Our super-vets impress at the Dart-Vale races

The Dartmoor Vale races, organised by the Rotary Club of Dartmoor in conjunction with the Sibelco clay works, consist of a trip of races of three different distances: 10km, half-marathon and a full marathon, all on the road, around Kingsteignton (for the 10k) and further up the Teign Valley to Chudleigh (the half and full, which is two laps of the half). 

Dave Stone was the lone Harrier representative in the 10k race and had dual motives for doing well in the event. Aside from his usual competitive nature which always drives him to give his all and try and mix it with the leaders, he was also mindful that he held just a 0.02% advantage over Mike Musgrove in the Harriers' Club Championship. Thi race represented a final opportunity to put a cushion between himself and Mike and ensure a victory by the time the championship wraps up at the end of October. It was mission fulfilled for Dave on both counts as he completed the 10km route in a swift 35:26, which gave him 2nd place overall in the race, just 50 meters behind the winner, and earned him some valuable age-graded percentage points to lift him clear of Mike. 

Mick Allen, born in 1938 and being 75 years of age, is fully entitled to the description of Super-Veteran in more ways than one. He competes sparingly and here took on the half marathon. The course is far from an easy one, being undulating throughout and with one particularly steep hill out of Chudleigh, so he did exceptionally well to complete in a time of 2:11:58 for 180th overall out of 236 runners and 1st MV70. 

Les Turner, a young whipper snapper in comparison to Mick, but still an over-70 veteran himself, completed the full Marathon in 4:55:41 for 123rd of 132 and was also 1st MV70. As this race also incorporates the Devon County Marathon Championship, Les now finds himself as the proud title holder of county champion and can await the arrival of a shiny gold medal coming through the post as just reward for his efforts. Les has shown himself to be nothing if not versatile this year as he has had a go at every distance from 100m sprinting up to the 'Big Daddy' of endurance events, the marathon. He's even found time for a sport of tripple jump, javelin throwing and parkrunning too: talk about a 'have-a-go' attitude! He puts us youngsters to shame!

Well done to all three Harriers representatives for doing the club proud once again!