Lisa falls for the fells!!

Lisa Hatchard was down in Stourton on Wednesday 5th September for the Stourton Tour fell race. Organised by Okehampton Running Club, this is a small, low-key and friendly event - all in the true manner of fell running - and so proved ideal for Lisa as she was running a fell race for the first time ever!

For those of you who are familiar with the fell running scene, you will know that races are ranked according to both the ascent involved, as either category A, B or C, and to the distance of the race, as S (short, less than 6 miles), M (medium, 6-12 miles) or L (long, over 12 miles). Measuring in at 2.6 miles and with 800ft of total climb, this race is catgegorised as AS: short, but steep!

Below is a post-race report by Okehampton RC, which gives a real flavour of the race:

"The second running of the Sourton Tors Race in its new format  saw 15 runners make their way to the north west edge of Dartmoor to take on the steep ascent up to Sourton Tor.  With almost perfect  weather conditions the 15 hardy souls set off along the 300m track which lead them on to the open moor. As the path steepened, three runners broke away from the pack John Yells, Ben Bradford and Paul Crease (Okehampton RC).  As the three crossed the summit of Sourton Tor John held a 30sec lead over Ben with Paul another 20secs behind.  During the descent Paul used all his local knowledge to make up his deficit over Ben passing him within the final 1km  but could not catch John who took the race win with a new course record of 20:04.  The next five male runners saw the battle of the vets with Kavin Hagley (SWRR) edging out the MV O/50 winner Brain Charters (Exeter Harriers).  Roger Nosworthy (Bude Rats) completed the results taking home the MV O/60 award.

The ladies event saw a battle between the two local clubs Okehampton Running Club and Bude Rats with Helen Heard (Bude Rats) edging out Lucy and Karen Skye (Okehampton RC) to take the ladies crown in a new course record of 24:49.  Bridget Funnell (Bude Rats) took home the LV O/50 prize with Lisa Hatchard (Exmouth Harriers) completing her first fell race crossing the line with a giant grin across her face.

Okehampton Running Club would like to thank Sue and Brian for their help with the marshalling and all the runners who made it a very enjoyable evening event. Also a special thank you to The Bearslake Inn Lake who kindly let us use their facilities."

RESULTS:

MEN (including overall race position)
1. J.Yells 20:042. P.Crease O/40 Okehampton RC 20:39
3. B.Bradford 21:06
4. K.Hagley O/40 SWRR 22.48
5. B.Charters O/50 Exeter Harriers 23:30
6. M.Rice O/50 Okehampton RC 24.25
9. R.Ensor O/40 26.04
12. G.Miller O/40 Okehampton RC 28.18
13. I.Moor 28.25
15. R.Nosworthy O/60 Bude Rats 31.59

LADIES (with overall race position in brackets)
1.(7) H.Heard O/35 Bude Rats 24:49
2.(8) L.Skye Okehampton RC 26:00
3.(10) K Skye O/35 Okehampton RC 27:23
4.(11) B.Funnell O/55 Bude Rats 28:00
5.(14) L.Hatchard Exmouth Harriers 30.34

So although Lisa finished 5th of the 5 ladies, all 5 women finished within 6 minutes of each other, so it was a small but competitive race, and Lisa still manage to beat a male competitor! Girl power!! Most importantly, she thoroughly enjoyed her first fell run experience and we are sure that this will be the first of many races for her! Well done Lisa!