Harriers out in force at Woodbury 10k

Exmouth Harriers were out in force at the Woodbury 10k race on Sunday 23^rd September. In fact, as well as contributing  a good number of runners, the club contributes some expertise in organising the event which raises funds (around £ 1,000 this year) for Christian Aid. The Race Referee was hard-working club chair Bob Keast, a volunteer in a year when the Ol ympics Gamesmakers have highlighted how volunteers are the foundation stones of British sport. Also typically British, unfortunately, was the weather with rain falling throughout. Add this to a course over typically Devonian hilly terrain and times were never going to be outstanding.

Dave Stone won this race a year ago but on Sunday had to be happy with 3^rd behind Bristol & West’s Adam Speake (34:56) and Tavistock’s Robert Orton (35:14). Dave’s time was 35:50 and he was also 1^st Man Over 40. Marc Cox finished  4^th in 37:05 and, over the last year, has established himself as one of the faster runners at Exmouth Harriers and it is not surprising to see him produce a performance like that at a local race. This was his first sub-38 minute 10k clocking but based on this time on an undulating and windy course, it will only be a matter of him targeting a flat, fast 10k and we may well see a performance in the 36 minute region from him. 

Then in 9^th place overall came Hannah Bown, her come-back gathering pace week by week as she recorded 41:09, unlucky to just miss out on a 40 minute clocking, but the conditions were not ideal, and she was 1^st woman by over 4 minutes. This all bodes very well for the Cardiff half-marathon which she will run on October 14th, along with sister Emma, and where she plans to target a sub-1:30 time. 

There was another good race from Richard Hawes who is on a roll of late. He crossed the line in 10^th position overall with a time of 41:46. Richard was also 2^nd Man Over 40 and 1^st Over 45. 

There was then a bit of a gap before the next Harriers home. Hannah Bown’s sister Emma Dupain was 34^th overall (47:41) and 7^th woman home with partner Ben White not far away, but not quite able to stick with her, in 37^th place (47:50). The game of cat and mouse between Emma and Ben thus continues!

Senior Dupain family club member, Nigel, was in the top 40 as well, his tortoise (40^th in 48:24) just unable to catch fellow Harrier Dave Eveleigh’s hare (39^th in 48:19). Both these guys were 1st in their age group, Nigel in the MV60 and Dave in the MV55. 

Running in close together were Kurt Margison (60^th in 52;19) and Roger Riggs (61^st in 52:27) both, as would be expected from club runners, well up the placings in a field of just over a hundred finishers, which included 35 women.