Comer in Columbia: Latest installment from our Katie down South!

COMER'S CORNER: LATEST UPDATE!
Exmouth Harrier on Tour, now in Colombia!!

Okay, so it’s been a while since my last blog so I’m going to try to fill in a few gaps. I am now officially leading trips, which essentially means my workload has trebled and I have to make all of the decisions. I started working with Domingo in Cusco and had two very successful first leads to Quito in Ecuador. Then came my first ‘blind’ lead – a trip I have never done (and neither had Domingo for that matter).

It started with the standard busy day in Quito, Ecuador, sorting out all of the trip crossover information, before meeting the group at our pre-departure meeting that evening. A slightly older crowd, they ranged from 28 to 74 and a mix of Brits, Aussies, Canadians, Swiss and Americans, they were very enthusiastic about the oncoming trip.

We hit the road at a reasonable hour the following day, taking a trip to El Mitad del Mundo (the middle of the World). Ecuador cannot call this the equator, because in Spanish ‘Ecuador’ IS ‘equator’ and it just gets confusing! Anyway, we took the obligatory photos with a leg in each half of the world, and then discovered that the actual equator line is 200m to the north which as since been established using GPS… Small matter! The equipment used to initially pinpoint this area then went on to be used across the world as a measurement system – it was the origin of metric measurements.

We headed on up through Equador to a little town called Otavalo where we found a fantastic local market to do some food shopping ready for dinner that evening, before heading off up a mountain to find our campsite. The local was simply beautiful, with incredible views down to the town, and out to three surrounding volcanoes.

Otavalo is famous for its weaving, so the following morning we headed into town for an hour to explore and see the locals in their traditional dress. We then headed north to the Colombia border. A smooth border crossing meant we were in the border town of Ipiales with plenty of time to visit Las Sancturio de los Lajas, a pre-gothic church built across a deep gorge against a rock face where is said that an image of the Virgin Mary materialised. They have now painted a Virgin Mary on the rock inside the Church so you can’t get confused as to where this miracle took place!

The next day we headed out to the town of Popayan. One of the border officials had advised me not to stop for any reason between the towns of Pasto and Popayan as there is still occasional trouble with guerrillas along this section. Message heeded until we realised it was going to take us 6 hours to cover this stretch – difficult with no toilet breaks! We found a safe town to stop for lunch and then just headed on again. The scenery was incredible – we were following through the Andes and although winding, the road had fantastic scenery along the entire route. Reaching Popayan we found that we were at the tail end of one the Semana Santa festivities (Easter!) and there was an evening parade with the children going through town playing instruments which was fun to see.

We were back on the road again, heading to Cali, home of Salsa dancing! Arriving at lunchtime (having been nicknamed ‘Rock Star’ by my passengers for the amount of attention I was receiving from Colombian men for driving a truck!), we had a relaxed afternoon before chartering a Chiva bus for the evening. Now, traditionally the Chiva bus is used for locals to travel around the country bus (like a normal bus) but they are brightly decorated and made of wood. There are versions of these which have been converted to a mobile dance floor, with a DJ, for a bit of a party night. Best party bus EVER – we were driven around Cali for two hours of dancing, before heading into town to watch the experts doing some salsa. Nursing a hangover, I used the following day to catch up on paperwork, confirm bookings and do as little as possible!

Leaving Cali, we headed on to a coffee plantation near the town of Manizales. The Hacienda Venecia is located at the north end of the coffee axle, which stretches from Medellin to Bogota and Cali. The Hacienda was located down a long narrow drive which was very overgrown so we assisted with the pruning on our way down! Complete with a plunge pool and hammocks, the location was just idyllic. During the evening we had a barbeque and a fiesta night with traditional Colombian music and dancing which was a lot of fun.

The following day we headed up to Manizales to see a local charity supported by Dragoman, the Sagrada Family Charity. The Charity supports pre-school children between the ages of 3 and 5 years old who are from the slum areas of Manizales. It gives them a safe place for education, to play and to have a decent breakfast and lunch. For some of these children this is the only food they will have. It also allows their parents to go out and work. The slum areas still suffer from a lot of violence, with guns and knives a regular part of every day life. We were taken to see one of the schools, but the other is in an area which is too dangerous to take tourists – a bit of a wake up call! After the Charity we had a quick city tour of Manizales, exploring the sights and local market. Manizales is built along the top of a ridgeline so the views were amazing!

Our final day at the Hacienda was spent having a coffee plantation tour which was really interesting. We learnt some background and history about coffee, and what to look for when buying proper Colombian coffee (the Juan Valdez symbol on the back – if it doesn’t have it then it is blended with inferior beans!). We then had a guided tour around the plantation and processing plant, before an afternoon to relax and enjoy our surroundings which meant I managed to squeeze in a run! Having not run a step since I broke my shoulder on the 2 January I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I can still run 6Km without collapsing in a heap - a bit of work to be done if I want to consider the London marathon again next year though, assuming I’m back in the UK in time!

Back on the road, we headed further north to Guatape and my favourite part of the trip. Guatape is a small town in a beautiful location. Surrounded by lakes and mountains, it also has a mini sugarloaf mountain called ‘El Penol de Guatape’ which has 700 steps to get to the top and enjoy the views. It is a huge granite monolith, of which only a third is actually exposed. The rest is buried deep below the ground. We had two free days for activities whilst in Guatape, so I spent the first day doing a waterfall walk, literally up the
waterfall which was great fun, and the second day I finally managed to go rock climbing. This was a complete day off for me as no passengers wanted to come – a rare treat!

After Guatape we headed to Medellin, former home city of the infamous drug cartel Pablo Escobar. With a half day city tour which gave us our bearings of the city, we had plenty of information to go exploring the following day. The nightlife in Medellin is also excellent. Arriving on a Saturday meant we could fully enjoy this aspect! Incredibly in 1993 Medellin was considered one of the most violent cities in the world. Just 20 years later it is now one of the safest in South America, and the atmosphere and vibe is amazing.

Leaving Medellin, we had a long drive day to Covenas on the Caribbean coast – blue blue waters!! It was a late arrival with no time to explore, but the next day we headed out to the San Bernardos Islands. I was actually a little disappointed with this part of the trip as the islands, although beautiful, have become incredibly touristy and the locals just seemed to be out to make money. A complete contrast to the welcome we had received throughout the rest of Colombia where the people are very warm and welcoming, and can’t do enough to help. It was still a lovely day out, with highlights being a snorkelling trip using gear which leaked (yes, that is the mouthpiece!) but which provided us some great entertainment. Not an activity to recommend to my next group!

We headed out to Cartagena for our last drive day, arriving at lunchtime again after an unofficial city tour… we took a wrong turn and ended up in the old town where trucks REALLY shouldn’t be! With narrow streets, tight turns, balconies and street sellers to negotiate, I’m not quite sure how I got the truck through without leaving a trail of devastation behind me but I did! Cartagena is simply beautiful, the old town is picture postcard pretty. Every street is full of character, with beautiful buildings, different street sellers and good local food to be found. It is however very very HOT. With the temperatures never dropping below 31 degrees, the best way to explore this city is to walk for 15 minutes and then dive into the nearest coffee shop with air-con to cool down! It is the most beautiful city that I have ever seen so well worth a visit if you ever get the chance.

The final day of the trip involved a small contingent of the group taking a local bus to the Mud Volcano. Now this really was an experience!! You walk up the side of a big pile of mud to find a small pit at the top, completely full of mud covered people. The mud is actually over 200m deep, but it is so buoyant that you just float. It is impossible to move from horizontal to vertical without assistance as your bodyweight simply can’t sink into it! We had great fun jumping on each other in a vain attempt to push each other deeper. Once out of the mud bath we made our way down to the nearby lake to be washed off. A Colombian lady sits you in a foot of water, then proceeds to half drown you before (without warning) whipping off your bikini to give it a rinse!

The San Bernados Islands, on the Caribbean coast

A mud bath!

Katie getting down and dirty... what's new?!! ;-)

Club Championship 2013: current state of play

We are now 4 months into the year and the newly launched Exmouth Harriers Club Championship is starting to heat up. For anybody who has not seen any of the emails about this and is unaware of it, it is open to any first claim member of the Exmouth Harriers to enter. It is free to enter, but you do need to inform me (Ellie) of your intention to take part and let me know your date of birth as I use this to work out your age-graded percentages, which is how the performances are calculated so that everyone is on an even playing field.

This year is very much a trial run of the idea and so we have tried to keep it basic and as simple as possible. In a nutshell, there are 6 categories and runners need to complete 6 races across a minimum of 4 different categories in order to complete their championship portfolio. The categories are as follows:

1: Track races of 3k and under

2: 5k races (can include parkruns, accurately measured road 5ks and track 5000ms)

3: 10ks (can be on or off road but must measure at least 10k; 10’000m track also ok)

4: half-marathons

5: marathons

6: wild-card (any other accurately measured distance but not track. E.g. 5 miles, 7 miles, 10 miles, 20 miles, 50k)

If this year proves to be a success – and it’s already shaping up to be – then we can expand it next year to incorporate multi-terrain races and work out difficulty ratings to make this fair.

There are 3 separate championships: a men’s, a women’s and a beginners’, this latter for runners who have been running for less than a year and who score less than 60% on age-graded. So far there are no entrants into this category but if any of our new runners or members of our beginners’ course are reading this and are interested, just let us know and we can tell you more about it. Beginners only need to complete 3 races across 3 different categories.

At the end of October the time for registering performances ends and we assess the final standings. There will be an overall male and female (and beginners, if there is demand) champion, and there will be a champion for each section. Only 1 person can win one section. If the same person comes out on top across multiple sections, they will be awarded the prize for their highest age-graded score and then in subsequent sections the 2^nd highest score will get the prize. This means that 6 different men and 6 different women will win something.

And so, to the action! Well, it’s suddenly gotten very exciting following a busy couple of months on the racing scene with half-marathons in March and marathons in April.

In the MEN’s championship, 8 men are currently battling it out for supremacy. A late arrival to the contest, who has stormed in and stamped his authority on it, is our resident triple world record holder, Dave-Sparrow-legs-Stone. With 4 races recorded across 4 different categories, Dave only needs two more performances from any 2 distances of his choosing to complete his championship, with 6 months left to do it. His average WAVA percentage of 81:40% gives him a narrow lead over Mike Musgrove, who is currently lying in second place with an average of 81%; however, so far Mike has only completed 2 of the required 6 races, and this percentage only refers to 1 race as we wait for confirmation of his London time, so he will have to get busy between now and October and fill in the other 4.

Whilst Adam Miller might be the man-of-the-moment in terms of raw times, Dave and Mike’s handful of extra years just give them that advantage over him in terms of age-graded scoring. Adam is not far behind them though, with a current average of 78.83% and having already completed 5 races across 4 different sections. If he can improve his Yeovilton 5k time later in the year, he will be able to delete his current 5k clocking and replace it with one that will give him a few extra percent.

Not far behind Adam is super-vet, Ray Elston, on an average of 77.5%; however, Ray has thus far only completed 2 races and they are both in the same section (section 6, wild card). He will now need to think about doing some 10ks, 5ks and possibly a track race or a half marathon if he is to complete the championship.

Next we have the ever-improving Richard Hawes who, let’s not forget, has only been running for just over a year, so is doing very well to be on an average of 75.56%: this being boosted by his recent track 5000m performance. Rich has completed 4 races across 3 different sections and is well on his way to building up a full portfolio.

Also boosting his average from the weekend’s track 3000m is Dave Eveleigh, who is currently on an average of 74.76%. Dave will be looking to replace an earlier March 3000m performance (72.92%) that is currently dragging his other percentages down later in the year. He has so far completed 4 races across 2 different sections. Some 5ks and maybe a 5 or 7 mile race later on will give him all the performances he needs to complete.

Jon Garrity is on 72.88% with just the 2 races completed in 2 sections. He’ll be looking to improve upon his 5k time though throughout the Yeovilton series and erase his current clocking.

Lee Russell has also declared his intention to complete the championship, but with just the 1 race (a 5k parkrun) recorded so far, he is on 69.2% - tantalisingly close to joining the 70+% club.

Hugh Marsden will likely come in and break this little lot up when he returns from the southern hemisphere and starts his summer season of racing.

So already, it’s a close affair with all the men within 12% of each other. It will be exciting to see the developments that take place now that we are moving out of marathon season and into the track season and the summer 5k and 10k road race calendar is getting underway.

If there are any other men in the club that have raced / plan to race and would like to be included, please let me know.

On the WOMEN's side, things are equally as competitive amongst the 7 participants. Unsurprisingly, the stand-out leader in terms of age-graded percentage, is our super-vet 50 star, Cathy Newman. However, Cathy has only completed one race so far out of the 6 needed (the Bideford Half), but is nevertheless sat pretty on an astonishing and, surely, uncatchable, 89.31%.

A whopping 11% behind her is myself, Ellie Sutcliffe. Luckily I had managed to record some half-decent performances before my injury forced me to rest for 2 months. Including a parkrun performance, which I am looking to replace with a faster 5k time later in the year, I have managed to complete 5 races across the required 4 categories, with an average of 78.50%.

Current female athlete of the year, Hannah Bown, is currently occupying the 3^rd spot, following a strong performance in the First Chance 10k that gave her 76.48%. The Tavy 13 race, however, was a hilly one and so she may well look to replace that with a faster performance in a flatter half-marathon, such as Torbay, or an autumn half. She is presently on an average of 72.60% with 3 races across 3 categories completed.

With excellent times in the Bideford Half and when winning the Stanley Marathon, ladies captain, Dawn Teed, is on 70.75%. Having just had a special birthday in April that has tipped her into the FV50 category, her percentages can only benefit from this… even if she isn’t that keen on it in other respects! Dawn now needs to consider some 10ks, possibly a 5k, or some 5, 7 or 10 mile races to fill the other 2 sections.

Lisa Hatchard and Joan Mason are having a battle royale, with both being within 0.20 of a percent of each other! Lisa currently has the edge, with an average of 66.27%, with 3 races completed across 3 categories. Joan is on 66.10%, following a superb performance of 69.39% at the Bideford Half. She has done 2 races in 2 different categories and will now need to think about some 10ks and other distances to complete her portfolio.

Carly Miller has both Lisa and Joan in her sights, her being on an average of 64.25% with 4 races completed across 3 categories. Now that Carly is back into training, following a hectic spring that included the small matter of a wedding to organise, she will be looking to chip away at her 5k times and erase the 2 present clockings to boost her percentages and catch Lisa and Joan.

Again, if there are any other female Harriers who wish to be included in this light-hearted but mildly competitive fun, please let me know.

If you are unsure on how this works or have any questions, again, please let me know. All the percentages are calculated using the runner’s current age (exact age, not just category bracket) and using the same calculator for parity.

Well done to everyone who has given this a go: it’s starting to get interesting!!

A Trickey track meeting for Dave and Rich!

On Saturday 20th April, two Exmouth Harrier representatives were on the track for the annual Ken Trickey Memorial Meeting at Exeter Arena. They tackled much shorter distances than their London and Llanelli bound marathon running club-mates would face the next day, however, they still faced challenges of their own on the Exeter rubber as the physical demands on the body do not last as long but are arguably more intense.

Richard Hawes has been with the club for about a year now and during that time he has been keep to try out a whole range of events, from off-road events such as the Haldon Heartbeat and the Tipton Rail and River Rub, to road races such as the Chudleigh Carnival 6, the Exeter 10ks and the Bath Half, cross-country and also track races. He ran extremely well on his first outing on rubber back in September when he picked up a silver medal for his age group in the Devon County A.A. 10'000m championships. This time though, he was trying out a new distance and taking on his first ever track 5000m. With his only other experiences of 5ks being at the local Killerton Parkrun, the track was always going to get him a faster time, and for this first attempt he recorded a fine 19:07 clocking. True to form, Rich put on his now signature finish kick, showing an impressive turn of speed over the last 200 metres to come 3rd in a field of five, which was mixed in age and gender. In fact, it was an interesting race, as it was won by a clear margin by local talent, Tom Merson, with Rich being the only other male in a race which also contained two senior females and local super-vet 55 athlete, Karen Cook. 

In contrast to 5000 metres novice,  Richard, Dave Eveleigh had well over a hundred 3000m events under his belt when he lined up in a similarly eclectically mixed, but slightly larger, field of nine to race over the seven and a half lap distance. He finished 7th overall and first veteran athlete of any age in a time of 11:54, a more than respectable time for a 59 year-old. This was a vast improvement on his first outing of the season , in which he posted a time of 12:21, and which, with an age-graded percentage of nearly 76%, will prove a useful addition to his Club Championship portfolio.

Adrian rejects London for scenic Wales!

On the same day as the London event, Exmouth Harrier Adrian Kearns opted for a rather more scenic 26.2 mile run in Llanelli, west Wales. The Great Welsh Marathon was arguably not quite so great in numbers as it might have been, were it not scheduled on the same day as London, nevertheless, the route, the organisation and the atmosphere, in addition to the caliber and enthusiasm of the 260 runners who completed the race were definitely great.

Not only is this race lacking in the numbers of runners compared to London, the spectators on the rural route would also have been thinner on the ground, making this the ideal race for someone who prefers to run on a quieter route through some spectacular scenery along the stunning west Wales coast. It's by no means an easy route and has far more undulations than a city marathon would offer, which makes sole Harrier representative, Adrian Kearns' time of  3:10:39 all the more impressive. This was comfortably inside his 3h15m target and gave him a creditable 22nd place overall and 5th of 63 men aged 40-44. Adrian described  this as an enjoyable race on mostly runner-friendly cycle paths but a troublesome wind, which seemed to strengthen as the day progressed, in addition to the hills, made the 26.2 miles that little bit more challenging. Given these factors, this could suggest a time just under 3 hours just might be possible for Adrian on a flatter course, in better conditions. Very well done, and well worth the trip west!

World records, PBs, debuts, top performers in Devon: the Harriers London Marathon tally!

2013 proved to be an exceedingly lucky year for the 6 Exmouth Harriers who took part in this year's London Marathon. Firstly, luck arrived in the form of almost perfect conditions, with clear skies and a light cool breeze to accompany the runners on their 26.2 mile journey around the country's capital city. Let's face it, on a dull, cloudy day, London can easily look a little grey and depressing, but in the sunlight the Thames sparkled and all the new glass buildings in Canary Wharf and the new Shard edifice looked resplendent. The nice weather and perhaps the London Olympics legacy also helped to entice the largest (and noisiest!) crowd in the history of the race to the streets in support of the 30'000+ runners, generating an atmosphere that was sure to inspire even the most weary-legged runner to keep plugging on towards the finish line. These conditions certainly boosted the performances of the 6 participating Harriers, who all had excellent runs.

Anchoring them home, and cementing his position as club male athlete of the year, was the in-form Adam Miller, who knocked an astounding 10 minutes off his personal best - set in London last year - to clock 2:38:44. This gave him an amazing 145th place overall in a race that is getting on for having 40'000 participants. He had hoped to break 2h45 and felt confident that he was capable of that, and anything near 2h40 would have been an absolute bonus, so 2h38 is nothing short of fantastic and just reward for all his hard training efforts over the cold winter months. Most impressively, this placed him as the 2nd fastest finisher in Devon, behind former Commonwealth Games marathoner, Stuart Hall. Adam says that he plans to have a break from the marathon next year but with a time that will gain him a championship start alongside Mo Farah, he may well be tempted back: watch this space!!

Not too far behind Adam, having run with him in the early stages of the race, was London Marathon stalwart Dave Stone. This year's performance marked a hatrick for Dave in two respects: firstly, it was his 3rd year of attempting to break a fancy-dress Guinness World Record (which he achieved, with the fastest marathon as a film character, dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean) , and secondly, it was the third year in a row that he has posted a time of 2h42! 2:42:52 this year, to be precise, placing him not only well up the field in his MV40 category (42nd), but also giving him a top 250 finish, in 249th overall. He was also comfortably the fastest finisher not only as a film character but in any form of fancy dress! Not bad stats, revealing that old (Jack) Sparrow legs is fast acquiring a reputation as Mr. Consistency!

Another London Marathon veteran, running in his 3rd consecutive race here, was Mike Musgrove. Mike's first outing at London ended in a rather dramatic fashion in the medical tent and was very much one that he'd rather forget. Having learnt a great deal from it though, he returned to the race last year to rewrite the script and turn it into a more pleasurable read. He ran comfortably within himself to give himself a confidence boost and to enjoy the experience along the way. In so doing, he raised a lot of money for his charity, Whizz Kidz, and still clocked a sub 3h time, with 2h58. This year, with a good block of training behind him and a superb performance at the Grizzly to give him a mental boost, he decided to go for it and see what he could do. He ran a sensibly paced race and remained strong to the end to clock a time of 2h50. Unfortunately, Mike was one of a few casualties of faulty timing technology, as his timing chip failed to register on the electronic mats, leaving him without an official finish time. However, just because this chips were down - literally and metaphorically - this did not get the better of Mike, who made a note of his finish time on the clock, so it's now just a case of waiting for the organisers to study the finish footage and attribute him an official time.

A happy trio of Harriers celebrate 2 PBs and a world record at the finish!

Hannah Bown is another athlete who had had a very successful build up to London, starting the season with a massive 10k PB at the First Chance race, then churning out some strong performances at the Grizzly and the Tavy 13. Her main goal for the race was to beat her already impressive PB of 3:14:24, set back in 2006. Since then Hannah has had three children and over the past few months has done remarkably to juggle motherhood, her teaching career and her running so well. She has, if anything, been running stronger than ever, despite being so busy, and so a new marathon PB was a very realistic prospect. Up until halfway, Hannah was on - in fact, well ahead of - target, passing through the 13.1 miles in 1h33. With even splits, this would have easily given her the sub 3h10 clocking she was hoping for. However, they often say a marathon is a 20 mile training run with a 10k race tagged on the end, and it is in the last 6 miles of the race that you can go from being comfortable to struggling in an instant. Hannah started to tire in the closing stages and unfortunately her mile splits started to drop off, but, fighting hard to the end, she crossed the line in a superb time of 3:16:46 for 259th female and 2867th place overall: just outside of her PB, still an amazing performance, equivalent to a sub 3h clocking for a man, and placing her as the 2nd fastest female finisher in Devon.

Hannah pushing on through Canary Wharf

Dave Backway received one of the club ballot places for the marathon and was tackling the distance for the first time. A PB of 1h28 for the half distance showed that he certainly had the capability of running a 3h30 marathon. This time was foremost in Dave's mind as a race goal.... the fact that his best mate and fellow Harrier Scott-2-Trigs-Jordan had recorded a time of 3:34:17 in last year's race is of course just a bizarre and unrelated coincidence....! ;-) With Dave, the speed was there, but unfortunately the endurance wasn't quite able to match it. He was very unlucky not to have broken the 4h barrier, stopping the clock at 4:04:43. Nevertheless, he was comfortably in the top third of the field with 9345th place. Afterwards, Dave said of his London experience: "Not as quick as I wanted but it gives me a time to beat next year if I get [in through] the ballot. I was [running] next to the 3:30 marker until mile 18-19 and then at mile 21 my legs started cramping up. More training next year should do the job. Overall a brilliant experience." Not put off and wanting to have another go next year: yes, Dave has been struck with Marathon Fever!

Dave reveling in his first marathon experience!

The sixth Harrier running was also a recipient of a marathon place via the club ballot, and, since finding out that she was "in" back in December, Diane Richards has devoted herself to a rigorous training regime, which included a few key build-up half-marathon races, so that she toed the start line on the day as well prepared as she could be. What she could not prepare herself for, however, was the unexpected sunshine that greeted the runners. After months of training in extremely cold conditions, this came as a bit of a shock to Diane's system and she admitted to struggling a bit with the sudden increase in temperature. Nevertheless, her time of 4:25:07 was still a PB and placed her pretty much in the middle of the whole field with 16,509th position and well above half in her FV45 category, with 487th of over 1,300. They say that the average marathon time for men and women is 4h30, which makes Diane very much above average!

Well done to all the Harriers and particularly a big well done for those who raised money for charity through their efforts. Adam was running for Cancer Research UK, Dave for Exmouth and Lympstone Hospice Care, Mike for Whizz-Kidz and Diane raised a fantastic £1500 for the Motor Neuron Disease Association after witnessing the condition first-hand in a friend’s relative.

A great day, fantastic to be there and be a part of the experience. I think those of us who supported were almost as tired as the the runners, after screaming and cheering so loudly and running around London, hopping on and off Tubes, to get to different vantage points on the route. All worth it though to witness a small but formidable band of Harriers flying the club flag high and with pride.

Joan stamps her authority on Brighton

I intentionally delayed this blog post in the hope that Joan would respond to my request for some information and a few quotes about how she found her Brighton Marathon experience, but as this modest little lady has not been too forthcoming in commenting on her successes, it's been left to Dave Eveleigh and I to vaunt her achievement in our own words, on her behalf!

While Exmouth Harriers club-mate, ladies team captain and now fellow quintogenerian, Dawn Teed, traveled to the middle of the South Atlantic to post an impressive marathon performance, Joan Mason went instead to the heart of the South of England for hers.

With the London Marathon always massively oversubscribed and the average club level runner finding it hard to secure a place, the nearby Brighton Marathon, that takes place 1 week before, is growing in popularity year on year. This was the third year of its running and this time round over 9000 runners took to its streets and promenade to run this relatively flat race that offers some fantastic sea views over the course of the 26.2 miles. 

To the best of my knowledge, this was Joan's first marathon (would need her to confirm this!). But as far as preparation goes, she could not have equipped herself any better. A new half-marathon PB of 1:53:21set in her marathon build up at Bideford in March this year showed that she had the speed over half the distance, this, when combined with a dedicated training regime that incorporated long runs, tempo runs and recovery runs, ensured that she had a strong race in Brighton and did credit to herself and the club by posting 4:21:18. Joan was "really pleased" with this performance as she had not been expecting to break the 4:30 barrier, but her 1:53 half indicated that she was in fact more than capable of this time. 

The time appears all the more impressive when you learn that it placed her 4461st in the race, well up the rankings in her FV50 caetgory and comfortably inside the top 50% of finishers, which would have contained many, many runners 20 or 30 years her junior! There were just over 3,000 women running and the Harriers runner sneaked into the top 1,000, and the top third of finishers with 986th place.

Well done Joan! We are all thrilled for you! This backs up the results of Dawn and Lisa very nicely and now, as London dawns, we are just waiting for the Harriers men to put in an appearance and make a contribution to the string of marathon successes!

Joan proudly shows off her hard earned medal after the race

Yeovilton "Summer" 5k gets underway

Yeovil Town Road Runners have a case of trades descriptions to answer in regard to their use of the word "summer" in the title of the April - September 5k series, held at RNAS Yeovilton, as the weather that greeted runners on the first (April) round of the series was as far removed from summer as you could possibly get. Long tights and base layers were the order of the evening as 4 (and a guest) Exmouth Harriers made their way up the A303 to take on this competitive 5k race.

With the promise of a fast and flat course, us ranking-aware runners we were all seeking to post good times for the club championship and for our Power of Ten profiles. What greeted us were mid-winter temperatures, lashing rain and the stiffest easterly head wind possible. Did that deter us from making the 100+ mile round trip? NO! Yes, conditions were tough and not PB-friendly, but we figured that we would all put down individual markers to chase in subsequent rounds, which would give us a target to run faster next time.

The first Harrier home and first across the line outright was Ethiopian guest runner, Berihu Tesfay. With nobody to push him, the race turned into a bit of a time trial for Berihu and, with no shelter from the strong headwind on the home stretch, he did well to post a time of 15:32, putting him 18 seconds clear of the 2nd placed runner. With more clement conditions and some stiffer competition, it will surely be a matter of time before Berihu is dipping under the 15 minute mark here.

Adam Miller had never run a road 5k before; his only previous experiences of the distance being at the weekly parkrun, which, being multi-terrain, is a much slower track. So a PB was most certainly up for grabs for him, even though he was trying to take it fairly steady and not risk any injuries as he enters the final week of his London Marathon preparation. Given this, his time of 17:09, giving him 11th place overall, is very encouraging and shows that a sub 17 clocking if most definitely on the cards in subsequent rounds.

Using this race as my first competitive outing after my 8 week injury lay-off, following my achillies trouble and calf tear at the Plymouth Hoe 10 mile in February, my aim for this race was to get around pain free and put down a marker to chase in later rounds. Sensibly avoiding my usual 5k strategy of going off like a bat out of hell and watching the mile splits steadily fall from 5:40, to 5:55 to 6:15, I managed to keep an even pace this time. Luckily my achillies felt ok and aside from a massive drop in top end speed and leg cadence, I was pleasantly surprised to feel quite strong. I must have managed my pacing better than the other  ladies as I reeled 3 of them in over the latter part of the race, to finish as 2nd lady, just 6 seconds adrift of 1st, in 18:52.

Jon Garrity is likewise looking at completing the whole series at Yeovilton and aiming to preogress throughout the year. Not having done a scrap of speed work all winter to try and give his troublesome calf muscle a rest, he knew he was not as sharp as he could be, so he did extremely well to get around the course in a time of 19:16 for 27th place overall and a very commendable 2nd place in the MV40 section. He was just 1 second ahead of the next MV40 athlete, highlighting the importance of that final kick for the finish line! With a Killerton PB of 18:34, you can be sure that there is much much more to come from Jon once he gets back into structured training.

Carly Miller, like Jon and myself, was also approaching this first round at below full fitness: work, winter illness and the small matter of her wedding to organise have understandably gotten in the way of Carly's training! Not knowing what shape she was in, Carly was keen to just do her best and put a time up that she'll be able to chase in the next round once she returns to full training. That said, considering what she has been juggling over the past few months, her time of 23:39, for 14th female and 81st place overall, in Wednesday's horrendous conditions is very encouraging and gives her a target to aim for at the next outing in May.

Next round is Wednesday May 8th. Only £5 to enter and fast times are most certainly there for the taking if the weather complies! The 4 of us intend to go again and would love another car-load of Harriers to join us!