Plymouth Hoe '10'

One of the largest races in Devon in the calendar... and the Devon AA 10-mile Championship too... yet I was the lone Harrier there in a field of around 600.

With the Bath Half Marathon coming up on the 6th March, I went into the race determined NOT to run too fast... to treat it as a stepping stone and therefore to run what I call 'tempo pace' (saving it on the hills, and pushing on down them). In any case NOT to damage myself!

In the end it went very well... reasonably fast (for a MV/65 - 70:02) on a difficult (as it turned out) course. The leaders went the wrong way in mile 3, and ran around three-quarters of a mile too far -- that is apart from the actual winner (Kairn Stone - 51:16) himself.

Makes me glad that I had learned the new course from the course maps (as obviously did he). The stewards and signage were at fault... but as they say, learn the course before the race! I ran (for the first time in a race) in training shoes with no watch -- as I did not wish to 'push the envelope', and was rather surprised to run just 2 seconds over 70 minutes. I'd have accepted that before the start!

1st V/65 (by nearly 13 minutes) and 2nd V/60 too. Now for a recovery week before the final Exeter Arena 3k next Monday (28th), and the trip to Bath the Sunday afterwards.

(RR)

Press Report - Fulford '5'

Over 200 athletes turned up for the Exmouth Harriers promoted Fulfords Five road race on Sunday. Fortunately the strong wind they faced running down Victoria Road gave them a helping hand along the sea front before they turned back into the relative shelter of the town. Exeter Harriers took the podium positions in the men’s race through Jack Bancroft, James Denne and Oliver Berry, Bancroft’s time being a respectable 26:04. The first three women were Lucy Commander (South West Road Runners) in 30:08, followed by Katherine Humphries (Exeter Harriers) and Helen Dyke (Torbay). Among the veterans Gerry O’Connell and Steve Goss stood out. O’Connell was first over 50 and 7th overall, in 27:55 while Goss was first over 40 and 5th overall in 27:03. Computerisation of the results allows each runner to be given a performance rating adjusted for their age. This showed 53 year-old Karen Cook (SWRR) to have had a fine run to finish 37th overall in 32:23 and be top rated at 86%.

As well as organising the event Exmouth Harriers had a number of runners taking part. Denis Gildea was the first home for the host club in 35th with a time of 32:15. Next was Roger Rowe, fast approaching his best, as a comeback from injury continues; he was 43rd overall and first over 65 - although in fact there was nobody over 52 in front of him. Ray Elston was 86th and first over 70 in 37:40 while John Perratt was 99th in 39:08, and 2nd in the over 70s category. Dave Eveleigh (over 55) was pleased to chop over 3 minutes from his 2010 time to finish 111th in 39:56. Mick Allen then completed an over 70s clean sweep for Exmouth Harriers with 122nd overall (3rd over 70) in 40:52. Thanks are due to the race marshals and for the patience of local motorists.

(Dave Eveleigh)

Fulford '5'

Nice photo of the Exe Estuary... Oh, and Ray Elston powering in after an excellent run in the wind. It seemed to me that the wind got the better of any really quick times this morning (?)

Harriers finish times:

Denis Gildea 32:15
Roger Rowe 33:09 (1st V/65)
Ray Elston 37:40 (1st V/70)
John Perratt 39:08 (2nd V/70)
Dave Eveleigh 39:56
Mick Allen 40:42 (3rd V/70)

Photo from Mary R (click on it for the full effect)!