Exe-rated: The Blog of Exmouth Harriers: Seconditus strikes the Harriers at Totnes 10k!

Under threatening skies that went on to do a little more than just threaten and in fact deposited all of their liquid content over the course and the race HQ in the hours leading up to the event, the Totnes 10k took place.

Organised by the Teignbridge Trotters this has always been a popular race with the Harriers, with 13 taking part last year and 8 this. It is a phenomenally well organised event and it takes place over some stunning countryside along the river Dart and through the private land of the Dartington estate. With a BBQ, beer tent, tea, coffee and cakes a plenty at race HQ, this race has all that you need for a successful event and draws in around 500 runners each year.

This year numbers were down slightly as the horrendous downpours will have deterred some people from turning up and entering on the day, but 443 hardy souls still braved the weather and the muddy route and all seemed to enjoy themselves, despite there being several tumbles and slip ups in the mud! The Harriers once again managed to impose their authority on the race and were competitive from the start.

The route is multi-terrain in every sense and incorporates tarmac footpaths, rutted fields, bridal paths, woodland paths, steps and river side gravel paths. Although it is predominantly flat, aside from a few climbs in the woods, this is not a fast course and in the muddy, boggy conditions this year it was even more of a challenge and keeping up a decent pace whilst running through puddles that came up to the knees was not easy!

After an exhausting 6.40 mile (and yes, the course is in fact 1/5 longer than a true 10k, just to add to the challenge) run, 8 muddy and bedraggled Harriers arrived at the finish in the grounds of Totnes Pavillion. Here's how we all got on:

Dave Stone: 13th overall and 2nd MV40 in 41:01 receiving a category prize for this. Unusual for Dave to be out of the top 10 finishers, however, this is his summer rest period and has seen him cut right back on the training, so in light of this, it was an impressive run.

Marc Cox: 19th overall in 41:55. Marc deserves a special mention as this was an absolutely fantastic run and a super time on such a tough course. Marc has only been running seriously for less than a year and he is making huge improvements with every outing. Dave Stone must have felt him breathing down his neck the whole way round! Well done Marc!

Jon Garrity: 25th overall in 43:03 and 4th MV40. Similar to Marc, Jon has not been running all that long and he is also seeing his times and performances improve with each race outing. The MV40 category is usually one of the toughest out there and now Jon is beginning to work his way up towards a top 3 placing, it is surely only a matter of time before he gets there.

Hugh Marsden: 29th overall in 43:47 and 2nd MV50, picking up a prize for his efforts in the process. The wet, muddy terrain was right up Hugh's street and as the going gets tough, Hugh always gets going!

Ellie Sutcliffe: 44th overall and 2nd lady in 45:31. A foot injury earlier in the week made me uncertain as to whether I would even be able to get round but after some, er... alternative treatment from a fellow Harrier before the race, my strapped up foot held up ok, though I did have to go steady in places to avoid turning it on the rutted uneven ground.

Scott Jordan: 77th in 48:10 and 12th MV40 (yes, Scott has now entered this prestigious age category!!). Two-Trigs was justifiably thrilled with his run as it represented an improvement of 2 minutes on his 2011 time and in much tougher conditions on a slower course this year. He also shot up the placings to finish 45 places higher than last year, showing how much he has improved and why he is the current holder of the 'male athlete of the year' title.

Ray Elston: 186th in 53:26 and 2nd MV70, also picking up a category prize alongside Dave and Hugh. Amazing to think that this fantastic time should not be good enough for the win in the category, but Ray was only just run out of it with a Torbay AC rival claiming the spoils, running less than half a minute faster.

Dawn Teed: 191st in 56:44. Although Dawn did not manage follow up her fantastic category win at the Haytor Heller 2 weeks ago with another top placing, she nevertheless came out with an impressive age-graded score and as this is her last year in her current age category before she moves up a 5 year chunk (nothing like running for managing to age you by 5 years in 1 year!), she will undoubtedly be even more competitive, particularly in these tough, off-road events which are her forté.

Finally, to round off a pan-full of 2nds, our male team, with all 6 Harriers to count, finished as 2nd placed team behind a strong Torbay AC contingent. So well done to Dave, Marc, Jon, Hugh, Scott and Ray, who all won themselves a nice crate of beer!

Race was won by Ceri Rees in a fantastic (in light of the conditions) 35:45.
First female was Nicki Nealon of Huncote Harriers in 43:38.