Start of the BMAF 10k road race in Exmouth, with Tony Hatchard leading the Harriers out of the bottle-neck start!
On an unseasonably hot Sunday October 2nd, our quaint little seaside town of Exmouth played host to the British Masters Athletic Federation (BMAF) 10k road running championships. This was a nationwide championship event open to any master's level runner; i.e. only those over 35 years old need apply!
This event proved to be an unexpected challenge for marshals when the glorious weather caused an influx of vehicles and day-trippers to the town. Thankfully great work by the Exmouth Air Training Corps and the patience of most motorists enabled the athletes to complete the race in safety, with those in cars suffering only minimal delays.
A dozen Exmouth Harriers toed the start line here, of a total field of 228 finishers. In the heat of the day, navigating his way around cyclists, buggies, dogs, small children and a whole manner of other obstacle that lay in ambush for the competitiors on the seafront, the outstanding 'home' performance of the day came from Ray Elston who was 158th in 47:47, placing him as 3rd man over 70. Well done to him!
Dave Stone as ever led the Harrier's contingent home in a respectable time of 35.03 for 16th place overall and 4th male over 40, though a mere 17 seconds shy of placing 3rd in that category. Dawn Teed had a strong run to clock 49:47 to finish 172nd and 6th woman over 45 while Roger Rowe, 105th place, timed at 41.41, was also 6th in his category (Men Over 65), a catgeory which proved to be fiercly competitive on the day, drawing out the crème-de-la-crème of veterans from the South West and beyond.
Tony Hatchard and Dave Stone pushing on along the sea frontMick Allen was 8th male over 70, taking 52:22 for 189th overall, again highlighting the calibre of the super-vet ranks that had been tempted out of their hiding places for the UK championships. However, Ray, Roger and Mick can all congratulate themselves as their collective performance in the V/65+ team category earned them the gold medal! Well done indeed!
Our male vet 65+ team of Roger, Mick and Ray (apologies to Ray on behalf of the photographer - Ellie's Mum - as she could not get a photo of you as you were tucked in behind a group of taller runners!) scooped the gold medal in their category!
In the over 35 men’s category Tony Hatchard was 9th (37:06, 46th overall) and Scott Jordan, unable to match his awesome new PB set in Woodbury last week but churning out another solid performance nevertheless, was 11th (45:22, 139th).
Dawn Teed and Hugh Marsden are usually to be found running off-road; it's a small wonder they didn't file a pre-race request for the route to be diverted onto the beach to avoid the traffic!
In the V/40 category, Mike Musgrove, nursing an achillies injury, was 10th (38:21, 61st place overall) with Richard Bishop following him into 11th V/40 (41:12, 98th). Our male V/35-44 team of Dave, Tony and Mike ran themselves into a bronze medal position. This is also a hotly contested age group so they should be very chuffed with that performance!
Not only did Mike Musgrove and Richard Bishop have to cope with uncharacteristicly hot conditions, but also with an unprecedented volume of traffic along the route!
In what proved to be a very competitive male V/50 categroy, Hugh Marsden had to settle for 15th man over 50, his time of 38:17 giving him 60th place overall; though perhaps if this race had been held on the beach or on some mud instead of the tarmac, Hugh would have felt more at home!
Nigel Dupain was 21st man over 55 (48:38, 166th) and rounding off the proceedings, Les Turner was 15th over 65 male (58:50, 217th).
Many of the runners decided to stay on in Exmouth and make the most of this Indian summer by having a picnic on the beach or a paddle in the sea after!
Despite the heat, Scott Jordan still manages to look cool in his reflector shades... how does he do it?!!
The lesser spotted Dying-Dave; looks as though he's coughing up a lung as he crosses the finish line!
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