not the speed-distance endurance as he started to flag a little in the latter miles. This meant that after holding 3rd position for most of the race he was just overhauled towards the end, eventually finishing just 26 seconds adrift of 3rd place. As it was he still ran a superb race to clock 77:22 and set another new PB. Not long now surely before he goes sub-77!! Well done Adam!

Sometime 2nd claim Exmouth Harrier, Tom Merson, won the race in an impressive 68:54, a time which was just 10 seconds short of his PB.

Hugh and Dawn in action at Dartmouth

Following a hectic bank holiday weekend on the racing scene, the first weekend of September was a relatively quiet one that saw only 3 Harriers participate in 2 different races. The first race was held on the Saturday 1st September and saw Hugh Marsden and Dawn Teed head down to Dartmouth for the annual Regatta 5 mile road race.

This is a relatively tough 5 miler as the first half is all uphill, climbing up and out of the sloping seaside town, before turning around and treating runners to a nice downhill second half. Times are therefore slightly down on a flatter 5 miler, such as the Harriers' own February Fulford 5 race.

Hugh and Dawn enjoy this race due to its festival atmosphere and participate almost every year... oh, and the chance to visit Trago Mills on the way down might also play a part in luring Hugh back each year!!! Hugh often wins his category here, however, this year he had to be content with 2nd placed MV50 after being edged out by visiting runner, Nick Hides from Clevedon AC. Hugh still ran a strong race, as always, and finished in a creditable 9th place overall in 33:09.

Dawn also had a solid race to finish in 79th place overall in a time of 44:38. She placed 5th in her FV45 category, however, it must be stressed that this was an extremely strong category on the day with the first 2 females across the line outright both being from this same category, highlighting the quality of female vet 45 runners in the area.

The race was won by veteran Torbay AC athlete Pete Monaghan in 29:43. Wendy Urban, also of Torbay, took the women's title in 36:11.

Ann Widecombe honours Harriers at Lustleigh Show 10k!

Ann Widecombe has been quite adventurous in some of her post-political activity but she was probably wise to sit out the Lustleigh 10k multi-terrain race in favour of handing out the medals to finishers and later presenting the prizes as Guest of Honour at the Village Show the run forms part of. In stature she is rather smaller than you might expect but the stature of the Lustleigh 10k, compared to similar events locally is perhaps greater than expected. It is a tough, off road course, as you might expect for a race staged on the fringes of Dartmoor. It is hilly, muddy (this year particularly) and it twists and it turns but all the runners would have to agree that it is a picturesque environment and there are worse places to pound out 6.2 tough miles.

There were four Exmouth runners ready for the Lustleigh experience on bank holiday Monday 27th August. The star of the (Lustleigh) show was undoubtedly Hannah Bown. Now back to her very best form following a hard and determined effort to regain her fitness post-pregnancy, Hannah placed 17th overall in 46:30 and was the 1st woman home. Widders must have been in awe as she draped the finishers medal around Hannah's neck!

After a gap in racing for some months, Andy Kennedy is now starting to come up with performances that we might expect from him given those he was producing in his younger years; he was 40th in 50:25.

Nigel Dupain was 60th in 55:05 and less than a minute away from placing 3rd MV60. Nigel also looked rather more comfortable than Dave Eveleigh (Dave's own words!) who finished 86th in 60:30. One thing you can say for Dave though is that he always gives every race his all, whether it's a fast, flat 5k or a tough, hilly 10, like this one.

There were 123 finishers. The race was won by Tavistock AC ultra runner and 100 marathon man, Adam Holland, in 38:44.

To have the unique experience of being presented with a medal by a former politician turned celebrity, sign up for next year's race as Ann Widecombe does the annual honours at this race which takes places just down the road from her home at Haytor village!