Comer's Corner: Exmouth Harrier on Tour, instalment 2

Instalment 2:
La Paz to Buenos Aires

Having survived the Worlds Most Dangerous Road on my last update, my second trip kicked off with another drama. Our first days drive from La Paz was supposed to end at a homestay in the local community of Livichenco, however all did not go to plan. The evening before we were due to leave the local guide contacted us as there was a miners strike in Challapata, which we needed to pass through to get to Livichenco. The strike involved burning tyre pyres across the road, the general throwing of rocks and military intervention. Based on this information we had to make alternative plans and so drove straight through to Potosi.

Potosi is the home of the most revered silver mines in Bolivia, and was the source of much of the Inca and Spanish wealth in the area. The ‘red mountain’ is actually a volcano and is mined for many different minerals. Black silver is now the most common silver strain found. Visiting the mines was an experience! The health and safety is second to none, with a shouted warning to watch the 200m deep hole on the left! Not quite the UK but is fascinating to see. The miners bring gifts of 97% alcohol, coca leaves and cigarettes to the devil in the hope that if they appease him then they will be safe for their shift. I also visited the mint museum to learn how the different Bolivian currencies have been made over the years. The city is not a typical mining town. There are some stunning buildings, and beautiful streets – all overlooked by the volcano. Well worth a vist!


After the extra day in Potosi we set off for Uyuni. The drive was beautiful, with the landscapes including desolate canyons, soaring mountains and eventually a vast white plain stretching beyond Uynui, surrounded by mountains. The evening was a relaxing one with a visit to the Extreme Fun Pub to sample some cocktails. Unfortunately for me my passengers also ran a sweepstake as the latest ‘Katie’s Challenge’ and paid for me to try the ‘Extreme Drinking Challenge’ which included 10 South America shots (one being six shots in one!!) being consumed as quickly as possible. The record: 35 seconds held by another Dragoman driver. As most of you will know, my tolerance for alcohol isn’t great at the best of times! My time: 66 seconds so a very credible attempt followed by instant drunkness and quick dash to the bathroom!!

Day 6 was our visit to the Uyuni salt flats on local jeeps. Feeling a little bit fragile (I insisted on having the windows down in the jeep!), we visited a salt processing business before being let loose with the cameras to play with the famous optical illusion salt flat photos. Hours of fun! We then visited fish island, which is made of coral. The salt flats used to be a sea, and as the water evaporated so the levels dropped and left the coral island exposed above the salt flats, now covered in cacti. Returning from the island we found a hole in the salt which turned out to be about 18 inches thick, and some natural springs coming up through the salt. The day finished with a visit to the train graveyard where we had another ‘Katie’s Challenge’ – this time to get from one end of the train to the other, without ever touching the ground. Mission successful!

Day 7 took us on the first days drive across the Bolivian Altiplano with local guide Braulio navigating to make sure we didn’t get lost. There are no maps or signs up there!! On the way through we visited the Valle de la Roche (Valley of the Rocks), which is a fascinating collection of rocks statues, sculpted by the winds. It was another day of vast landscapes, incredible lights, where llamas, alpacas, vicunas live in abundance, and our first rhea (small ostrich) was seen. We stayed overnight in a local refugia in a village called Ville Mar where we received a warm welcome with traditional Bolivian music.

The following day I was up early to dash up a mountain to watch the sunrise over the village, before setting off once again across the altiplano. The first famous stop was at the Laguna Colorado, a lake which is red in colour due to the mineral content and where flamingos can be seen in abundance. More incredible landscapes lead up to hot bubbling geysers, and a hot spring for lunch where we had chance to have a very quick 5 minute skinny dip (it was meant to be a paddle but it was just too tempting!). Finally passing the Laguna Verde (Green Lake) we crossed the border from Bolivia to Chile into San Pedro de Atacama and our hostel. San Pedro is an amazing place with a real Bohemian feel to it. Whilst there we crossed paths with another Dragoman truck - cue a crew night out for a catch up! Back at the hostel we caught up over a few more drinks and made friends with four Chileans who were just brilliant and patiently helped teach me some more Spanish (one was called Manuel!).

We spent day 9 enjoying San Pedro de Atacama, and took the passengers out to the desert and into the Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon) to see the sand dunes and rock formations, finishing with a desert sunset. One slight glitch when our passengers did a ‘truck swap’ from Yana to Elle and we went to the next stop, only to discover that a passenger had managed to get left behind in the toilet. A quick dash back and Priscilla (not joking) Queen of the Desert was recovered in time for us to get to a stunning sunset!

Day 10 involved a long drive day, crossed the border from Chile to Argentina and passing through the Argentine Salt Flats. Temperatures started at 8 degrees over the pass, followed by a steep descent through beautiful scenery to arrive at Salta and temperatures in the mid 30’s!!

The following day wasn’t a great day for me. I spent the morning in the very glamorous toilets at the truck park feeling terrible in 37 degree heat!! Steve eventually sent me back to the hotel at lunchtime, so spent the afternoon doing paperwork under the fan in the hotel reception which was the coolest place I could find to flake out!! By evening I was feeling well enough to join the group for a walk through the beautiful, vibrant city to sample the famous Argentine steak which was simply exquisite. Unfortunately I didn’t feel well enough to finish it, at which point the waiter insisted that I drink a Chilean speciality, Fernet, to settle my stomach. Made with herbs collected from a Venezuelan river, it tasted as bad as it sounds. I can’t say it settles my stomach, but it would work well as a cough medicine!

Back on the road the next day, this time we headed through a stunning valley, visiting a natural volcano-formed amphitheatre en route. Think of the photos at the entrance to Jordan and you’ll get the idea! The size and scale was incredible, and it made a fabulous backdrop for our lunch stop. Afterwards we continued on to the wine region of Cafayate and a campsite with some incredibly friendly dogs who kept escorting our passengers into town and back.

The following day I was back to feeling ill all day. Got drugs and slept in a patch of shade at our campsite as it was simply too hot anywhere else in temperatures reaching 35 degrees. In the afternoon the Andean ‘El nino’ wind picked up – strong hot winds rushing down from the Andes as the hotter air near the ground rises forcing the air down off the mountains, on this occasion creating a sandstorm. I woke up with sand coating everything including my eyelashes!! Sadly I wasn’t feeling up to sampling the wines form the region – this is an experience I have to save until the next time I do this trip.

Day 14 I was feeling better and we were back on the road, heading towards San Peteros estancia near Cordoba. A long drive day, again through stunning scenery and the Quilmes region. The Quilmes tribe was one of the last to be ousted by the Incas and the Spanish due to the nature and situation of the valley they lived in. Passing through Taffe de Valle and down the valley it is easy to see why – the area is incredibly inaccessible! Leaving the mountains we hit the agricultural lands of Argentina. With the impressive Andes to our right we had a long trip South towards Cordoba. Arriving at the Estancia just before dark, we had a warm reception from our host, Kevin, including an invite for wine tasting and cheese.

The estancia visit basically involved two days of horse riding. I was riding a lovely little mare called Reinita, who apparently is a very good polo pony although I wasn’t lucky enough to try out her skills. Led by Gauchos, we were taught how to lasso. I have discovered that I can catch firewood, as I caught the practice tree twice but the bullocks are safe from my rope! In the evening Steve and I ran an empanada class, teaching out passengers how to make a local speciality found throughout Argentina, accompanied by yet more wine.

The second day involved more horse riding, this time with a lunch stop at a beautiful waterfall and natural pool for swimming. Very cold but refreshing! The afternoon saw the group split with the more experienced riders having the chance to let off steam on the way back to the ranch house which was great fun! In the evening the ranch owners provided the most incredible barbeque – my expectations have risen and barbeques will never be the same again! Different cuts of steak, empanadas, salads, fresh home made breads, and more of the local wine. It was delicious!

Back on the road, we stopped in Cordoba for a few hours to allow our passengers to explore the city and have some lunch. Sadly, due to a lack of parking, Steve and I had to ‘borrow’ a bus stop and took it in turns to run and grab some lunch whilst ‘loitering innocently’, ready to make a quick get-away from a policeman if necessary. Fortunately we avoided all fines and made good our escape, heading south east towards Buenos Aires and an overnight campsite with some very friendly mosquitos!

An early start saw us arrive in Buenos Aires by lunch time, allowing passengers time to explore the city. Here I had my first experience of a ‘cambio man’ – not usually recommended but due to the current economic situation in Argentina cambio men give a much better exchange rate than the banks and you can get 1/3 more pesos for your dollar. I spent the last day of the trip in the truck park, washing all of the camping equipment and food storage. With the local Boca soccer team playing at home, celebrations were widespread, spirits were high, and the atmosphere in the city was electric. Out for our final group meal and some sad farewells to some of the members form the trip. Others are continuing on with us to do the leg from Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro. Watch this space for more updates to come!

Warning: envy inducing photos follow!!

Katie, making a splash!

Katie found a kindred spirit who likes a good old natter as much as she does! ;-)

Katie with one of her trek groups (possibly in the Atacama desert - is that right, Katie?)

A mountain above Quito, Equador, that Katie climbed... on her "day off"!!

We are loving hearing all your news and seeing these amazing pics - keep them coming Comer!! (And stay well!)

Bicton Blister another resounding success, despite the floods!

Despite a week of torrential downpours and severe flooding that saw some other races in the local area cancelled, the Bicton Blister and Blister Lite races, organised by the Exmouth Harriers, went ahead as scheduled. The damp conditions on the course did not dampen the spirits of the 484 runners who took part across both the main 10 mile race and the shorter 4.5 mile 'lite' option.

The runners faced a challenge just getting to the venue with road closures in place due to flooding around Bicton College, where the races start and finish. A thigh deep, 50m long puddle that had engulfed the lane out the back entrance of the College meant that a last minute re-routing of the race was needed, with runners being directed into a neighbouring field to avoid a dunking, and this before they even got to the off-road section of the run!

Due to the course being saturated and very boggy throughout, conditions were tougher than ever this year for the runners and this was reflected in the top three mens' and womens' times being 3-4 minutes down on previous years. However, the animated post-race banter suggested that all the participants had enjoyed the taxing, undulating course, which keeps runners guessing throughout as they twist and turn around the pebbly paths of the beautiful Woodbury Common, tackling a variety of terrain and natural obstacles.

The main 10 mile race was won by Stuart Hall of Devon Fire and Rescue Service in a time of 1:04:38. Stuart is a previous winner from 2010 and has also placed 2nd and 3rd in recent years. He also took away the top veteran prize. Lee Turner of Torbay AC was a strong 2nd place in 1:04:45 with club mate Simon Longthorpe claiming the 3rd spot in 1:05:15.

In the women's race, visiting runner Clare Miller from London Heathside took the spoils, clocking a time of 1:18:23 for 36th place overall. All the more impressive is that she completed the run in road shoes as a friend had entered her for what she thought was going to be a road race! Talented local veteran runner, Caroline Hewitt of Tiverton Harriers, grabbed the 2nd spot and top female vet, in 1:21:39 and unattached runner, Joanna McKenzie, made up the top three in 1:22:17.

In the 4.5 mile 'Lite' event, Christian Hewitt of Tiverton Harriers stormed to victory in 30:14, with unattached runner Sam Leary 2nd in 30:51 and Tavistock AC member Harrison Baker 3rd in 32:00. Exeter based South West Road Runner, Clare Hodgson, won the women's section in 36:03, with team mate and super-veteran runner, Karen Cook 2nd in 36:57, and another talented, local veteran athlete, Maggie Hunt, 3rd in 37:36.

With most of the Harriers tied up on marshalling duties, there were just a handful of Exmouth representatives running. In the main race, Marc Cox, nursing a slight foot injury, was the first Harrier home, in 39th place overall in 1:19:07. Nicolas Brown did 1:32:46 for 143rd place; Susan Hill 1:51:17 for 315th and Jim Wyatt ran 1:54:11 for 336th place and 2nd man over 70.

In the 'Lite' race, the participants of the successful Exmouth Harriers' beginners' running course were bravely tackling their first race. This not being the easiest race for a first attempt at competitive running, they all did superbly to finish in well under the hour. Catherine Gentry completed in 45:51 for 33rd place; Joanne Hollywood-Tucker was 38th in 47:22 and Jan Maker was 50th in 50:53. Having fun and not taking the race too competitively was stalwart Harriers' member, Lorraine Gilson, running with her son, Gareth, and daughter, Sarah. They all finished in 59 minutes and returned very wet and muddy with big grins on their faces!

Thanks must go to everyone who helped to make the event a success, including Harriers and their families who marshalled or did the time-keeping and results, the Exmouth Cadets who also helped to marshal, Bicton College for the venue, Sidmouth RC for the loan of some of their time-keeping equipment and St. John's Ambulance who, fortunately, were not kept busy on the day and had time to have a cup of tea and enjoy the atmosphere!

Some of the proceeds from the race will go towards the Wukro-Devon Running project, which the Exmouth Harriers support, and which helps to fund financially poor, but talent rich athletes in Ethiopia.

Jim Wyatt makes a splash at the stream crossing!

A squadron of Exmouth Belles (many of them 2nd claim Harriers) face an added obstacle at the stream crossing!

Exmouth Harriers storm the castle!

On Sunday 18th November, 8 Exmouth Harriers made their way to Drogo, the last castle to be built in England, for the South West Road Runners organised Drogo 10 mile. The race in fact measures in at 9.6m but this is scant recompense for the severity of the hills that are contained within it. There are 3 in total, each of them monsters, and collectively they bring the total height gain run on this course to 1480ft: roughly half the height of Mount Snowdon! They are also extremely steep and quite technical in places: I witnessed no less than 2 fallers on the first steep descent down the valley in mile 1. Small wonder, then, that when the results for this race appear in Athletics Weekly, they often do so under the "fell" section as opposed to just "multi-terrain".

The hills are not the only challenge on this course, the nature of the ground underfoot also adds to the fun! Stoney tracks, mud, a stream, tree roots, amassed piles of fallen leaves and a stealth cattle-grid that appeared out of no-where that runners had to hurdle all combine to make this course an energy sapping one. Sounds like the stuff of night mares and yet almost 500 runners, including 8 Harriers, signed up raring to tackle all that the Drogo had to throw at them.

Half of the Harrier entrants were made up of Dupains! They are the local running scene's answer to the Waltons and when one signs up for a race there are usually others there in back-up! Top Dupain on the day, although now using her married name Bown, was Hannah. Hannah is in the form of her life at the moment having returned to running from pregnancy stronger than ever. She ran 77:00 dead (although she is adamant that her Garmin in fact clocked her at 76:59!) which gave her 61st place overall and 3rd female. Since June this year she has managed to place in the top three at every local race she has competed in! Brother Chris also had a good run. Although he doesn't compete regularly and cannot train with the club due to his work commitments, he always puts in solid performances when he does rock up to a race. He took 86:25 for 143rd place overall. Emma also had a very fine run, especially considering that her and her foot had had a nasty run in with a hockey ball the previous day and the hockey ball came off best! She just missed out on finishing in under 90 minutes, clocking 90:10 for 198th place. Completing the Dupain line-up was Nigel-'Pops'-Dupain who took the number off Ben White at last minute. He had a very solid run and enjoyed the wonderful views on the course on what was a superbly sunny autumn day for running, clocking 96:45 for 258th place, just outside the top 50% of finishers.

First Harrier home on the day and improving upon his time from last year by over a minute and setting a Drogo PB in the process, was Mike Musgrove. Mike took 70:04 to complete the muddy 9.6 miles, securing him 18th spot overall (8 places higher than last year) and 5th MV40 in a very competitive field, in which the winner, Ceri Rees, came from this category. And all this despite having a slightly pulled calf muscle which he sustained at an inter-forces cross-country race in the week. Impressive stuff! Those hills sessions with Berihu have clearly paid off!

Next in was myself, Ellie Sutcliffe. This was my first time running the Drogo and armed with advice from Terry ("get yourself to the front and the right on the start line", "don't go too hard up the first hill, save some in the tank for later", etc! - Thanks Terry!), I set off expecting it to be a hard slog! My main competition was Jo Meek from Tavistock, I have never beaten her - never even come close! - but maybe today could have been the day?! So I sidled along the start line to tuck in just behind her. This turned out to be a futile exercise as she descended the first hill like a mountain goat and I never saw her again until the finish! Nevertheless, I finished less than 2 minutes behind her, which is closer than in previous races, so I was happy with that. I took 74:42 and came 46th overall and 2nd female.

There were perhaps two stand-out performances of the day, these being those of Scott-2 Trigs-Jordan, who knocked 5 minutes off his time from last year, and Dawn Teed, who slashed almost 10 minutes off her 2011 Drogo time!

2 Trigs is a master descender and uses his nimble, speedy, fearless descending skills to great effect to gain time on the opposition. He covered the course in a time of 80:37 for 82nd place. He also proudly boasted at the finish that he didn't walk any of the course, not even the (in)famous Hunters Path Hill: a huge achievement in itself!

Dawn is now into the early stages of a marathon training schedule and if the massive improvement on her Drogo time from last year is anything to go by, she is going to do very well at the Falklands Marathon in March 2013. In fact, Dawn's times have improved over several of the races she has done this year and she is running really strongly at the moment. She finished the Drogo in 97:48 for 266th place overall.

The eighth Harrier in was Jenny Wood in 344th place overall in a time of 1:45:02. Unfortunately I do not know Jenny so cannot say if this was a good performance by her standards or not, but it was certainly a good performance by Drogo standards and given that there were 486 finishers, she placed well up the field.

The icing on the cake for a great day at the Harriers' office was that in the announcement of the team prizes, with 3 to count for the female team, Hannah, Emma and myself took the top spoils! We were all very happy with our winning wine and wouldn't mind more of this team victory lark, so on on to the Exeter XC ladies!!

All the next photos, until stated, were taken by Jon Garrity, 400m from the finish (hence why we all look knakcered!). Thanks a mil' Jon, they are great!!

Mike Musgrove

Ellie Sutcliffe

Hannah Bown

Scott Jordan

Chris Dupain

Emma Dupain

Nigel Dupain

Dawn Teed

Winning female team: Hannah, Emma, Ellie

Dave Stone in a sprint finish for a podium place at the Cornish Marathon

In his own words Dave had been "sensible this time" in his training and final build-up towards the Cornish Marathon this year. After the Dartmoor Discovery he took some time off from hard training and from long runs before starting to build up towards the Cornish at the start of the Autumn. So he went down to the neighbouring county on Sunday with confidence that he would perform well.

This is one of Dave's favourite marathons and he usually manages to run it every year, including last year with a stinking cold and when it probably wasn't advisable for him to have run! He also performs well at the race year on year and is a former winner of the event (2003) in addition to having achieved several other podium places over the years.

This year though Dave really had his work cut out as there was some very stiff competition on the start line for him to wage battle with, all of them Cornish athletes. Justin Thomas of Cornwall AC was away and gone from the start and took a comfortable victory in 2:40:13: a superb time on this hilly and exposed course that starts in Pensilver and works its way around Bodmin Moor, taking runners past Jamaica Inn on route.

Second place was also a done-deal with Daniel Alsop of St. Austell Running Club posting a swift time of 2:48:39. But the race for the third and final podium spot was fierce and down to the wire, with our Dave and St. Austell's Duncan Oakes locked in an over-40s battle!

In a track race or a road race over 5k or 10k even, you expect to face a tussle for the line to decide the final top three placings, but there can be nothing more frustrating after 26.2 miles of running than to miss out on a podium spot in a sprint finish, which is what Dave unfortunately experienced on this occasion, being pushed down into 4th in a time of 2:51:42, missing out on third by just 12 seconds. Gutting.

Dave did, however, manage to come away with the top MV40 prize as the third placed athlete, Oakes, was in the MV45 category. Dave can also take encouragement from the fact that this was a course PB for him by a clear minute, so there is ever reason to think that he can return next year and run well and get himself back onto the podium. Well done Dave!

There was an outstanding performance in the women's race with Naomi Tier of Cornwall AC breaking the female course record, placing 6th overall, in a superb time of 2:56:24.

Winter 3k continues

Harriers were in action at Exeter Arena on Bonfire night last week, participating in the monthly Iron Bridge Runner organised winter 3k series. Dave Eveleigh brings the following report on the night's proceedings:

Noisy local pyrotechnics may have put the event at risk of multiple false starts, but they were not noisy enough to drown out gasps at the inaccuracy of the (presumably self-) seeding of, among others, the ‘D’ race winner who could have won the ‘C’ event by more than 30 seconds and even have finished 2^nd in the ‘B’! Exmouth had three representatives and in the best traditions of sportsmanship our boys take their race allocations on the chin, that is “some you win, some you lose”. Les Turner, in his 70th year worked hard to finish the ‘E’ race in 16:16 but, once recovered from illness and injury will hope to kick on from there with a better time next month, when he should pick up a Veterans prize for the Series. Dave Eveleigh was in the bunch of the ‘C’ race and ran 10 seconds faster than in October (12:03 for 9^th place). He now needs to finish 5 seconds in front of rival, Dave King (South West Veterans) to take the V55 overall award.  These races are graded on times, pitting male against female, young against old and in their vernacular Andrew Johnson was “well chuffed” to leave a string of talented male and female teenagers behind him, in taking 11 seconds off his October time, recording 11:51 for 3^rd in the same race as Dave, leaving him just 1 second behind Jim Durston (South West Road Runners) his rival for the v45 title. So, a couple of exciting contests for Exmouth runners in prospect at the deciding round in December!

Comer's corner: Exmouth Harrier on tour, issue 1.

News just in from our roving reporter, Katie Comer, from her travels in South America. That Harrier vest has got off to a good start on its travels, as it is accompanied by proud owner Katie in Peru and Bolivia. Read on to hear of the vest's ventures right here in Comer's corner....

Cusco, Peru to La Paz, Bolivia, including trekking the Community Inca Trail

Having literally got off to a flying start (all 30 hours of it) things haven’t slowed one iota. With just one day to acclimatize, I was dispatched with 27 passengers to tackle the Inca Trail Community Trek, which is specific to Dragoman and passes through two communities where donations are made from every passenger. Over the years these donations have enabled the Communities to build schools and hire teachers, so the benefits are obvious to see. With visits to ruins Sacsayhuaman (pronounced “Sexy Woman”) and Pisac on the way, the first afternoon’s trekking to 3,700m proved to be a challenge as the weather changed. With snow, failing light, and altitude sickness to contend with morale was low with around a third of the campers. Fortunately dry clothes, copious quantities of coca tea, a good dinner and a good nights sleep meant everyone was ready for action and the ‘big’ day’s trek up to 4,700m the following day (and a leader who convinced everyone that it was a much bigger hassle to go back down… yes, that’s me!).

Day two started with fine weather and the scenery which had hidden the night before came out in all it’s spectacular glory – it was stunning. Snow capped mountains surrounded the Community of Cancha Cancha and provided a superb backdrop to commence the second day’s trekking. It was a long haul to the first pass. The better acclimatized members of the group managed it comfortably, while I found plenty to do at the back encouraging some of the less fit and those suffering in the altitude. Fortunately with the added help of the local guides we achieved a 100% success rate to the top which is apparently rare. I made the most of the opportunity to build a snowman at the top, although in spite of my best efforts the local guide, Yamil, was less keen to indulge me with a snowball fight and the passengers were just too relieved to get to the top. The weather had changed again, and a long but gradual descent with a good smattering of snow took us to the second campsite. The weather had cleared up by the time we got there and our Peruvian contingent soundly beat the gringos in a game of soccer but they definitely had an advantage at an altitude of 3,900m where it felt like our lungs were exploding at any speed faster than a walk!

After a very cold night, day three started with glorious weather. The group split at this point, with a shortcut being available to the third nights camp with some hot springs. I joined the main crowd, tackling another pass which we made in good time (Pic 6). The views were stunning and this turned out to be my favourite day on the trek. Seven hours trekking, spotting Andean geese, wild chincillas and condors, took us to the hot springs where we were able to relax in thermal heated pools until dinner. We also had the opportunity to purchase a couple of beers – imagine my surprise when they turned out to be 1 litre bottles! Two bottles and a few hours later a select few were back in the hot springs with significantly less clothing. This wasn’t really a problem until three security guards appeared to see what we were up to!

Day four started with a mild hangover, easily solved with a cup of coca tea. A final visit to the hot springs after breakfast set us all up for a beautiful drive from Lares to a short two hour stroll through a stunning gorge, where we also saw an aureolis of the sun. A final drive to Ollayantaytambo finished the last day of the trek and a very comfortable hotel! An evening visit to the ruins, followed by an insight into a traditional Peruvian house, complete with guinea pigs, ducks, cats and a dried llama foetus on the wall gave us some insight into how the smaller communities live.

The following day I waved my passengers off on the train to Machu Picchu with Yamil, and I took the local bus back to Cusco. The remainder of the day was spent at the very glamorous truck park getting to know Yana, my new 18 ton truck. The evening that followed was reminiscent of two nights earlier, just with more clothing, as celebrations were due and dancing on bars commenced!!

After another free day in Cusco we finally hit the road with 19 passengers (the remaining passengers were heading west to Lima), and immediately came across a road closure. Unfortunately Yana is just too big to manage the diversion turn required around the narrow Cusco streets, so some serious reversing and holding up of traffic was commenced. If anyone has ever experienced Peruvian drivers then you will know that this is an achievement in itself, especially as they couldn’t actually see the truck until Steve had reversed it 50m down the street. Problem solved Dragoman style, off we set towards Puno. A brief stop at Sillustani ruins (Inca cemetaries) en route saw us arrive at Puno at sunset where I finally managed to convince most of the group to be brave and try street food which was an instant success.

The following day started with a cycle-taxi ride to the shores of Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world. We caught a boat out to the floating reed islands of Uros where the local communities were incredibly welcoming and showed us how the build the islands, and the reed boats which they use to fish. Back on the truck, we headed to the Peru/Bolivia border and Copacabana for nightfall.

With two nights scheduled at Copacabana I was lucky enough to get the chance to visit the Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun) on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca. The lake was so blue we could have been in the Mediterranean! The Island was beautiful, and held yet more Inca history with Puma rock being the reason for the naming of Lake Titicaca.

The final day of the trip involved a long days drive over the altiplano to La Paz, a bustling city seated in the basin of a valley, over-looked by Mt Illionis. I spent the afternoon exploring La Paz and signing myself up for some Gravity Assisted downhill mountain biking on the Worlds Most Dangerous Road the following day, which turned out to be almost 70km of adrenaline fuelled fun down a rather narrow gravel road overlooking a 300m drop with no crash barriers. The guides were brilliant, as were the bikes and I discovered an inner speed demon in myself, despite having never really been downhill mountain biking before. The opportunity to play on some 80 km/ph zip wires finished off the day perfectly!

Where will the vest venture next? Keep tuning in to find out! In the meantime, some photos to make us all incredibly jealous!

Katie and her truck. Is that a Grizzly t-shirt we spy?!

With a trek group on the world's most dangerous road in Bolivia. Should we be worried?!

Pink flamingos in Bolivia.

Katie keeping warm by a hot spring

Harriers have a dirty weekend...!

With 7 different races to choose from this weekend, or 8 if you include the trusty Killerton parkrun, Harriers were spoiled for choice when it came to selecting which events to enter. Before I get onto reporting how everyone got on, firstly a little topic for thought...

The second round of the Brooks Westward cross-country league was originally scheduled to be held next weekend, when there are no other races on the southwest calendar for it to clash with, but for some strange reason they moved it forward a week so it had to compete for entrants with the Sourton Scramble, the Yarcombe Yomp, the Templer 10, the Bideford 10, the Plymouth 10k and the Ilminster 10k. This is crazy! Surely a little forward planning and coordination between clubs would ensure a higher number of entrants and also mean that the quality of the competition is not so diluted? The Westward League would benefit massively from being on a weekend when there were no other, or very few other, races for it to compete with, as the incentive to make a 200 mile round-trip for what can amount to little more than 20 minutes of running definitely dissipates when there is also the lure of a good local race on offer on the same day, just down the road. I know of several people who would have competed in the Newquay XC yesterday, myself included, and who would have helped out their club teams, if it had been left on its original date of 11th November, when we hadn't already signed up for other races.

Anyway, that said, for the Harriers who did compete in the various races around the region, getting muddy and dirty was the order of affairs as the Exmouth runners all opted for the muddy, off-road races and gave the road events a wide berth. Here's how everyone got on:

Yarcombe Yomp

On the Saturday, husband and wife super off-road running team, Jon and Lorraine Croome, travelled to the eastern border of Devon to run in the Yarcombe Yomp. There are 2 distances on offer - 5 and 10 miles - with the 10 being 2 laps of the 5. Both the Croomes opted for the 10 mile and got stuck into a tough, extremely hilly and muddy but very satisfying race around the stunning countryside of East Devon.

Jon had a superb race to finish 4th overall and 1st MV45 in a time of 1:23:07. The winning man, Alex Todd of host club, Axe Valley, covered the course in 1:12:36: these times giving you an indication of how tough the terrain is.

Wife Lorraine also had a fantastic run to cross the line as 3rd female overall and to take a comfortable victory in the FV45 category in a time of 1:38:29. Winning woman was again an Axe Valley runner, Amy Greenhalgh, finishing in 6th place overall in 1:23:40.

The Yarcombe Yomp was perhaps one of the greatest casualties of a weekend crammed with races and the best argument for staging a race on a weekend with less fixtures already on the calendar as the 10 mile event only attracted 48 runners. With the effort that goes into organising and staging such a fantastic event, it really is a shame that entrant numbers were so low.


Templer 10

Although measuring in at the same distance as the Yarcombe Yomp (or thereabouts, as it's actually 9.7 miles in length, but that just doesn't provide the adequate alliteration to make a catchy race name!), the hill profile of the Templer 10 is very different, being almost entirely flat as it goes up the Teign Valley following the Templer Way before making a loop around Stover Country Park and then returning to the start and finish venue at the Passage House Hotel, Kingsteignton.

Although flat, the heavy rainfall the night before the race made the 4 miles of fields in this event a boggy, muddy nightmare! Difficult to know what shoe choice to make as this run is half on muddy fields and half on roads and gravel tracks, but those of us in road shoes certainly had a hard time of it in the field section as we fought to stay upright! It is, however, a beautiful route and another superbly organised race by the Teignbridge Trotters. This year 231 competitors completed the race that was won in the superb time, considering the conditions, of 53:56 by Lee Turner of Torbay AC.

I, Ellie Sutcliffe, won the female race in 1:04:15. Only 14 seconds faster than when I ran it in 2010 and back then I had only been running for a few months, so time wise not the best, but I think the mud and road shoe combo had something to do with that!

Lisa Hatchard had a very fine run, relishing the mud as she continues to enjoy her off-road trail races, crossing the line in 1:18:47 for 100th place overall, comfortably inside the top half of finishers. Frustratingly Lisa so so narrowly missed out on 2nd prize in the FV35 category by just one place and 10 seconds. Very hard luck Lisa! Work on that sprint finish and next time you'll 'av her!

Completing a trio of Exmouth performances was Alison Milborrow who covered the 9.7 muddy miles in a time of 1:33:11 for 180th place and who enjoyed every minute of it!


Westward League Cross-country, Newquay

In the ladies race Moira Glen, Carly Audritt and Dawn Teed picked up where they left off last month and continued to represent the Harriers female contingent with pride at the round 2 event of the league in Newquay. Although it also incorporated the Cornwall county XC championships, it did not attract a huge number of Cornish runners and so our Devon girls were able to impose themselves upon the field.

Moira followed up her fine run at Redruth with yet another 3rd placing in the FV45 category, despite having been laid off running for the past few weeks with a leg and back injury. She placed 20th overall in a time of 27:06 for the 6k route.

Carly again got stuck in to the muddy conditions and fought hard for those valuable points for the team, placing 37th in 29:49.

True team player, Dawn, rounded off the proceedings getting those final vital scoring points for the team and placed 50th overall and 9th FV45 in 32:37.

There were 58 ladies who competed in this round. Moira, Carly and Dawn have got the Exmouth team off to a superb start as they are now sat in 9th place in the team standings. Hopefully more female Harriers will now be able to come into the team and support them now that it moves closer to home on December 2nd, at Exeter Arena.

Adam Miller will have been grateful for some male company this time round as he was also joined in Newquay by club mates Dave Stone, Marc Cox and Jim Wyatt.

Dave had a very good run over the men's 9k course, finishing in a time of 36:21 for 13th place overall and 2nd MV40. And who beat him to top spot in this category? Hmm, a certain J. Ward. A familiar name and face, or rather, back of head view, to Dave as this is the same J. Ward who Dave chased around the Dartmoor Discovery ultra marathon in June!

Despite taking a comfortable victory at the Killerton parkrun the previous day, Adam was not showing any signs of fatigue in his legs at Newquay when he took 39:04 to claim 38th spot in a very competitive male race.

Marc Cox was making his XC debut and looking to stamp his authority on the Cornish and Devonshire field of runners. He placed 58th overall and recorded a time of 41:28.

Bringing up the rear was true team player, Jim Wyatt. Jim can always be relied upon to help out the Harriers in relay and team events and he found himself up against a superbly competitive MV60 field in Newquay as his time of 58:10 gave him 11th place in his category and 108th overall out of the 108 runners. Even though Jim regularly comes out top dog in his category in local races, the XC brings all the best runners out of the woodwork and age is but a number.

Berihu Tesfay was also making his Westward League debut but unfortunately he was forced to retire part way in due to tight calves. The cold weather and mud of Devon is proving to be a little different to the warmer climes and compacted, arid trails of Eithiopia and bringing its own challenges to Berihu!

Unfortunately 5 men are needed to count for a scoring team out of 5 of the 6 events. With 2 events down and only 4 left to go this means that the Harriers men, who are previous winners of the prestigious XC team trophy, will not be able to compete for the team prize this year.

There is, however, a team competition to be incorporated into the SW inter-counties championships at Bicton on January 6th. Adam has suggested entering a couple of teams and if we get as many people there as possible, even if you are not overly competitive and looking to place high up the field, just by taking part you will be pushing runners from other clubs down the field and helping out the Exmouth runners at the top end. The entry details are to be found here:
http://www.sw-athletics-academy.co.uk/sw-championships/

Cross country crew, innit?!