Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Last Weekend's races...

The Dupain family enjoyed a 340 mile round trip to run 10 miles in Wales on 23rd November. The event they contested was the Sospan 10 miles multi terrain race, held in Llanelli in the beautiful Pembrey Country Park. It started on park roads, continued into pine forests, then along a lovely beach (but very windy!!) and back into the pine forest to the finish.

Chris was the first home in 1:14, followed by Emma in 1:17, then Ben in 1:21 and Nigel in 1:24. It was so nice to meet new clubs and they were all very impressed that a contingent from Exmouth had made the journey to South Wales.

The 11 mile Bicton Blister and its little brother, the 5 mile Blister Lite, did not exactly get off to the best possible start when the trophies, drinking cups, safety pins etc. were stolen on Friday night. We were however extremely grateful to Radio Devon, Gemini FM, Exeter FM and the Express & Echo for their assistance in publicising the theft and helping us in trying to recover the items. But despite all the problems we had on Friday with the theft, we are very pleased that we will still be able to make a healthy contribution to the Devon Air Ambulance.

345 runners completed the main Blister event that was won by Jim Cole of Tavistock AC in1:07:26. The first Harrier to finish after a great performance, Dave Stone, won the award for 3rd man in 1:09:19. Only 3 minutes later in 6th place in 1:12:31 after an outstanding run, 17 year old Jamie Pearson is definitely one to watch for the future.

Adam Miller was 22nd in1:18:16, Jon Croome 29th in 1:20:32, Bob Woodall 103rd in 1:30:05 and Lorraine Croome 151st in 1:35:25. Ray Elston was 2nd V65 and 178th overall in 1:38:47, Lorraine Slight was 202nd in 1:41:33 and Jim Wyatt was 311th in 1:58:27.

The first lady to finish was Helen Dyke of Torbay AC in 1:18:59. The first men’s team was Exmouth Harriers comprising Dave Stone, Jamie Pearson, Adam Miller and Jon Croome. The first ladies’ team was South West Road Runners and the first male vet team was Sidmouth Running Club.

Although only 48 runners completed the 5 mile Blister Lite, the event was very popular in that the ages ranged from 11 to 77! The winner was Ben Trigg of Erme Valley Harriers in 39:53 and the award for 1st lady went to Emma Kiernan of Axe Valley Runners in 44:25. But when it came to age graded performance, 71 year old Exmouth Harrier John Perratt, who was 6th in 45:57, was well out in front with a grading almost 8% higher than the next highest graded competitor in this race.

The Committee would like to thank race director Roland Young and all those Club members who assisted him with setting up and dismantling the course, parking, dealing with late entries, marshalling, manning the water station, timekeeping and producing the results. Our thanks also go to the Exmouth Air Cadets, St John Ambulance, the police and Ironbridge Runner with Helly Hanson for their help and support.

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