A Templer 10 triumph for the Harriers!

When runners cross the line of the Teignbridge Trotter's organised Templer 10 race, they usually have 3 comments about it: 'that wasn't 10 miles'; 'I expected it to be hilly - where were the hills?!'; 'what a superbly well organised event'! I think each of the 10 participating Harriers at this year's race would all concur with these observations.

I think the title of the race was chosen more for its alliterative properties than for it's numerical accuracy as the race in fact comes in someway short of 10 miles (about 9.5). It sure manages to pack a lot into that 9.5 miles though, with country lanes, fields, woodland paths, stony lakeside tracks and a nature reserve all adding to the variety of the event.

It never seems to attract the same numbers that the other Teignbridge Trotter organised races do - perhaps because some do not like the 3 miles of road involved or the flat profile of the course - but those who do participate seem to head back year on year, so it certainly has a niche cult following! Amongst that following are members of Torbay AC, who target this event every year en masse and invariably take a clean sweep of the podium places in the men's event. They did so again this year but they didn't quite have the same luck in the ladies event as the top 3 ladies podium spots were all occupied by members of...... the Exmouth Harriers!!

To the best of my knowledge - and certainly for as long as I have been with the club - this is the first time we have managed a 1-2-3 in race. With a number of other Exmouth ladies also finishing high up the overall pecking order, this gave us a comfortable win the female team competition (with 4 to count) and also gave us a 4th place with our B team, which further highlights the strength and depth that we have amongst the ladies at the moment.

As with the Tavy 7, unfortunately we were just lacking enough testosterone to field a men's team, with just the two stalwart representatives there. This did not stop them from being competitive though, with Jim being first in his rather exclusive vet 75 age group and with Scott producing one of the finest sprint finishes of the day as he tussled for the line with 3 other runners... all of whom had longer legs than him! ;-)

Mention too must go to Jane Macdonald and Susan Hill, who both had superb races just 2 weeks after their PB performances at the Amsterdam Marathon: talk about good recovery powers and dedication to the cause! And well done to Hannah Bown, who managed to even the score with a female rival from South Devon AC who just pipped her to the post at the Tavy 7 last week: clearly the longer distance played to Hannah's strengths.

The finish positions and times of the Harriers were as follows:
Ellie Sutcliffe: 1st lady, 16th overall in 61:34
Cathy Newman: 2nd lady, 1st FV50, 19th overall in 63:22
Hannah Bown: 3rd lady, 1st FV35, 25th overall in 66:08
Scott-2-Trigs-Jordan: 8th MV40, 39th overall in 67:38
Emma White: 17th lady, 75th overall in 72:36
Jane MacDonald: 88th overall in 74:54
Lisa Hatchard: 93rd in 76:00
Susan Hill: 99th in 77:15
Dawn Teed: 103rd in 78:08
Mick Allen: 1st MV75, 189th overall in 94:07

Well done to all the Harriers on good runs in what were tough, muddy underfoot conditions.

Team Templer!

The victorious ladies' team with our winning wine :-)