Bicton Blister

On Sunday 25th, Exmouth Harriers hosted the Bicton Blister, supported by Ironbridge Runner. This popular annual race involved 11 miles of paths and tracks on East Devon Common Land, over the beautiful area of pebbled heath to the north of Exmouth, with spectacular views, starting and finishing at Bicton College.

The weather was great, warm and sunny with very little wind. Kairn Stone, of Newham & Essex Beagles, took full advantage of the conditions to win the race in 59:37 – not just a course record, but also the first time anyone has gone under an hour!! Congratulations, Kairn. The first lady to finish and 22nd overall was Emma Hitchins, of South West Road Runners, in 1:12:34. 327 runners completed the race.

Dave Stone, the first Exmouth Harrier to finish after a superb performance, was third in 1:04:57, just 14 seconds behind the 2nd placed runner, despite having completed the Cornish Marathon with Adrian Kearns only seven days before! Jon Croome was 38th in 1:14:47, with Adrian Kearns 48th in 1:16:54. Chris Dupain was 126th in 1:26:20, followed by Ray Elston, still in great form to come 127th overall and 2nd V60 in 1:26:36. Next Harrier to finish was Lorraine Croome, 140th in 1:27:58, with Jim Wyatt 256th in 1:45:50 and Trevor Cope 313th in 1:57:22.

The Bicton Blister could not be successful without a huge amount of time and effort from the support team. We are extremely grateful to race director Roland Young, ably assisted with the general management by Club chairman Bob Keast, course director Paul Champion, Phil Crook with the parking team, Steve Merry and the results team, Dawn Teed with the timekeeping and finish line team and Jill Dupain with late entries.

There were lots of good comments about the interest shown by the Exmouth Air Cadets and Sea Cadets in doing a great job of marshalling. Thanks, also, to St Johns Ambulance (who fortunately only had two minor injuries to deal with, one runner with nose bleed and one with grazed knees), the police and Ironbridge Runner.

(LT)