The Grizzly 2007 - Armageddon Now

Axe Valley Runners, who organise the Grizzly, hope everyone enjoyed themselves on their "hills are lots of fun really" course, but won't repeat what one of the first three Grizzlers called them for subjecting him to such pain! Only one person told them it was actually too hard so it can't have been that bad!

Congratulations to the winners, especially to Frank Zimmer who came all the way from Frankfurt to win overall by a good margin in 2:27:31, and to Erme Valley Harrier Neil Holmes, who's run ten of the last eleven Grizzlies and finished in the top three in all of them. You're all winners, of course, but you knew that didn't you?

Thirteen Exmouth Harriers were among the 996 runners who completed the race. Dave Stone produced another outstanding performance to come 16th in 2:44:41, with Shaun Lock also running superbly and not too far behind in 20th place in 2:49:08. Jon Croome was 54th in 2:59:27, with Hugh Marsden 99th in 3:08:28. Next came Richard Selby, who had an excellent race to come 117th overall and 3rd V55 in 3:09:59, 15 seconds ahead of Joe Pascoe who was 118th in 3:10:14.

Despite completing the mountainous 100 mile North Face Ultra-Trail Du Mont-Blanc race less than a week before the Grizzly, Paul Champion had still recovered sufficiently to achieve 245th in 3:25:35, a terrific achievement. Lorraine Croome came 275th in 3:29:09 and Steve Merry was 376th in 3:40:04. Dawn Teed came 564th in 4:01:36, with Emma Dupain 592nd in 4:04:57, Nigel Dupain 593rd in 4:04:58 and Sue Wilkin 894th in 4:51:02. Well done to everyone who completed this gruelling event!

Recently it was reported that Jim Wyatt won the V65 bronze medal at the South West Vets’ 5k Championship at Yeovilton. Apologies to Jim, because he actually did better than that and won the silver, not the bronze.

Harriers Summary:
Dave Stone - 16th in 2:44:41
Shaun Lock - 20th in 2:49:08
Jon Croome - 54th in 2:59:27
Hugh Marsden - 99th in 3:08:28
Richard Selby - 117th in 3:09:59
Joe Pascoe - 118th in 3:10:14
Paul Champion - 245th in 3:25:35
Lorraine Croome - 275th in 3:29:09
Steve Merry - 376th in 3:40:04
Dawn Teed - 564th in 4:01:36
Emma Dupain - 592nd in 4:04:57
Nigel Dupain - 593rd in 4:04:58
Sue Wilkin - 894th in 4:51:02

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(LT)

The North Face Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc

Well the day finally arrived for Paul Champion to line up with 2,319 other runners for the start of the 5th edition of The North Face Ultra-Trail Du Mont-Blanc. This follows a well-known route around the base of Mont Blanc. Starting in Chamonix (France) at 6.30pm on to Courmayeur (Italy) and then to Champex (Switzerland) before retuning to Chamonix. The route is 163Km long with 8,900m of ascent and descent along the route. The maximum time permitted is 46 hours.

Paul started near the rear of the field not wishing to be lulled into starting too fast to the sound of ‘Chariots of Fire’! Fortunately the first 8k was fairly easy running to allow the muscles time to warm up before being faced with having to go up the famous Kandahar world cup downhill ski run. Reaching the top in 1,686 position. By this time the sun was beginning to set and head torches were going on in readiness for the hours of darkness ahead. By sunrise Paul was well on the way to the Col de la Seigne at 59k and in 1,030th position. It was clear Saturday was going to be hot and by the time Paul reached Courmayeur (907th) just before 10am the temperatures were already in the mid 70’s. This was the first of two points where a bag had been sent forward with clean kit and shoes if needed. Now faced with two big climbs to reach the highest point on the course during the hottest part of the day it was important to keep hydrated. Just after 4.30pm Paul reach the Grand Col Ferret (804th) at 2,537m.

Next followed a long quad bashing descent with a climb at the bottom to Champex (635th) arriving just before dark to the second bag drop control. A welcome change of kit after a very hot day, more chicken noodle soup and other refreshments before donning head light again and heading out for the second night on the run. Only just over 40k to go now but still three big climbs before the finish. A strong second night on the run saw Paul reach Vallorcine in 479th position at 4am. The last control point at Argentiere (457th) was reached at 5.20am. With just 10k left the end was in sight and head lights were again being turned off. This last 10k took 1h 27m. Paul finished in 423rd position in 36hours 14min and would like to say a big thank you to an enthusiastic support team who followed him around the course and encouraged him at some of the control points that were reachable by road.

Well done, Paul! Just completing such a long, arduous course up and down mountains, by day and by night, almost 10 hours inside the maximum time permitted was a tremendous achievement. And to progress steadily through the field to end up beating 1,897 out of the other 2,319 runners was, for a man in his 50’s, awesome!!

(LT)

1st & 2nd September 2007

Exmouth Harriers competed in three events over the weekend, but several runners appeared to be preparing for next week’s infamous Grizzly, rather than racing themselves.

Roger Rowe produced another excellent performance to come 28th overall and 1st V60 in 19:29 at the hilly Saltram 5k, as part of his preparation for the Aldershot Relays at the end of the month. The race was won by Kairn Stone of Newham & Essex Beagles in 15:32. 142 runners completed the race.

The Harriers were represented by a single runner at another event, the even more hilly 5 mile Dartmouth Regatta Road Race. This time it was Hugh Marsden, winning the V45 category and coming 10th overall in 31:27 after another superb race. The winner was Mark Cowan of Exeter Harriers in 29:20 and there were 123 finishers.

Finally, two Exmouth Harriers took part in the Bideford 10 Miles Race. 134 runners completed the race, which was won by Mark Jenkin of Bideford AAC in 54:07. Cathy Newman, still in top form, came 1st LV45 & 1st lady (9th overall) in 61:59. Adrian Kearns was 20th in 65:38.

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(LT)

SWVAC 5k - Other Photos

All photos taken at around the mile-post by Mary.

SWVAC 5k – Yeovilton, 27th August 2007

[Andy K tracking Roger R in the second kilometre. They finished locked together in the same positions]

What a good turnout from Exmouth Harriers at Yeovilton for this year's 5k Championship race this morning, even though Les Turner and new member Peter Tabenor were unable to run due to injury. The overall quality was good too even though the total entries were down.

The RNAS Yeovilton course is basically a 5 kilometre box from the main gates to Podimore and thence back to Yeovilton via a second lane. There isn't a contour line the whole way... even my pancakes are lumpier than this course!

In the Vet/50 class, Andy Kennedy, a late entry for the race following an encouraging track session last Tuesday, fulfilled his aims by finishing in 19:00 dead for the bronze medal, tracking Roger Rowe for virtually the whole race.

Roger, Vet/60 winner from 2006 was rather disappointed with his silver in the Vet/60 class in 18:58 - his fastest time this year. Disappointed that is, until he realised that the winner was Harry Matthews from Elswick, second in the National Rankings in 2007 up to this morning. Harry's winning time of 17:43 was the fastest in the UK this year, and a Course and Championship record. Even firing on all cylinders Roger is unlikely to manage that!

The interesting races were the Vet/65 and Vet/70 categories with our own Ray Elston in the former and in-form John Perratt in the latter. John's main competitor was Gordon Wiltshire, multi-record holding... the winner of many category titles over the years. On paper there were 7 seconds between them.

Gordon’s strategy seemed to hang on to John for as long as possible, but inevitably after around 2 kilometres, John gradually pulled away. Ray, keeping his powder dry tracked them both, noticing in the final kilometre that he was catching Gordon. Suffice it to say that Ray, encouraged by the shouts of other Harriers, outsprinted Gordon to finish in 20:52 for the Gold medal in the Vet/65s.

John of course simply ran away from them, finishing in the 4th fastest time by a Vet/70 man in the UK this year of 20:16 (his 20:15 in the UK Championship is the 3rd fastest)!

Jim Wyatt running an even-paced and solid race, finished in 22:34 for the Vet/65 silver medal.

Finally, Lee Russell finished in 5th place in the Vet/50s in 21:25.

So Gold for John, Gold for Ray, Silver for Rog and Jim , and a Bronze for Andy. A morning well spent! No other club came away with 5 medals.

(RR)

Tywyn Race the Train

Hugh Marsden beat the train in the Tywyn “Race the Train”, a tough multi terrain event of about fifteen miles which takes place alongside the route taken by the Talyllyn Railway on its journey to Abergynolwyn and back. In order to do this it uses a mixture of public roads, lanes, un-metalled roads, tracks, agricultural land, and rough grazing pastures. The route crosses the face of the hillsides, ascends and descends quite steep terrain and runs on narrow footpaths with little chance of overtaking. The terrain varies all the time and was very wet and muddy in places, also involving some steep hills. Often, if runners coincided with the train, their families and friends on the train could shout encouragement to them. About 700 runners completed the race and Hugh ran superbly, coming 2nd V45 and 23rd overall in 1:39:55.

(LT)

Sidmouth Festival 10k

Six Exmouth Harriers took part in the Sidmouth Festival 10K Multi Terrain Race which was won by Mark Cowan of Exeter Harriers in 40:19. Dave Stone led the Exmouth runners home, after an outstanding race, coming 2nd out of the field of 224 finishers, in 41:44. Richard Selby, also in top form, was 15th in 46:28, but 5th on an age graded basis. Andy Kennedy came 47th in 50:47, followed by Ray Elston who was 74th in 53:14, after another excellent race. Emma Dupain was 105th in 55:47, with Jim Wyatt 124th in 57:32.

(LT)

Yeovilton 5k - Race 5 - 9th August

It's deja vu all over again.

Nice to do a race with one's training partner (well on and off training partner)... even though I felt like I was on a hiding to nothing. Warming up Andrew (Johnson) asked what my 'acceptable' time would be, and I said, "Anything faster than last time".

Nice to see Heather F-H at the start. First time she had run the 5k. She asked me not to tell her coach! She is running scared at the moment with the weight of expectation on her. As a (now) previous 100k world champion, everyone expects her to be 'amazing' every time she runs. I gave her some advice (as always)... "... forget it Heather, just run and enjoy the surroundings".

Off at 7:15-ish with the frontrunners going off at what looked like 5 minute pace (it was more or less). I changed my racing flats for training shoes a few minutes before the off... my achilles and right knee complaining again in the flats. And I kept the knee bandage in place.

I decided too to avoid going off too fast, I would track AJ for a while and see what transpired. (Must admit in the first K I wanted to go off with an older lad who looked like he was my age (he wasn't). Felt AJ getting a bit annoyed with my presence, but stayed behind through 1, 2 and 3k... running at around 3:45 k pace. I was planning in my mind when to 'push on', but AJ simply went away between 3k and the end. I lost around 20 seconds in the 4th K and 25 seconds in the last. AND I was trying.

Finished in a new PW of 19:28 (6:16pace) with AJ on 18:45 (6:02pace), so it's easy to see what I lost in 2k. My percentage worked out at 82.96% (they got it wrong), with AJ on 73.47%.

Poor Heather was even further off the pace than I with 18:25, when she was expecting something in the 16s.

Back to the drawing board... what is wrong with me, two PWs in a week.

Roger R.

Last weekend's races...

Paul Champion continued his Mont-Blanc training by taking part in the Downland 30 Ultra Challenge. This is a 30 mile trail race organised by Haywards Heath Harriers on the undulating South Downs Way.

Heavy overnight wind & rain gave way to almost perfect running conditions by the start of the race. 120 starters faced a steep climb at the beginning to the Jack & Jill Windmills at Clayton to join the SDW trail. The route then followed the SDW for 15 miles on an out and back course with stunning views on both sides. One of the hardest parts came just after the turnaround point with a three mile uphill section to test the tired legs. Paul finished strongly managing to claw back places he had dropped earlier in the race to finish 27th overall in a time of 4 hours 41 minutes.

John Perratt produced two more gold medal performances in the British Masters Track and Field Championships at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham. Running for South West Vets, he won the V70 5,000m in 20:38 and the V70 10,000m in 42:30. Well done, again, John!!

Finally, the Totnes 10k continues to be very popular with Exmouth Harriers, who had 15 runners competing. The multi terrain race is held at a very attractive location, part of it alongside the River Dart. This year it was run in blistering heat, but the ground conditions varied from very hard to very soft as a result of the recent rainfall.

The first Harrier home, after an excellent performance, was Hugh Marsden, 13th overall and 1st V45 in 41:05. Next came the performance of the day from Cathy Newman, who ran brilliantly yet again, and came 17th overall, 1st lady overall and 1st LV45 in 41:34, a new course record for her category and the only course record in this year’s race. Well done, Cathy!!

Andy Kennedy ran very well for 42nd overall and 2nd V50 in 44:22. Richard Selby was also in good form, coming 45th in 44:34. Duncan Linklater came 85th in 48:51, followed by John Perratt who was 1st V65 and 86th overall in 48:59.

Bob Woodall fell, but got up, carried on and did well to finish the race in 91st place in 49:22. Chris Dupain came 99th in 49:58 and Ray Elston was 115th overall and 2nd V65 in 50:46, after another good performance.

Emma Dupain came 136th in 52:08, with Ben White 160th in 53:17. Nigel Dupain was 169th in 53:52 and Dawn Teed came 196th in 55:44. Denise Kennedy was 328th in 1:05:43 and Ian Macdonald came 388th in 1:10:59. There were 423 finishers and the race was won by James Baker of Chichester Runners & A C in 35:46.

Pewsey Vale 5 - 1st August

Mmmmm. With a light heart drove the 2 hours to Pewsey with Mary, looking forward to a race at which I had performed well in the past. Lovely easy journey up the A303 to Stonehenge and then up the Avon valley to Pewsey.

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Excellent entry for a midweek race, and spent some time warming up with Gordon Wiltshire, now 71, whose V60 times I have been trying to emulate for the last 3 years. Every inch an athlete, Gordon is looking forward to his confrontation with John Perratt in the SW Vets 5k Championship at the end of the month. That should be a race to see (Yeovilton at Noon on Bank Holiday Monday).

Set off in good heart, but found the going very tough up out of the town... the first mile seemingly going on and on. It arrived in the end, but I was horrified to see 6:35 on my watch. Grief, what's wrong with me? And so it continued. I was running at absolute maximum, pushing at every opportunity, and finding lead in my legs.

OK, it was hot and humid, butI felt like a veritable snail. By the time I arrived back at the start/finish I was all in, and glad to stop. The time? 32:56, an all time personal worst for 5 miles.

Jogged around for a while until the first sheet of results were posted. The winner only ran 29:02 on a course that usually returns a 26-minute winner, and I had won the V60s by over 5 minutes from the aformentioned Gordon W. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. No one was within minutes of any of the (carefully calculated and displayed) course records although some very decent athletes were there.

Write it down to experience I guess... I hope the Yeovilton 5k next Wednesday returns a rather more encouraging result!

(RR)

Doug Anderson Memorial 5k, Bedford Park, Bedford

25 July 2007, 7:30 p.m.

31:24 MARVIN, Mandy Exmouth Harriers LV35 (last race before I 'graduate' to the next vet rank, I imagine!) 229 of a field of 251 finishers.

Total rubbish I was! I didn't even make10-minute/mile pace, and I know I'm capable of better than that. There was a bit of a head-wind and it wasalso overcast and a bit close, but not enough to really throw one off. Guess it was just atired-after-work, lagging lead-legs day. I didn't exactly cover the club with glory, but it WAS very nice to run in Exmouth Harriers colours again. ‘You’ve travelled a long way!’ said a few marshals. ('No, it only took me that long', I thought.)

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The kit occasioned a few conversations, as well, including one with the chip-time result man, who told me that he enjoyed one of the most 'spiritually uplifting' run she's ever had on the South Coast Path stretch from Exmouth towards Beer, about 12 years ago. And another man (the one who won the V60 category) told me, in admiring tones, that he keeps an eye on John Perratt's times.

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Finding my RfL result in your last race report gave me a good laugh, Les! I could tell the bush telegraph had been busy. By the way, it was confirmed by others on Wednesday night that the RfL course was short, which explains my actually really good time (for me!)of the 28:05. Also explains why I had a 6-something time over one of the Ks and 4-something the next!

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Take care... Mandy

Portaferry 10

Whilst on holiday in Northern Ireland, Andy Johnson took part in the Portaferry 10 Mile Road Race, which is run as part of the town’s gala week. The race was held on a very attractive rural route along the coast and the first nine miles were fairly flat, with the last mile mainly downhill. Andy came 35th in 1:06:00 out of the 281 finishers, and the race was won by Deane Fisher of Willowfield in 53:56.

Chudleigh Carnival 6

Four Exmouth Harriers took part in the Chudleigh Carnival 6 Mile road race which was won by Andrew Chambers of Exeter Harriers in 30:39. Adrian Kearns was 21st in 35:43, with Richard Selby 25th in 36:51. Andy Kennedy came 29th in 37:28 and Mark Thompson was 62nd in 41:18. 180 runners completed the race.

Race for Life - Bedford (22nd July)

Mandy Marvin writes:

"The Race for Life went well -- we've been blessed with good, brightweather today! 28:05, so I was fairly pleased withthat. Another one on Wednesday evening, actually (one that's organised by Bedford Harriers), so I shall have to see if Wednesday-me can beat Sunday-me!

(MM)

Yeovilton 5k - 11th July

Nice trip to Yeovilton for 'round 4' of the 5k series on what is probably the fastest 5k course in the country. Much to my surprise within a few minutes of my arrival Cathy Newman arrived with husband Pete; shortly followed by Lee, Darren and Jimmy from Exmouth. All professing their unfitness for the race (of course). It was rather humid, so the times were a bit slower than the previous races (judged by the V60 results).

Results:
Cathy Newman - 17:33 - 2nd lady (1st LV/45)
Darren Bradley - 18:03 [Darren and Jimmy running for
Jim Zaple - 18:08 [Cambuslang & Herne Hill respectively]
Roger Rowe - 19:06 (1st V/60)
Lee Russell - 21:05

Cathy's result equates with a WAVA percentage of over 89%

Othe Weekend Races

The Haytor Heller, a tough 6 mile cross country race, was won by Neil Holmes of Erme Valley Harriers in 42:12. The field of 158 runners included three Exmouth Harriers, with Shaun Lock the first to finish after an excellent race, in 8th place in 47:15. Duncan Linklater also ran very well to come 60th in 57:07 and Jim Wyatt continued his fine season with 1st V60 and 97th overall in 1:04:29.

Although it rained throughout the Wellington 10 Mile race on undulating country lanes, Exmouth Harrier Dave Stone had good reason to be pleased with his result, which was 3 ½ minutes quicker than the last time. The race was won by Tom Merson of South West Road Runners in 55:24 and Dave came 5th in 58:46. There were 253 finishers.

(RR)

Erme Valley Relays - Friday 6th July

Exmouth Harriers were represented by four teams in the 4 x 2.5 mile Erme Valley Road Relays at Ivybridge.

The mens V50 team, Andy Kennedy (15:42), Phillip Quick (16:37), Bob Woodall (16:57) and Steve Merry (17:02) were 3rd in their category in 66:18.

The V60’s, John Perratt (16:33), Jim Wyatt (18:14), Ray Elston (17:17) and Roger Rowe (15:51) won their category convincingly in 67:55, beating their nearest rivals, Tamar Trotters, by 6 ½ minutes.

The ladies team, Emma Dupain (17:07), Ria Taylor (21:28), Jo Darwood (17:46) and Julie Gellender (16:32) completed the race in 72:53.

Exmouth’s mixed team, Nigel Dupain (17:49), Les Turner (20:26), Sammie Merry (26:09) and Les Turner (22:18) finished in 86:42.

(LT)

Steve's perambulations (!)

A brilliant performance enabled Harrier Steve Hockings-Thomson to win the Plymouth Standard Distance Triathlon. 89 triathletes completed the race, which consisted of a 1,500m open water swim in front of the Mount Batten Centre (great for spectators!), a 40km cycle around the South Hams, then a challenging 10km run that took in the climb of "Murder Hill" and the coastal road to Bovisand and Jennycliff.

Steve, a vet 40-45, came 9th in the swim section in 24:25, 4th in the bike in 1:14:04, and 2nd in the run in 47:32, giving him an overall time of 2:26:01 which was 37 seconds quicker than the first of his younger rivals, 2nd placed Keith Elliot.

(LT)

John Perratt... again!

John Perratt is the new British Masters 5k road champion in the over 70s age group. John clocked 20mins 15secs at Horwich to beat Folkestone Running Club’s Ed Simpson by 54 seconds.

(RR)

Ironbridge Runner

Ironbridge Runner has moved from its former premises further up North Street, quite close to the junction with High Street & Fore Street. The new shop is very spacious, and once again Peter is able to display all his stock in one place. Both of the previous shops are now closed… but the Startline Clinic is remaining just up from the old shop in the shadow of the Ironbridge itself.

Pop in and have a look around… and wish Peter all the best with his new venture.

Roger R.

Torbay Half Marathon - Sunday 24th June

TOBY Lambert retained his Torbay half marathon title after a tough battle with local favourite Kairn Stone. The pair, plus Carl Morris of Wells City harriers, soon pulled clear of the 1,000-strong field and at the end of the first lap had opened a good lead. By eight miles Morris had dropped off the pace leaving Stone, who is now based in Plymouth and defending champion Lambert to fight it out or top spot.

“Toby said he pushed ahead at 12 miles and opened a gap on Kairn which he held until the finish,” said race organiser David Hyde. The Winchester runner, who was visiting relatives in the area, crossed the line in virtually the same time as twelve months ago with Stone 13 seconds adrift in second and Morris a further minute back in third.

Cirencester AC international Wendy Jones easily retained her title finishing almost two minutes ahead of Bristol & West AC runner Claire Willer. Honiton Running Club’s ultra distance international Heather Foundling-Hawker was third.

"We were very pleased with the way the event went and it was a really good day,” added Hyde. “I think we had 1,050 finishers which was a little down on last year’s 1,100 so that is something we will look at.”

Harriers results:

13th 1:16:40 Dave STONE
31st 1:21:59 Shaun LOCK
74th 1:26:52 Adrian KEARNS

(RR)

SW Vets T&F Champs - 17th June

There was only one Exmouth Harrier at the South West Veterans A C Track & Field Championships at Exeter Arena this year – but what an athlete!!

John Perratt, competing in these Championships for the first time as a V70, contested three events and came away with three gold medals – you can’t do better than that! Well, actually, John thought that he could have done better, because he only broke the Championship age group records for the 5,000m (20:38.5) and the 1,500m (5:48.9). In the 800m his 2:51.8 fell just short of the record which stands at 2:51.3.

He claimed that he was feeling a bit tired by that stage, but really, it’s just not good enough!

A modest and slightly embarrassed John also claimed that “unfortunately there is not much opposition in the Over 70 age group” – not really very surprising when a 70 year old is producing performances like that.

Well done John, brilliant - you’re still a great inspiration to us!!

(LT)

Bampton 10k - Devon 10k Champs [16th June]

[Image? Hugh in the Falklands Marathon]

11 HUGH MARSDEN 36:46 MV45
29 ADRIAN KEARNS 39:45 SM
35 ANDREW JOHNSON 40:18 MV40
78 RAY ELSTON 45:09 MV60 - 2nd V/60
86 EMMA DUPAIN 46:35 SL
114 JIM WYATT 49:45 MV60
124 DAWN TEED 51:25 LV40

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A TERRIFIC three-man duel ended in victory for Exeter Harrier’s Andrew Chambers in the Bampton 10k road race. Chambers, Torbay’s Peter Monaghan and Pete Hockin were locked together as they entered the final quarter of a mile but the two veterans had no answer to the Exeter runner as he surged clear to win by six seconds. “It was a cracking race,” purred race organiser Ian Buchanan. As well as claiming first prize Chambers was also crowned Devon champion with Honiton Running Club’s Heather Foundling-Hawker the women’s champion. “It was great to have the county championships in what is a small village event and we were delighted that we had a record turn-out of 204 finishers,” added Buchanan. “We were really pleased with the way it went.”

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Foundling-Hawker dominated the women’s race to finish almost two minutes clear of Emma Hitchins, of South West Road Runners, with Vicky Skelton third.

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Results - men: 1 Andrew Chambers Exe) 33:58; 2 Peter Monaghan (Torbay, M40) 34:04; 3 Pete Hockin (Bide, M45) 34:27; 4 Pete Belcher (Royal Marines) 35:7; 5 Zac Warwick (SDAC, U20) 35:45; 6 Kerry Roberts (Tiv, M45) 35:55; 7 Ross Shaddick (Tavi) 36:14; 8 Tony Symons (Tavi, M45) 36:37; 9 Simon Edney Bide, M45) 36:39; 10 Dave Severn (unatt) 36:40.

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Results - Women: 1 Heather Foundling-Hawker (Honiton, W40) 39:16; 2 Emma Hitchins (SWRR, W35) 41:12; 3 Vicky Skelton (NDRR, W35) 41:29; 4 Kathleen Sincock (SWRR, W40) 41:39

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(RR)

Of Talaton & Dawlish

[Talaton from the air]

Five Exmouth Harriers competed in the Talaton Trotter, a 6 ½ mile multi terrain race which was won by Gary Perratt of Axe Valley Runners in 41:47. The first Exmouth Harrier to finish was Jon Croome, who came 9th in 45:32, after an excellent race. Andy Johnson was 12th in 48:36, with Tim Gent 25th in 52:25. Lorraine Croome came 40th in 55:58, with Nigel Dupain 45th in 56:37. 109 runners completed the race.

Finally, an outstanding performance at the 4 mile Dawlish Coastal Dash saw Harrier Shaun Lock achieve 5th place out of 132 runners in 23:20.

(LT)

Tuesday, 5th June

FORMER British international Dave Buzza led a Cornwall AC clean sweep in the Cubert 5 miles road race, near Newquay, last night. With Danny Simons away on a school camp the way was left clear for Buzza, his coach, to dominate the race as he finished over a minute clear of Ronnie James to win in a time of 25mins 51secs, one of the fastest times by a veteran this year. Chris Harry, an over 45 veteran, was third.

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Just two days after winning the Exmouth 10k Cathy Newman made the trip down from East Devon to claim another victory. The Exmouth Harrier proved too strong for Cornwall AC’s Jo Friday as she raced to victory in a time of 29:15, again one of the fastest veteran times of the year so far over what is a fast course.

(RR)

Manor Hotel 10k - 3rd June

On Sunday, Exmouth Harriers hosted their second road race this year, the Manor Hotel 10K. There were 200 runners and the race was won by Andrew Chambers of Exeter Harriers in 33:38. Several Harriers were involved in the administration of the race and eleven competed.

The first Exmouth athlete to finish was Cathy Newman, fresh from her triumphs in the European Championships in Regensberg, Germany. Cathy was 13th overall, 1st senior lady and 1st FV45 in 37:27 after another brilliant run, but her age graded performance of 86.91% was the best in the race.

Adrian Kearns was 20th in 38:47, and Andy Kennedy 26th in 39:11. Roger Rowe was 1st V60 and 29th overall in 39:18 and his age graded performance of 85% was the second best performance of the day.

Duncan Parkes came 60th in 43:45. Ray Elston was 62nd overall and 1st V65 after another superb run in 43:50, followed by Mark Thompson, 64th in 44:29. Neil Ferreday was 73rd in 45:40.

Jon Bamsey thought he would never be able to race again, but 17 months after what he thought was definitely his last race, he came 77th in 46:17. Well done Jon, Exmouth’s athlete of the day!

Jim Wyatt was 91st overall and 2nd V60 with another excellent performance in 48:06. Denise Kennedy was 155th in 55:38.

Altogether there were 47 prize winners in 17 individual categories ranging from Junior (15 to 17 years) to 70 plus. On top of this were the eight team awards.

Congratulations to race director Bob Keast for another successful, well run event. Bob would like to thank his team of helpers, including the marshalling, etc. by Exmouth Sea Cadets, Exmouth Air Cadets, Exmouth St John Ambulance and the Police, assisted by several Harriers not running on the day. Also, Harriers Roland Young for setting up the course, Hugh Marsden and Dave Stone who set up the start and finish, Dawn Teed and her timekeeping team, Steve Merry and the results team, and Nigel Dupain who drove the lead car. Thanks to Exmouth Lifeboat Station for manning the drink station, to the Manor Hotel for the use of their facilities and to Kings Garden & Leisure Ltd. for allowing Dave Stone to use their works van for transporting the start and finish banners, finish funnel, etc, to and from the race.

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(LT)

Full results on:

http://www.exmouth-harriers.co.uk/manor07/rptResult.html

Plymouth 13.1 & European Champs

Cathy Newman, Exmouth Harriers’ leading lady and currently their top athlete, has just returned from Regensburg, Germany, after her brilliant performances for Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the European Non-Stadia Championships. Due to various problems she nearly didn’t go, but fortunately for Great Britain (and Exmouth), in the end she went.

There were over 1500 competitors altogether and over 100 from Great Britain. Cathy’s first medal was her silver in the W45 10K. The race was won by Katharina Kaufmann (Germany) in 35:47 and another German, Katrin Dorre-Heinig, was 3rd in 36:37. Cathy’s time of 36:14 was a massive age graded performance of 89.36% - just awesome, and her best result of the championships!

Next, with her team-mates Fiona Bishop and Lynne Marr, Cathy picked up a bronze medal in the 3 x 2K W45 Team Cross Country event, on a beautiful grassy undulating course on the bank of the River Danube. Their time was 28:54 and the race was won by the German team in 24:41, 2nd place going to the Ireland team in 24:47.

Not content with two medals, Cathy did it again! Another silver for another great performance, this time in the half marathon, in 1:23:13. The winner, just as in the 10 K, was Katharina Kaufmann (Germany), in 1:20:22. The Austrian Anita Pichler was 3rd in 1:24:21. Well done, Cathy! Exmouth Harriers are all very proud of you!!

A large field of 3128 runners, including five Exmouth Harriers, contested the Plymouth Half Marathon, which was won by Gemechu Kidane in 1:03:55. Although much of the day was cold and wet, the rain stopped for the race itself, the sun came out and it became very hot.

Hugh Marsden produced another excellent performance for 44th overall and 3rd V45 in 1:20:37. Andy Johnson was 151st in 1:29:07. Julie Gellender produced another good performance for 219th overall and 5th FV35 in 1:32:38. Trevor Cope achieved his best time for about five years, coming 1144th in 1:52:34. Dawn Teed, currently undergoing treatment for a running injury, was asked by her medical advisor to run in a race to check the effects of the treatment. For Dawn, just completing 13 miles was quite an achievement, let alone coming 1336th in 1:55:28. Well done, Dawn!

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Athlete of the year so far (?!) Cathy !!

(LT)

Woodland XC-Relays

Monday Evening, 21st May -- 28 teams took part in the 4 x 1.8 mile Woodland (Cross Country) Relays at the East Hill Strips between Ottery St Mary and Sidbury last night.

The winning team was Axe Valley “A” in 41:45. Their lead runner, Garry Perratt, ran the fastest individual leg in 9:48.

The Exmouth Harriers V60 Team of Ray Elston (12:39), Les Turner (15:09), Jim Wyatt (13:34) and Roger Rowe (11:58) was the 15th team to finish in 53:20.

Harrier Jon Croome (11:50) ran in the Met Office Men’s Team which finished in 47:24 for 6th place. Lorraine Croome ran for Met Office Ladies who came 7th in 49:36 and her individual time was 13:00. John Perratt (13:21), who helped to organise the event and set out the course, ran with Sidmouth Running Club 3rds, who completed the race in 53:49 for 16th place.

(LT)

BMAF Road Relays - Sutton Park Birmingham

The Exmouth Harriers V60 team returned to Sutton Park, Birmingham, for the 3 x 3 mile BMAF Road Relays 2007. This national event involves some of the best runners in the country. Here, old friends enjoy meeting up again, but once the races are under way the friendliness is replaced temporarily by fierce competition and intense rivalry. Harriers seem to have a particular bond with Clydesdale, who again gave us a great welcome, helped to erect the Exmouth tent and banner and were naturally invited to share it with us.

Clydesdale are a top team and won gold in both 2005 and 2006. This year they only came second in 55:39, but were slightly handicapped because one of their team fell 20 feet off a ladder a week before the race! The winners were Oxford City A.C. in 53:59.

Ray Elston ran a very tough first leg for Exmouth in 20:14, and performed extremely well to hand over to John Perratt in 16th place overall. John stormed away, and brought the Harriers up to 11th in 19:38. Finally, Roger Rowe, still recovering from his knee operation in January managed to overtake another 4 athletes in 18:45, to bring us home in 7th place overall in 58:37 - less than two minutes behind bronze medallists, Birchfield Harriers. The age group is 60 – 69, so for Exmouth, with ages ranging from 62 – 70 and averaging almost 67 years, this was a tremendous achievement against generally much younger men. And Roger Rowe’s great performance, despite the knee operation, resulted in 10th place individually out of 73 runners!

Exmouth also had strong support from Mandy Marvin, who has now joined Bedford Harriers, but retains her first claim membership with Exmouth. Mandy provided the home made cookies that helped the team to run so well! Les Turner travelled as reserve, but fortunately wasn’t required with all the team reasonably fit and running so well. Exmouth Harriers times:

Ray Elston 20:14
John Perratt 19:38
Roger Rowe 18:45

A field of 550 runners competed in the Ivybridge 10K race, including three Exmouth Harriers, who all turned in good performances. Andy Johnson came 52nd in 39:45, Lee Russell was 146th in 44:12 and Jim Wyatt was 262nd in 48:50. The winner was Matt Robinson of Torbay A.C. in 33:25.

(LT)

Kernow '5'

With Launceston being renowned for being in a hilly part of North Cornwall, it makes a refreshing change to be able to advertise the 'Kernow May - 5 miler' as a fairly flat and fast course( with one hill at approx 4.5 miles, sorry). So said the race organisers, but in fact this race would have been more accurately described as 'flat for Launceston' - ie not at all flat! And we had a very stiff wind to contend with as well.

The first 2.5M are mostly climbing, and today they were into the energy-sapping wind. Then we turned and enjoyed 2M of mostly descent with the wind at our backs or sheltered from us by the high hedges. Then we had another tough climb around half-a-mile from the finish, with the rest of the route uphill.

My time was a minute down on the GWR Fulford's 5 in Exmouth in February (32:15), but I was fairly satisfied. I was 17th out of over 100. Cathy Newman was first woman in 30:44 -- what a performance!

This was a good little event. We got a nice momento to gather dust on the sideboard. I would recommend it. It's a good Bank Holiday day out. And we had an enjoyable walk on Bodmin Moor after lunch.

[Andrew Johnson]

Great West Run - Results

Hugh Marsden 12th 01:20:15 M45 3rd
Paul Samways 25th 01:24:17 MSEN 15th
Andy Kennedy 78th 01:30:28 MSEN 45th (?)
Bob Keast 185th 01:37:17 M50 4th
Duncan Parkes 267th 01:40:28 MSEN 152nd
Emma Dupain 309th 01:41:41 FSEN 12th
Nigel Dupain 409th 01:44:44 M55 8th
Chris Dupain 498th 01:46:47 MSEN 290th
Ben White 863th 01:55:40 MSEN 467th
Trevor Cope 1,076th 02:00:30 M50 44th
Denise Kennedy 1,607th 02:18:18 F50 24th

Athlete of the day? Hugh's great 12th in the field [3rd Vet/45]

PS I understand Ray Elston ran the 5k fun-run in 21:47 (2nd Vet/40, 7th overall), with Jim Wyatt in 9th overall (3rd Vet/40) in 23:23; whilst Roger Rowe, running in the main race ran the first 3 miles at 7-minute pace, and the second 3 miles at 6-minute pace, before stopping at mile 8. All in preparation for the BMAF Road Relays in Sutton Park, Birmingham next Saturday.

In no particular order - GWR photos

[All images: Mary Rowe]

Chambers and Newman are new Devon Champions

[Cathy in the 2006 Last Chance 10k]

29th April 2007

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Andrew Chambers and Cathy Newman are the new Devon multi terrain champions. The pair, running for Exeter Harriers and Exmouth Harriers respectively, raced to impressive victories in the Arlington Court Canter 10k event that incorporated the county championships.

From a record field of 250 runners Chambers cruised to a clear win finishing 1mins 42secs ahead of Bideford’s Wayne Stephens, although his winning time of 35minutes was shy of John Ward’s course record of 34:13. Stephens had the ample consolation of leading the Bideford squad of Craig Dellew, Steve Gallienne, Don Mapp to the team title.

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Cathy Newman dominated the women’s race to such an extent that she left North Devon Road Runners’ Vicky Skelton trailing by over four minutes. Alicia Leal was third and with Agie Clinch claiming the over 50s prize, North Devon Road Runners claimed the team title.

Organiser Tom McClenaghan was delighted with the turn-out.“Previously the race has clashed with the London Marathon but we got an alternative date this year and while we have been close to 200 runners in the past this was the first time we were well over 200,” said McClenaghan. "We also had 50 youngsters in the fun run. It was a brilliant day.”

Men: 1 Andrew Chambers (Exe) 35:00; 2 Wayne Stephens (Bide) 36:42; 3 Pete Rigler (NDRR) 37:35; 4 Mark Bachelor (SMoulton) 37:51; 5 Craig Dellew (Bide) 39:14; 6 Zac Warwick (SDAC) 39:27.M40: Ian Pang (SWRR) 40:06. M45: Dave Cameron (SWRR) 39:49. M50: John Shapland (NDRR) 41:12. M60: John Perratt (Exm) 47:34.

Teams: 1 Bideford AC (Stephens, Dellew, Steve Gallienne, Don Mapp).

Women: 1 Cathy Newman (Exm, W35) 40:14; 2 Vicky Skelton (NDRR) 44:15; 3 Alicia Leal (NDRR) 45:11W50: Agie Clinch (NDRR) 49:35

Teams: 1 North Devon RR (Skelton, Clinch).

The athlete of the day... let's hear it for Cathy!

More from 'London'

DEVON runner Heather Foundling-Hawker finished runner-up to former World champion Liz McColgan in the Flora London Marathon. Former London winner McColgan has long since retired from international competition but was back in the capital to run the race for charity. She showed that her old competitive instincts are still alive as she won the over 40 veterans’ prize in 2hrs 50mins 38secs with Foundling-Hawker, a member of Honiton Running Club, second in 2:54.56 despite having recently suffered with illness that has curtailed her training. But Foundling-Hawker wasn’t pleased with her run or that she wasn’t allowed on the same start line as McColgan. “I was on the elite women’s start and ended up running the whole race on my own and I hated it,” said Foundling-Hawker. “Liz was on the ‘Good For Age’ start and ran with people, including some of my friends, all the way.“ It was no fun at all and I won’t be doing it again.”

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Wells City Harrier Jennifer Moore was sixth veteran over 40 (3:00.03) just in front of Tiverton’s Caroline Hewitt (3:00.22). To complete a good showing by west athletes in this age group Kathleen Sincock, who runs for South West Road runners, was 10th in 3:02.28.

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Exmouth Harrier Dave Stone was the quickest Devon runner completing the 26.2 miles in a time of 2:42.25 just over two minutes quicker than Rupert Warren of Tavistock AC. From Plymouth Harriers Richard Gannon clocked 2:48.52 while Stephen Sincock, of South West Road Runners, finished in 2:53.27. Fastest Bristol & West AC finisher was Christian Nicholson, though he wasn’t particularly happy with his 2:31.52. Neither was clubmate Phil Parry, who had targeted sub 2:30 but had to settle for 2.36.34. “It didn't really work out and I just got slower and slower in the second half,” said Parry. The club’s women did well with Sian Monahan and Lisa Newing running personal bests as they broke three hours for the first time with Monahan claiming second place in the over 45s age group. With newcomer Camilla Mottram clocking 3:14 the trio should be in with a chance of a top six finish in the team contest.

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(from the Ironbridge Runner website)

London Marathon 2007

Ten Exmouth Harriers fought the sweltering heat in the London Marathon and produced some outstanding performances. The first of the men to finish, Dave Stone, was 177th in 2.42.25, out of the 24815 who completed the race.

Shaun Lock, running his first marathon, came 880th in 3.00.42 and was so unlucky to just miss getting round in under 3 hours. Adrian Kearns was 971st in 3.02.51 and Tony Hatchard was 1424th in 3.09.50. Trevor Cope came 14816th in 4.41.36.

10854 runners completed the ladies event. Camilla Mathison was 384th in 3.28.20, followed by Steph French who was 651st in 3.38.56. Jo Darwood was 667th in 3.39.25 and Emma Dupain was 2417th in 4.16.52.

Spare a thought for Chris Dupain who, despite feeling ill all week, started the race and managed to keep going until mile 12 – a tremendous effort in all that heat! By mile 10 he felt as if he’d done 20. Although feeling gutted, he’s positive and determined about running the London again next year.

Sister Hannah Dupain, another of this super family of athletes, wasn’t able to start the race, but will also be back with a vengeance in the future.

(LT)

Athlete of the day? Has to be Dave Stone. Remarkable time with a minimum of training.!

Bampton to Tiverton

Just a short stroll down the Exe Valley from Bampton to Tiverton... looks great, all downhill (on paper). Hey, but... but... there is a little matter of the three hills on the way PLUS the Bolham/Knightshayes hill in the last mile. Just over 7.1 miles in all -- 61st running of the race.

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Good field of around 200 runners, and a pleasant, if cloudy morning. John fresh from his Helsinki efforts ran his usual 'blinder' (Just look at the age-related percentages)! Andy must have been very close to a PB for the 'unique' course; he and I first ran it 21 years ago!

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Bit of a mix-up at the prizegiving, with a Torbay athlete given the Vet/65 prize in front of John and Ray... but that was soon sorted out. And well, yes, it was a nice Easter Monday bit-more-than-a-stroll!

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Adrian Kearns - 43:07 - 72.78%

Andrew Johnson - 44:15 - 74.01%

Roger Rowe - 46:06 - 83.30% - 1st Vet/60

John Perratt - 48:31 - 86.33% - 1st vet/70

Ray Elston - 49:56 - 81.05% - 1st Vet/65

Jim Wyatt - 57:00 - 68.74%

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Pity there was no over 60s team prize!

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Athlete of the day? Has to be John Perratt.

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(RR)

Races - 1st April 2007

[Les, negotiating the traffic at 14 miles in the Taunton Marathon]

Eight Exmouth Harriers took part in the tough off road Exe to Axe race, four as a team and four as individuals. The team of Paul Champion, who went on to run the full distance as part of his training for the 100 mile race at Mont Blanc in August, Phil Bater, Lee Russell and Steve Merry came 1st vets team and 3rd team overall.

The other Harriers at the Exe to Axe were Cathy Newman, Lorraine and Jon Croome and Tim Gent.

The marathon and half marathon races at Taunton included eight more runners from Exmouth Harriers. In the full marathon, Julie Gellender ran superbly for 39th overall and 2nd lady vet 35 in 3.21.07. Les Turner was 160th overall and 4th vet 60 in 4.19.58. The race was won by Brian Cole of RNAC in 2.43.45 and there were 192 finishers.

The Taunton half marathon was won by Pete Waumsley of Tamar Trotters in 1.14.02 The field of 1098 included Dave Stone, who was 8th in 1.15.56, Shaun Lock 28th in 1.21.01, and Paul Samways 40th in 1.22.52. Duncan Parkes was 346th in 1.42.35 and Sue Wilkin was 655th in 1.57.30. Trevor Cope was 740th in 2.02.29. Some of the Exmouth runners were using the half marathon as part of their preparation for the full London marathon in three weeks’ time.

In the last edition of the Journal it was reported that Dawn Teed had won the award for 2nd lady vet 40 in the Brooks Westward Cross Country League. She was actually 3rd in the cross country series, but 2nd lady overall after her brilliant run in the Falkland Islands Marathon.

Harrier Tony Hatchard, who was omitted from the report on the Bath Half Marathon, had another excellent race, coming 43rd in 1.12.43.

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Athlete of the day: Les Turner for his great first attempt at the marathon... a difficult one too... at the age of 64. What an achievement!

Other Weekend Races...

Six Exmouth Harriers took part in the sixth and final men’s race in the Brooks Westward Cross Country League which was held at Bicton College. Andy Kennedy was 40th, Lee Russell 51st, Ray Elston 52nd, John Perratt 56th, Jim Wyatt 67th and Les Turner 68th out of the field of 71 runners. Over the whole series, Ray Elston won the award for 2nd vet 60 and Jim Wyatt won the 3rd vet 60 award.

The only Exmouth Harrier in the ladies event at Bicton was Julie Gellender. Dawn Teed had already completed five races and won the award for 3rd lady vet 40 over the series.

Dawn was far away in the Falkland Islands battling against 40 to 45 mph winds, not good when you’re running a marathon with a distance of over 26 miles to cover! Her time of 4.16 was very commendable for the conditions; she ran a great race and was 2nd lady overall. Fellow Harrier Hugh Marsden ran brilliantly, once again, taking 3.10 to win the event and complete his hat trick of Falkland Islands Marathon victories. Well done, Hugh!

Harriers Andy and Denise Kennedy took part in the Teignbridge Ten. Andy came 60th in 1.08.38 and Denise came 195th in 1.34.32. Simon Anderson of Plymouth Harriers won the race in 54.25. There were 224 competitors.

The Bath Half Marathon was won by Shiferaw Tewodros in 1.02.09. Harrier Tony Hatchard had another excellent race, coming 43rd in 1.12.43 with Adrian Kearns in116th (1.19.57) and Nicholas Brown 6,308th in 2.19.29 out of the large field of 8,165 finishers. Perhaps pointing to a sub 2:35 London Marathon for Tony in a few weeks (his first outing at that distance).

Finally, further afield, an even bigger event, the Reading Half Marathon with 9,877 runners, included three of Exmouth Harriers’ Dupain family. Christopher was 2,745th in 1.44.52, Emma was 3,104th and Nigel was 3,105th , both in 1.47.18.
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Athlete of the day? Tony Hatchard for the 72-minute 13.1... certainly 2:35 on the cards in the London marathon - Tony's first outing over the distance.

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(LT)

European Veterans Indoor Championships - John Gets a Silver

{Photo - Rushmoor 2006}

Helsinki - 22-25 March 2007
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Three weeks after winning a gold and a silver medal at the BMAF Indoor Championships in London, Exmouth Harrier John Perratt competed in the European Veterans Indoor Championships in Helsinki. After the disappointment of just missing out on medals by coming fourth in the Vet/70 5k cross country and the 3,000 metres, John ran superbly for second place and the silver medal in the 1,500 metres. All three events were won by the Russian, Leonid Gubenkov. With John’s training partner from Sidmouth, Bob Minting, winning two golds, a silver and a fourth place, it was great to see Exmouth and East Devon so well represented. Another Exmouth Harrier, Roger Rowe, would also have had an excellent chance of medals, but was prevented from competing through not quite recovering sufficiently from his recent knee operation.

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M70 1,500 metres

1 Leonid Gubenkov Russia 5.41,29
2 John Perratt Great Britain & N.I. 5.44,40
3 Roman Tomczak Germany 5.45,09

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M70 5k Cross Country
1 Leonid Gubenkov Russia 20.49
2 Bruno Baggia Italy 20.56
3 Manuel Rosales Spain 20.59
4 John Perratt Great Britain & N.I. 21.51
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M70 3,000 metres
1 Leonid Gubenkov Russia 11.39,54
2 Manuel Rosales Spain 11.42,19
3 Bruno Baggia Italy 11.42,72
4 John Perratt Great Britain & N.I. 11.50,08
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M55 400 metres
1 Vincenzo Felicetti Italy 55,72
2 Bob Minting Great Britain & N.I. 56,20
3 Mauri Lyytikäinen Finland 56,91

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M55 800 metres

1 Bob Minting Great Britain & N.I. 2:08,98

2 Franz Josef Schmidt Germany 2:12,59

3 Yves Levasseur France 2:13,17

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M55 1,500 metres

4 Bob Minting Great Britain & N.I. 4:41,25
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M55 4 x 200 metres

1 Great Britain & N.I. (Including Bob Minting)

(LT & RR)

Winter 3k Series - 4th race and overall results

[Photo - Andy J at the Bampton 10k]

The last in the series of four winter 3K races, which took place at Exeter Arena on Wednesday, 7th March, included five Exmouth Harriers.

Andy Johnson was outstanding, coming 21st in the “A” race in a personal best of 10.49. Lee Russell also ran well to come 20th in the “B” race in 11.31.

The “C” race included Roger Rowe, who was 4th in 11.46, and John Perratt, who was 6th in 11.56. Roger showed that his recovery from knee surgery is progressing extremely well. After taking the first lap very slowly, he found he was able to cruise past runner after runner and finish in a very respectable time.

Jim Wyatt, who ran in the “D” race, produced another good performance to come 10th in 13.22.

Both Roger and John topped their individual categories with maximum points after the final race.

(LT & RR)

PS. Harrier Michael Smyth ran in the Duchy 20 (miles) race held at Redruth in Cornwall. He came 52nd in 2.38.34, out of the field of 222 runners.

BMAF Indoor Championships 2007

Picketts Lock, Enfield

On Saturday and Sunday (3rd & 4th March), Harrier John Perratt took part in the 2007 BMAF Indoor Championships in London.

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After celebrating his 70th birthday on the 2nd March, John travelled in high hopes of some decent performances in his chosen events: the 1,500 metres and 3,000 metres. John has been working on the track this winter seeking to sharpen his speed in readiness both for this Championship, and the European Indoor Championships in Helsinki at the end of the month.

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It is always difficult to 'peak' for two championships in one month, so the BMAF event must be seen as a stepping stone on John's quest for medals in Finland.

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In the 1,500 metres John came up against Len Tew from the Midlands, probably one of the most gifted of 70+ middle-distance athletes competing today. And so it turned out... Len finishing in 5:32.46 to John's 5:44.06... still a silver in your first 70+ competition is not to be sniffed at. (AND remember these men are over 70 -- amazing times for a kilometer-and-a-half, indoors).

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On the second day of the event, John lined up in the 3,000 metres with every expectation of going one better. Notwithstanding the speed work he has been doing, John is pretty lethal over 3k or 5k.

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John's time of 12:15 was just a bit quicker than his 12:24 & 12:26 (Outdoors) this winter, and he was two-and-a-half minutes clear of the second placed athlete.

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So, a gold and a silver on his first outing as a vet/70, and both National Championship medals. Well done John! Roll on Helsinki.

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(RR)

PS. Training partner and friend, Bob Minting, won no less than 3 golds and a bronze in the same championships. Bob and John will travel to Helsinki together at the end of March.

Bideford Half Marathon

Seven Exmouth Harriers were among the field of 718 runners who competed in the Bideford Half Marathon on Sunday 4th March.

The race was won by Kevin Heywood of Bideford AAC in 1.06.04.

Tony Hatchard was the first Exmouth Harrier to finish, after another outstanding performance, in 8th place in 1.15.12. Shaun Lock was 30th in 1.21.07, just two seconds ahead of Adrian Kearns, who was 31st. Dave Stone came 49th in 1.24.05. Steve Price came 72nd in 1.28.13, with Andy Johnson 84th in 1.28.38.

Dawn Teed was 10th lady v40 and 313th overall in 1.44.34.

The Exmouth Harriers senior men’s team of Tony Hatchard, Shaun Lock, Adrian Kearns and Dave Stone were 2nd in their category.

(LT)

Dalwood 3 Hills Challenge

[Photo: Shaun in the Great West Run in 2006]

Last Sunday, four Exmouth Harriers took part in the Dalwood 3 Hills Challenge, a rolling ten mile trail run through the Devon countryside near Axminster. One of them, Shaun Lock, clocked up his first race win for the Club, following a brilliant performance on the day.

After being in the lead pack for the first half a mile, Shaun started climbing the first hill and took the lead, which he then held for the rest of the race. He reached the finish line in 1.11.17, 51 seconds ahead of the second runner home, Andrew Vallance of Tavistock A C.

The other Exmouth runners were Jon Croome, 8th in 1.16.20, Lorraine Croome, 54th in 1.31.03 and Diccon Haynes, 67th in 1.35.58.

113 runners completed the race.

Race reports - Sunday 18th February

Peninsula Challenge

Two Exmouth Harriers represented Devon against Cornwall in the Peninsula Challenge, with athletes selected from each county’s running clubs forming a combined county team. The challenge was part of the Plymouth Hoe 10 Mile Race. The male team comprised eight athletes with six to count. The female team comprised six athletes with four to count.

Devon won both team challenges, helped by superb performances from Exmouth’s Cathy Newman and Tony Hatchard. Cathy was 2nd lady v40 and 3rd lady overall in the main race in 1.00.10. She was also 3rd runner home in the team event, with the first five Devon runners all finishing before the first Cornish athlete. Tony Hatchard was 8th in the main race in 55.03. He was the 5th Devon team member to finish, beating all but three of the Cornish team.

Congratulations to Cathy, Tony and both the Devon teams.

Falkland Islands Half Marathon (yes really)!

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, another Exmouth stalwart was contesting and winning one of the Falkland Islands races which he seems to have made his own.

Although the conditions were wet underfoot, Hugh Marsden’s time of 1.17 in beating the other 77 runners in the half marathon, hopefully augurs well for his attempt to complete a hat trick of wins in the full marathon on 18th March.

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Four Trigs

Four Exmouth Harriers took part in the annual Four Trigs race at the weekend. This is a ‘low-key’ off road event taking in the four trig points and other controls around the Sid Valley. It is tough (some say harder than the Grizzly!) and takes in an obscene amount of climbing. A Fell Runners’ Association category B Race.

First Exmouth Harrier home was Jon Croome, despite head butting a tree on Saturday while checking the course and having an impromptu pole dancing session during the race on the Sunday! Jon finished 11th (same as last year) in 2hr 50min. Next home in 12th place in 2hr 52min was Paul Champion. Tim Gent had a strong run coming in 21st in 3hr 4min with Lorraine Croome also running well to finish in 31st place in 3hr 20min.

The race was won by Malcolm Bayer of Sidmouth in a time of 2hr 24min. A great race even though it was very wet under foot.

Sunday 11th February

Last Sunday, six Exmouth Harriers took part in the 5th and penultimate race in the Brooks Westward Cross Country League which was held at the Parke Estate at Bovey Tracey. The course was extremely boggy after all the recent heavy rainfall.

Dawn Teed, representing Exmouth ladies, had another good run and was 26th out of the 42 ladies who completed the race.

There were 93 runners in the men’s race. Exmouth’s Shaun Lock was 28th, and Andy Johnson was 44th overall and 10th v40.

John Perratt was 2nd v60 and 67th overall, with Lee Russell 11th v50 and 71st overall. Jim Wyatt was 3rd v60 and 85th overall.

(LT)

The Grizzly has been postponed until September

This is the situation as of Sunday 11th Feb. More details should be available within the next day or two and mailed to all entrants later this week.

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Axe Valley Runners have decided that the Grizzly will definitely be postponed due to the high risk of there being containers on Branscombe Beach around race weekend. More details will be emailed and put on the website tomorrow or Tuesday.

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The Grizzly has unfortunately been postponed until Sunday 9th September. You can either do nothing and carry your entry over to September or return your number (which will be mailed later in the week) for a refund of your entry fee. Your accommodation arrangements are your own responsibility but the holiday camp has told us that they will not be offering refunds. A weekend of running activities will take place in Seaton so still come if you can to the gathering of shipwrecked Grizzly soles!

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Rest assured that we do appreciate what the event means to the runners and the local community and that we have not taken this decision lightly.

Fulfords Great West Run '5'

Last Sunday, Exmouth Harriers hosted their first event of 2007, the Fulfords GWR Five, through the streets of Exmouth, swathed in glorious sunshine.

This year, the 5 mile race is also linked with the Teignbridge Ten on 25th March and the Great West Run in Exeter on 6th May, providing the opportunity to race shorter distances building up to the Great West Run.

The race was won by Ashley Humphreys of Tipton Harriers in 25.48. Mark Cowan of Exeter Harriers was 2nd in 26.11 with Wayne Stephens of Bideford AAC 3rd in 26.33.

There were outstanding performances from some of the 14 Exmouth Harriers who completed the race, the best coming from Cathy Newman. Cathy’s brilliant run made her 2nd lady overall and 2nd lady/vet40 in 29.10. But on the age grading basis, which takes age and sex into account, her 88% was better than the grading of all the other 375 athletes, male and female, who finished the race. So on this basis she was the overall winner!

The first lady home was Heather Foundling-Hawker of Honiton Running Club in 28.41.

An excellent run made Dave Stone, the first Exmouth Harrier to finish, 9th in 27.36. Joe Pascoe was 13th in 28.05, with Steve Hockings-Thompson 26th in 29.09 and Adrian Kearns 28th in 29.13.

Andy Johnson was 44th in 31.16 and Chris Dupain 79th in 33.51.

Next, after another great run, came first v65 and 81st overall, John Perratt, in 33.56. But in a month’s time, John will be a v70 – what an athlete! Ray Elston was 2nd v65 and 91st overall in 34.21. Ted Bloomfield, progressing steadily in his return to racing, was 3rd v60 and 105th overall in 34.53 (His first race in a Harrier's Vest).

Nigel and Emma Dupain were 138th and 139th, both in 36.27. Jim Wyatt was 5th v60 and 145th overall in 36.36. Ian MacDonald was 251st in 42.02.

Race director Bob Keast welcomed everyone to the awards ceremony, thanking Fulfords for sponsoring the event for the 4th year running, and GWR for the link up which had helped to increase the numbers considerably.

He also thanked the Exmouth Harriers involved in marshalling, timekeeping, finish line and results team activities, who had made his job as race director easy. But he was particularly grateful to the Exmouth Sea Cadets and Air Cadets who stepped in at the last minute when the Exeter Cadets pulled out a week before the event.

Altogether, the Fulfords’ representative presented 43 individual trophies to 24 male and 19 female athletes. He also presented trophies to 4 male and 4 female club teams, plus 2 unattached teams.

The men’s team awards were won by Exeter Harriers with 2nd place going to the Exmouth Harriers’ team of Dave Stone, Joe Pascoe, Steve Hockings-Thompson and Adrian Kearns.

Exmouth Harriers also took the 2nd vet men’s team awards with Steve Hockings-Thompson, Andy Johnson, John Perratt and Ray Elston.

The awards for the unattached teams went to Michelmores and Stephens and Scown.

Postscript
Five days after knee surgery last Tuesday, Roger Rowe walked the Fulford 5 course in 1:09:20. His recovery from the arthroscopy seems to be progressing rather quicker than expected, and he hopes to actually run within 10 days of the operation, and race again before Easter.

(LT & RR)