Run like a rebel!

The local race calendar seems to be bursting at the seems at the moment with racing opportunities. Just this last weekend alone, for example, there was the choice of the Otter Rail and River Run 10k or the Duckponds 7k on the Saturday and the Magnificent 7 on the Sunday; there are also midweek evening races taking place most weeks and this week was no exception as on the Wednesday night I, Ellie Sutcliffe, headed over to Colyton, near Seaton, to take part in the inaugural Colyton Rebel Run.

So named after the town's historical rebellious nature (see: http://www.colytonhistory.co.uk/colyton-history-rebel.html ), this is billed as a 10k but in fact came in about 1k short of that. It is very similar to the Sidmouth Festival 10k with the first mile entailing a huge climb up a very steep and muddy field that reduced most of us to a fast fell walk in places. The route then levels out at the top before heading into some woods where it undulates and twists and turns through a lot of mud before you pop back out to join a farm track and then some fields. The beauty of an uphill start is a long downhill finish and the soft bouncy grass made for the perfect terrain to put the foot down and hurtle down the hill to the finish at Colyton Grammar School.

On the start line I caught sight of Lucy Owen, the talented vet runner from Sidmouth who just got the better of me on the descent at the Otterton Beat the Bus race a couple of weeks ago, so I knew I was in for a tough run! I knew she was a very strong descender and that with this race being a long steep descent to the finish, I knew I'd have to go out hard and try and build up a big enough advantage on the uphill and flat sections to try and hold her off on the last mile.

I managed to do just that, fortunately, and finished almost a minute clear by the end. My time: 40:34 for 12th place overall (out of 126 runners). The winner was Michael Robinson of Tamar Trotters in 34:30.

This was yet another fabulously organised Axe Valley Runner's event, with a terrific atmosphere at race HQ, where there was live music, cakes a plenty and a BBQ and bar on offer. I would definitely recommend this event to the Harriers off-road contingent for next year - fun, friendly, interesting route and a bargain at £6 to enter, with a good quality medal as a momento.

Approaching the finish of the Colyton Rebel Run