Exe-rated: The Blog of Exmouth Harriers: It's a drizzly Grizzly for the Harriers!

On Sunday 10th March, one of the most iconic races in the area.... NO!, in the country, took place and that is the infamous Grizzly! Grizzly by name and - certainly this year more than ever - grizzly by nature, some very miserable, cold and wet weather made for a tougher than usual drizzly Grizzly! This did not deter the merry band of Exmouth Harriers who signed up for the race, however, and it certainly didn't stop them from putting in some fine performances. Undoubtedly the performance of the day has to go to Mike Musgrove, who managed to dislodge Dave from the Stone Throne for the first time ever by taking 13th place overall and beating many quality runners who, on paper, are faster than him, but the Grizzly is of course about much more than speed alone. Hannah Bown also had a fine run to make the top 10 female finishers and showing that preparations for her London Marathon PB attempt are going well. Below is the press report by Dave Eveleigh:

Few events can have caught amateur runners’ imaginations like the Axe Valley Runners’ Seaton based “Grizzly”. It is basically a mainly off-road Marathon but while many have tried to match its combination of meticulous organisation and quirkiness it remains unique in its ability to please runners of all abilities. As usual Exmouth Harriers had a number of representatives in this year’s race on 10 March. With Final results not yet available some times are approximated to the nearest minute only. Second claim member, Tom Merson was 2^nd by just 4 seconds in 2:24:11. In 13^th and in a time of 2:43:39 was Lympstone based fire-fighter Mike Musgrove who produced the performance his hard work in training merited, and which also won him 2^nd place in the Over 40 category. Dave Stone is an old hand at the Grizzly. Nevertheless 25^th in 2:49:7 and 3^rd Over 40 is probably more than a good day at the office, even for Dave. Jon Croome is something of a specialist in multi-terrain racing but still would have been more than satisfied with 86^th place (16^th Over 45) and a time of 3:07:19. First female Exmouth Harrier was the club’s current Athlete of the Year, Hannah Bown, not resting on her laurels, achieving 143^rd in 3:15 and 10^th woman. Like most runners Terry Oldham would not often stand out and in cycling might be called a “domestique” but he puts the miles in and 10th place in his over 55 section was a pretty impressive, his overall position being 387^th and his time 3:43. There were five more Harriers who finished and before noting their times and positions they of course ran just as far over just as many hills and got just as dirty! Emma Dupain finished 454^th in 3:48 and was 49^th Woman. Nic Brown was 458^th in 3:50 and was 87^th Man Over 40. Lorraine Croome 541^st with 3:54:30 and made the top 100 women with 70^th, and was 14^th woman over 45. Martin Richard finished right in the middle of the field in 735^th place of 1447 finishers. Jean Cooper just missed out on the top 1000 with 1090^th, 237^th woman and a time of 4:44.

And below here a report and some photos by avid Grizzly-ite, Terry Oldham, gives you a real flavour of this very unique and special event:

If you know about the Grizzly, then that is all you need to know. If you don’t know, then there is a lot to learn! Those that took part in the 2013 Grizzly run on Sunday, 10^th March, 2013, from Seaton, organised by Axe Valley Runners, on a 20.25 mile loop over to Beer, Branscombe, and the valleys and hills leading off, will either have had an experience they may not wish to repeat, or like many a competitor, they will come back to repeat it year after year. To add to the usual mix, this year had the weather to contend with as well, with the temperature dropping during the race, and the wind picking up, so providing a bracing and very cold head wind on the return to Seaton.

This is a run that packs a Grizzly punch, with shingle beach, hills, valleys, streams, and yet more shingle beach. It will push you hard whatever pace you run at, and one can only respect those runners who are heading the pack. One of those was Tom Merson, Exmouth Harrier, who has returned to peak performance recently, and this showed as he came in to finish second in a very tight race with Hasting AC runner, Jeff Pyrah. The battle commenced from the get go as they left the start line at Seaton and straight on to the beach for half a mile, before hitting the roads over to Beer, from there it was field paths, open fields, beach, hills, woodland trails and then back to the ‘Stairway to Heaven’ which raises you straight from the beach at Branscombe up to Beer Head. The last few miles then drop down to Beer and back along roads to the finish at Seaton. And after of all that? There were only 4 secondsbetween them, 1^st place in 2:24:07 and second in 2:24:11, so a right royal battle indeed.

Notable performances too from fellow Exmouth Harriers, Mike Musgrove, 13^th position (2:43:39), and Dave Stone, 25^th (taking part in his 15^th Grizzly) (2:49:07), Jonathan Croome 86^th (3:07:19), and Hannah Bown, first Exmouth Harriers lady, in 143^rd (3:13:56) and 10^th lady overall. Other Harriers taking part were: Mark Thompson 171^st(3:19:50), Terry Oldham, 387^th (3:42:11), Emma Dupain, 454^th and Ben White 455^th (both 3:47:11), Nick Brown 458^th (3:49:30), Lorraine Croome 541^st (3:56:10), Martin Richards 735^th (4:10:00), Jean Cooper 1090^th and Jane MacDonald 1092^nd (both 4:43:29). There were 1447 finishers.