London Marathon

Ten Harriers travelled to the capital to be among the throng of over 35,000 who completed this year’s London Marathon. Although they turned in some good performances, none of them caused too many problems for the winner, Olympic champion Sammy Wanjiru with his new course record of 2:05:10.

Dave Stone was the first Harrier to finish, 319th in 2:46:18. Hugh Marsden was 933rd in 2:59:53, with Adrian Kearns 1,393rd in 3:07:43 and Paul Samways 2,042nd in 3:15:19. Ben White came 11,145th in 4:14:03 and Chris Dupain was 14,763rd in 4:34:04.

The first of the Harriers to complete the ladies’ race after an excellent performance was Steph French, 707th in 3:36:07. Dawn Teed came 1,319th in 3:51:28, with Emma Dupain 1,346th in 3:52:03 and Nicky Crook 5,489th in 4:47:14. Unfortunately, Nicky suffered a calf injury a few weeks before the race that slowed her down considerably and meant that she did well to reach the finish.

(LT)

Honiton Hippo

Last Sunday a new event, the Honiton Hippo, was run for the first time on a glorious spring morning. The 7½ mile multi-terrain race was organised by Honiton Running Club and started and finished at Honiton Primary School.

The route took the runners down Clapper Lane, around Coombe Wood, then on a hard climb through Coombe Raleigh to the bottom of St Cyre’s Hill. Onwards and upwards through the woods and the bluebells to the top of the hill, followed by a sharp descent on the road to Awliscombe.

Half a mile further on, another climb took the runners to the zig-zag down the hill and through two very muddy hippo wallows. The hillside was traversed and the runners proceeded towards Tracey Mill and forded the river Otter. They crossed the fields towards Coombe Raleigh, then ran down the road back to Honiton – but had to negotiate another river crossing and a short, sharp climb before they finished.

127 runners completed the race and the winner was James Bellward of South West Road Runners in 47:58. Harrier John Perratt was 71st in 1:11:48 and Lee Russell was 73rd in 1:13:20.

(LT)

Bampton to Tiverton (7.1m)

[The White Horse at Bampton - the race start since 1946]

Great to see such a good turn-out from us 'oldie' members today -- and in Jamie one of the youngest -- all a credit to the club.

Much to my surprise once I read the results, I was 1st V60 behind John -- no idea why they missed me on the list, but at least that was some consolation for the slowest (%-wise) race I have ever run. Ho hum... wonder if I'll ever fire on all cylinders (not to say two feet) again sometime.

Today's results:
Tom M - 2nd in 37:12 (Tom looked strange in Bristol AC colours)!
Jamie P - 4th in 38:53 (What a great run)!
Andy J - 40th in 47:22
Andy K - 49th in 48:50
John P - 66th in 50:51 (1st V65)-(How does he do it?)
Bob W - 67th in 50:51 (Nearly a dead-heat)
Rog R - 77th in 52:10 (1st V60)!
Ray E - 88th in 53:24 (3rd V65)
Jim W - 104th in 55:32 (4th V65)
Mick A - 133rd in 58:55

And a happy time was enjoyed by all.

Thanks to Mandy Marvin all the way from Bedford who supported.

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Last Sunday, the Harrier who likes to do things a little bit different, Mark Thompson, was brushing up his French at the Trail des Citadelles in Lavlenet.

The race, which is 73km (46 miles) long and has 3700m of climb, was won by Patrick Bruni in 8:22:54. Mark was 77th in 11:39:13 out of the 175 finishers.

(RR & LT)

Sunday 5th April...

Sunday, 5th April was a glorious day for the Exe to Axe grade “B” Fell Race organised by Sidmouth Running Club and sponsored by Ironbridge Runner. Fortunately, there was a cool breeze to prevent the runners from overheating too much in the blazing spring sunshine.

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The race starts at Foxholes Car Park, Exmouth and follows the breathtaking East Devon Coastal Path for 20 miles, finishing at the Hook and Parrot on the Esplanade at Seaton. It accommodates both individuals tough enough to tackle the complete distance single-handed, and lesser mortals operating as relay teams of two, three or four runners. The three handover / check points are at Lime Kiln Car Park, Budleigh Salterton, Sidmouth Sailing Club and Branscombe Mouth.

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The race was completed by 133 individuals and 11 relay teams. Some of the runners completed the whole 20 miles, but ran as part of a relay team in the process.

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The individual race was won by David Miller of Teignbridge Trotters in 2:56:06. After a strong performance, Paul Champion was the 1st of the five Exmouth Harriers to finish in 45th place in 3:36:14.

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Lorraine Croome was 81st in 4:01:09 and Terry Oldham was 89th in 4:04:58. Lorraine Slight came 90th in 4:04:59 and Sue Wilkin was 117th in 4:41:57. Sue had saved sufficient energy to run the final stage again, in reverse, taking her total mileage to 24, as part of her buildup for the much longer events that she will be contesting in the course of the next few months.

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Exmouth Harriers also provided four of the eleven teams in the relay event that was won by South West Road Runners “A” in 2:44:04. The Harriers’ 50’s team (Andy Kennedy, Steve Merry, Richard Selby and Bob Woodall) were 3rd in 3:09:30. “Just the Two of Us” (Ben White and Chris Dupain) were 5th in 3:18:21. The 60’s team (Ray Elston, Bob Woodall, Jim Wyatt and Les Turner) came 6th in 3:20:42 and the ladies team (Lorraine Slight, Nicky Crook and Lucy Hodgson) were 10th in 3:53:45. Lorraine had run the 1st leg of the relay, then continued to complete the full 20 miles.

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The Taunton half marathon was won by John Mcfarlane of Thames Hare and Hounds in 1:08:22, only 21 seconds ahead of Exmouth runner Tom Merson of South West Road Runners who took 1:08:43, a new PB. Adrian Kearns was the 1st Exmouth Harrier to finish in 71st place in 1:26:45, followed by Andy Johnson, 122nd in 1:30:48. Duncan Parkes was 178th in 1:35:31 with Nigel Dupain 557th in 1:50:27. 1193 runners completed the race.

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(LT)

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PS I understand that Dave Stone completed the Marathon at Taunton in around 2:50 for 6th place. (RR)

British 100k Championships

Imagine the scene... there was I this afternoon, just back home after a day out in Exmouth, when a breathless Heather Foundling-Hawker come running up our drive shouting, "I did it Roger... I did it". "Did what", I shouted back. "I won the 100k Championships on one leg!"

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Heather has been a friend for ages, originally as we often paced each other in races, and then following a serious injury about 18 months ago, I tried to help her recover with advice, massage and a bit of training together. She became very much a friend of the family, and for ages has been working to recover from the foot injury she had suffered.

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On Sunday she ran the Celtic 100k race in Galway and came away with a second place in the race (to Irish athlete Helena Crossan) so ended the race as the new British 100k Champion, and with Angie Sadler winners of the team title.

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Although not yet firing on all cylinders, Heather is an amazingly determined competitor as anyone, male or female, will agree who have tried to race her in the closing miles of a race.

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She intends now to race the Edinburgh Marathon in May before the World 100k Championships in Belgium later in the year.

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She asked to be remembered to her many friends in the Harriers.

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The race report:
A sunny and cool day greeted competitors at the Celtic 100k race, which took place in Galway, Ireland on 28 March. The 100km (62.1 miles) road race incorporated the 2009 Anglo Celtic Plate competition between the home nations of Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales.

The Mayor of Galway, Councillor Padraig Conneely, was on hand to start the race at 08:00. The event was overseen by race director and organiser, Richard Donovan.

In the men's competition, England's Jez Bragg ran a stellar race to take the individual title in a world class 6:58:00. The winning time, a PB for Bragg, meant he ran each mile at an average pace of under 6 minutes 44 seconds. He was followed by Germany's Stefan Hinze and England's Allen Smalls in second and third place, respectively. The Anglo Celtic Plate team competition was retained by England with Scotland second and Ireland third.

Helena Crossan brought great cheer to the home crowd when she overtook England's Heather Foundling-Hawker in the latter stages to take the female title. Crossan, the Irish 100km record holder with a PB of 7:52:45 settled for a time of 8:11:04 on this occasion. Angie Sadler of England finished in third position to ensure England retained the Anglo Celtic Plate team title for women ahead of Scotland and Ireland.
(RR)