V60s @ Sutton Park

21st V60 Overall

Of Sutton Park... and Ivybridge

BMAF Road Relay Championships
On Saturday 15th May 2010 two teams of three Harriers journeyed to Birmingham to compete in the 23rd National Open Masters Road Relay Championships. The club entered Roger Rowe, Bob Woodall and Jim Wyatt in the over 60's age group and Ray Elston, Mike Allen and John Perratt in the over 70's age group. Les Turner accompanied the two teams as the travelling reserve.

The race consisted of three laps each lap consisted of three miles around the roadway of Sutton Park, Sutton Coldfield's green oasis just north of Birmingham. From the start/finish there is a slight decline before the roadway elevates over almost half a mile before levelling out beyond the first sharp bend to the right. There are undulations throughout the length of the course with very little strictly flat lengths. The course declines down to the turning point (180-degree) where the runners, for a couple of hundred yards, go back to the next left turn onto the homeward stretch, plunging down a long hill. At the bottom, after some undulating twists and turns, the course makes a final right hand turn up the final incline to the start/finish.

From the start the sun was shining with only patchy clouds. The temperature was warm but some areas of shade from the trees adjoining the roadway gave some respite from the sun.

This year the relay had eighty-two finishing teams consisting ladies in the 35, 45 and 55 year age group along with the men's 60 and 70 year age groups. The men's team consisted of three runners and the women's teams consisted of four, the team having to completed the extra lap.

The fastest women's team was Dulwich A C, in the 35 year age group, finishing their four laps in a time of 1 hour 12 minutes and 30 seconds.

The fastest men's team was Barnet A C, in the 60 year age group, finishing in a time of 53 minutes and 19 seconds.

The Harriers V60 team finished in overall 21st position in a time of 1-02-35. Roger Rowe completed his lap in 19-30, Bob Woodall took 20-39 and Jim Wyatt took 22-26.

The Harriers V70 team finished in overall 2nd place taking the silver medals in a time of 1-05-42. Ray Elston completed his lap in 21-29, Mike Allen took 22-54 and John Perratt took 21-19. The first placed V70 team was Bingley AC who completed the race in 1-02-09, with their anchor man, Fred Gibbs, completing his lap in a course record time for his age in 19-55.

The fastest women in the race was Jenny Clague, in the V35 age group, who completed her three mile lap in 16-51 and the fastest man was Desmond Michael in the V60 age group, in a time of 17-18.

Ivybridge 10k
Later on the same evening fo the Harriers, Andy Johnson and Kevin Lingard, competed in the Ivybridge 10k.

The first runner to complete the course was Kairn Stone of Newham and Essex Beagles in a time of 31 minutes and 08 seconds.

The first woman to complete the course was Anne Luke of Tamar Trotters who finished in overall 31st plosition in a time of 38-08.

Andy Johnson finished in overall 62nd position in a time of 40-10. Kevin Lingard finished in overall 343rd position in a time of 50-41.

(RW)

BMAF Relays - Sutton Park

Saturday, 15th May, 2010

V70 team with their Silver medals (Mel Batty in the background for those who know their International Athletes of the 60s). Bingley were 1st, with a new course record by Fred Gibbs running anchor (19:55) - amazing for a V70+. To give you some idea of just how good that is, he gained over a minute on John Perratt. When did anyone ever do that!

Full report to come...

(RR)

Return of the Black Death Run

On Sunday 9th May 2010 just a single Harrier lined up amongst the starters for the Return of the Black Death Run. The run is 10 mile off road consisting of mainly steep forest tracks with a total climb of 2,000 feet around Coombe Sydenham Country Park. It is claimed that this run is probably one of Britain's toughest 10 mile races. The starting line up consisted of 350 runners, with only 237 finishers

The first runner to complete the course was Mark Hopkinson of Minehead RC, in a time of 1 hour 7 minutes and 24 seconds. Mike Musgrove, for the Harriers, finished in overall 9th place in a time of 1-15-32. This overall position gave Mike the first place in his gender and age category. Mike, sore after his valiant effort, believes this is certainly the hardest race in which he has competed.

The first lady to complete the run in overall 17th position was Ann Mixon of FOD AC in a time of 1-22-27. The last runner to finish was Rob Ley in a time of 2-44-59.

(RW)

The Great West Run

On a cold and extremely windy Sunday 2nd May 2010, two thousand one hundred and twenty-three runners lined up at the Exeter Arena for the start of the Great West Run. This is a half marathon race around the City of Exeter starting on the track of the Arena before exiting for a loop around Beacon Heath before heading into the City. A loop around Southernhay is followed by the return leg back towards the Arena. Along Pinhoe Road a 'U' turn sees the runners returning once again toward the City to complete the same loop. Just after twelve miles from the start the runners feed off into Whipton Village Road and up to the finish on the track at Exeter Arena, after completing some thirteen point one miles from the start.

Local athlete Tom Merson, running under the colours of Bristol and West AC, started strongly and running from the front of the pack ultimately won this years Great West Race in an impressive time of 1 hour 10 minutes and 10 seconds, just three seconds ahead of the second placed runner.

Harrier, Mike Musgrove, produced yet another valiant effort to finish in overall 20th position in a time of 1-22-27, taking the second place in his gender age group.

The other eight Harriers to complete the race were:-
Duncan Parkes finished in overall 304th position in a time of 1-39-40.
Phil Bater, in only his second competitive outing for a couple of years, finished in overall 373rd position in a time of 1-41-34.
Andy Kennedy finished in overall 423rd position in a time of 1-42-33.
Ben White finished in overall 609th position in a time of 1-46-44.
Joan Mason finished in overall 957th in a time of 1-54-30.
Nigel Dupain finished in overall 1118th position in a time of 1-57-51.
Denise Kennedy finished in overall 1875 position in a time of 2-22-57.
Trevor Cope finished in overall 1886 position in a time of 2-23-42.

John Butcher aged in excess of seventy five years was the last runner, 2103rd, to cross the finishing line in a time of 4-33-48. Twenty runners failed to complete the course.

(RW)

The London Marathon

Five Harriers ventured to the capital to join the other 35000 runners who were taking part in the Virgin London Marathon for Sunday 25th April 2010. Twenty-six miles and 385 yards of road to pound before taking their medals at the finish.

The event commences at Blackheath after which the runners headed off in an easterly direction toward Woolwich before turning westward, keeping south of the River Thames, toward Rotherhithe. The route continued south of the river before crossing London Bridge and turning easterly following the river course toward Millwall. Through the docklands and back toward the Tower of London and finally to the finishing line at Green Park.

The first athlete to complete the course was Tsegaye Kebede in a time of 2 hours, 5 minutes and 19 seconds. Only just over 35 minutes ahead of Harrier, Dave Stone. A really impressive performance from our Dave especially considering that the first passed the post is a professional athlete. Neither does the winner have to complete his hours of training in the dark hours, either pre dawn or post sunset, nor undertake full time employment and juggle his time with considerate family members. Dave Stone finished in overall 194th position, just 29th in his age category, in an impressive time of 2 hours, 40 minutes and 41 seconds.

Adam Miller finished in overall 454th position, 300th in his age category, in a time of 2-49-57. Another good sub three hour performance meaning that Adam, on average completed each and every mile in less than six and one half minutes.

Joanne Darwood finished in overall 8324th position, 861st in her age category, in a time of 3-50-41.

Shaun Lock finished in overall 8325th position, 3715th in his age category, in a time of 3-50-41.

Trevor Cope completed the Harriers contingent in overall 31731st position, 812th in his age category, in a time of 5-34-17.

Congratulations to all the athletes completing the marathon especially to those local club runners.

Three races...

At 10 am on Sunday 18th April 2010 a full compliment of athletes lined up for Tavy 13, which is the brand new, officially measured, half marathon race hosted by Tavistock Athletic Club. The Tavy 13 is outstandingly scenic with only one significant hill in the first half and many miles of flat or gently undulating running. The course goes through the historic town along a former main line railway and onto the edge of the Tamar Valley – a designated area of outstanding natural beauty, for those runners able to take in the natural beauty whilst competing in the race. Amongst those starters Mark Thompson was the sole entrant representing the Harriers.

The first runner to complete the race was Peter Freedman, of Tavistock AC in a time of one hour, eleven minutes and twenty-seven seconds. Mark Thompson finished in overall 40th position in a time of 1-31-30.

Elsewhere on the same day 153 runners lined up for the start of the Honiton Hippo 7, a tough multi-terrain race which sees runners scrambling up hills and fording rivers and once again beautiful views over the surrounding countryside. Again only one athlete represented the Harriers in this race, namely, John Parrett. The first runner to complete the course was James Waldie of Cornwall AC in a time of forty-seven minutes and fifty-one seconds. John Parrett for the Harriers finished in overall 70th position in a time of one hour, thirteen minutes and eleven seconds.

Much futher afield Adrian Kearns, yet again the sole entrant for the Harriers, was amongst the numerous finishers that competed in the Lochaber Marathon which started and ended at Fort William in the Scottish Highlands. Despite being surrounded by the Grampian mountains with Ben Nevis, the UKs highest mountain just behind the town fortunately the marathon routes highest point was just 60 feet as the route followed the shores of the sea Loch Eil out and back, with great views of the snow covered mountains. Adrian Kearns finished in an impressive time of 3-08-31."

(RW)

Yeovilton Summer 5k

John Perratt ran 21:26 in the first race of the Yeovil Town RC Summer series at Yeovilton on Wednesday to finish well ahead of his V70 rivals.

Taunton Half Marathon

On a hot and breezy morning at 10.30am on Sunday 11th April 2010 in excess of twelve hundred runners lined up for the start of the Taunton Half Marathon. Amongst those starters were just two members of the Harriers, Dave Stone and Adrian Kearns.

The course, of one lap, started and finished at the Somerset College of Arts and Technology, Taunton. After leaving the college grounds the competitors ran through the main street of Taunton before heading out into the countryside of Somerset. The route went through the villages of Oake and Bradford on Tone and back via the A38 to the finish at the college. The course was undulating with the main hill at the eleven mile marker.

The first competitor to cross the finish line was Adam Carison of Torbay AC in a time of 1 hour, 10 minutes and 30 seconds. Dave Stone, in overall 5th place, finished in 1-15-16 taking the 1st V40 category prize. This was Dave's fastest time for a half marathon in five years. Adrian Kearns finished in 64th overall position in a time of 1-27-46.

(RW)

Bampton to Tiverton

On Easter Monday 5th April 2010 the latest meeting in the long running event of the Bampton to Tiverton Road Race took place. The first Bampton to Tiverton Road Race was held on 22 April 1946 with 27 competitors. It was won by John Harvey from Tiverton in a time of 42 minutes 19 seconds. The 7 mile race has been held on Easter Monday virtually every year since then.

The race started at 10.30am in Bampton at the White Horse Inn where the route then followed the mostly downhill country roads, first along the Tiverton Road then the A396 to Bolham. Here the runners climbed the steepest hill of the course, passed the front lodge of Knightshayes Court and then across the bridge over the North Devon Link Road. The race finished in 'Peoples Park' overlooking the Tiverton Football Club.

The weather conditions were favorable to the runners not too warm nor rain, but unfortunately there was a slight head wind along most of the course until the runners took the left turn into Bolham.

First was Kevin Heywood of Bideford AC in a course record time (for the 'new' course, now 20+ years old, of 35 minutes and 32 seconds, nearly three minutes ahead of his closest rival.

The first Harrier to cross the finishing line was Roger Rowe in overall 41st place in a time of 50.38, and taking the first place in the V65 category. Bob Woodall finished in overall 44th place in a time of 51.07. Ray Elston completed in overall 56th place in a time of 52.43, taking the first place in the V70 category. Finally, Mick Allen finished in 88th position in a time of 58.42, taking 2nd place in the V70 category.

(RW)

Exe to Axe

On Sunday 4th April 2010 over one hundred and fifty competitors lined up at the Fox Holes car park adjacent to the new Life Boat Station in Exmouth for the start on the Exe to Axe race. The course, some twenty miles in duration, following the route of the coast path to Budleigh Salterton, Sidmouth, Branscombe and finally finishing at the west end of the promenade in Seaton. This course has a total altitude climb of nearly three miles along the switchback coast path.

Seven members of the Harriers entered and run the entire twenty miles. The first individual runner to complete the course was James Bellwood in a time of 2 hours forty minutes and forty seconds.

For the Harriers Dave Stone took the third position in a time of 2.56.37 followed closely by Mike Musgrove who finished in forth place in 2.57.36.

Jon Croome finished in 19th place in a time of 3.17.55.

Lorraine Croome finished in 69th place in a time of 3.56.56.

The final trio of Harriers finished in a group taking the positions 89,90 and 91. Lucy Hodgeson finished in a time of 4.17.35, Lorraine Gilson finished in a time of 4.17.40 and Terry Oldham finished in a time of 4.17.41.

(RW)

Teignbridge '10'

On the first official day of British Summer time, Sunday 28th March 2010, the lone Exmouth Harrier, Joan Mason, lined up for the start of the Teignbridge Ten. At 10.30 am prompt the race started on the playing field at Teign School before completing about 1.6 miles around the upper end of Kingsteignton, followed by 2 slightly undulating rural laps through Sandygate, Fosterville, then via Preston Manor and back to Kingsteignton. The ten mile race finished on the field at Teign School.

The first runner to cross the finishing line in a time of 52 minutes and 57 seconds was Pete Freedman of Tavistock AC.

Joan Mason, for the Exmouth Harriers, finished in overall 148th position in a time of 89-01, giving her an average speed, for the ten mile course, of 8.45minutes per mile.

(RW)

GWR Warm Up 10k & Westward League XC

At 11 am on Sunday 21st March 2010 the final round of the Great West Run Warm up 10K race started. The weather for the days event was almost perfect for racing. The conditions at the start were calm, sunny and windless and although the wind picked up slightly as the race progressed it was nothing like as strong or as cold as at the previous round on 28th February. Again the course was a fast and flat. James Denne of Exeter Harriers finished in first place in a time of 34 minutes and 10 seconds, taking the first place in the series.

Four members of Harriers competed in this race with Dave Stone taking the second position on the day in a time of 34-46.

Andy Johnson finished in 7th position in a time of 40-47.
Phil Quick finished in 12th position in a time of 43-47.
Les Turner finished in 45th position in a time of 55-31.

Later the same day three intrepid Harriers, Ray Elston, Jim Wyatt and Bob Woodall travelled to Redruth in Cornwall to compete in the final round of the Brooks Westward Cross Country series. At 1.35 pm under a bright and sometimes cloudy sky saw the start of the Senior Mens race get underway. The temperatures were mild with a gusting wind which made for difficult ascents of the short sharp slopes which connected the four separate fields which made up one lap. Five laps of the course each of 1.6 kilometers plus a run in to the finish completed the total distance of 8.1 kilometres. Conditions underfoot were good with just a few wet areas and churned up corneres on the steep corner descents ensuring the runners selected the correct line.

The first runner home in a blistering time of 26 minutes and 36 seconds was Kevin Haywood running under the colours of Bideford AC.

For the Harriers Bob Woodall finished in overall 56th place in a time of 38-51, taking 2nd place in the V60 category for the series.

Ray Elston finished in 63rd place in a time of 41-28, with Jim Wyatt completing the trio in 64th place in a time of 45-21.

(RW)

31st Murcia Half Marathon

On Sunday 14th March 2010 Exmouth Harrier, Carlos Payan, lined up with over 1700 runners to compete in the 31st Murcia Half Marathon, in Spain. This particular course was graded as flat and fast. Although the sun was shining the temperature was a lowly 8 to 10 degrees, chilly for the region, but made ideal conditions for racing.

Carlos put in a good performance finishing in overal 29th position in a time of 1 hour 17 minutes and 40 seconds. A personal best for this distance, beating his previous best by over four minutes.

The first runner completed the course in a time of 1-06-26 and last runner in 1714th place finished in a time of 2-32-12, which indicates that there were good quality athletes throughout the field."

(RW)

The Grizzly

On Sunday 7th March 2010 Axe Valley Runners hosted their famous "Grizzly" which for this year was called the Beauty and the Beach. The Grizzly is a race over 20 miles of East Devon's beautiful countryside and is complimented by "the Cub" which is just nines miles in length.

Both of the races were hilly and included rough ground, much of it steep, slippery or both, and some of it exposed to the elements. The terrain included roads, tracks (some very stony), paths, shingle beach, fields, woodland, bog and other surfaces. On previous years runners had been up to their waist in mud and water but this year the weather looked more favourably upon the athletes. The Grizzly is likely to take nearly as long as a marathon.

Nearly 1500 runners lined up at the start for this epic race and amongst the number were ten members of the Exmouth Harriers.

The first runner to complete the course was John McFarlane of Thames Hare and Hounds who finished in a time of 2 hours 29 minutes and 36 seconds.

The first Exmouth Harrier to complete the race was Dave Stone who finished in 20th place in a time of 2-46-43.

Mike Musgrove finished in 44th place in a time of 2-52-21.

John Croome finished in 90th place in a time of 3-02-49.

Terry Oldham finished in 357th place in a time of 3-32-36.

Lorraine Croome finished in 381st place in a time of 3-35-05.

Emma Dupain finished in 384th place in the same recorded time.

Lucy Hodgeson finished in 497th place in a time of 3-41-34.

Steve Merry finished in 508th place in a time of 3-43-06.

Ben White finished in 575th place in a time of 3-47-18.

Paul Champion in his first race since suffering a foot injury over six months ago and completing very little training finished in 896th place in a time of 4-11-37.

The last runner to cross the finish line was Chris Stables in a time of 5-51-05.

(RW)

Duchy '20'

[Andy in the Duchy Marathon in 2005]

.

Andrew Johnson's time of 2:34:37 in Sunday's Duchy 20 was a new PB! Ok, so it's his first 20 mile race and it's probably slower than his 20 mile split when he ran the Duchy Marathon in 2005, but it's stilll a PB... isn't it?

Here is Andy's account of the race...

T'was cold and windy and occasionally sunny. The aim was to run around 8 minutes/mile and hope to finish in around 2:45, recognising that the hills would slow me down. I couldn't run that slowly, however, and ran the first 8 miles in an average of 7:38. This was partly because (I later discovered) we had the wind at our backs and partly because I stuck with a group of runners to avoid running on my own.

At 8 miles, we turned off the coast run and smack into a very strong wind. We kept running into the wind - and up all the hills on the course - between 8M and nearly 13M. My average pace between 8M and 12M was 8:12 minutes/mile.

I realised that 17M to the finish was going to be into the wind again, so I decided to push the pace on the sheltered (and flat) part of the second lap, between 13M and 17M, which I did (average pace was 7:28 min/mile). 17M to 19M was really hard work (8:04 and 8:08), but the final mile is mostly downhill.

I was 44th, about 15th in my age category (MV45).

Split times, for 5M, 10M, 15M and 20M - 37:59, 39:19, 38:21 and 38:58. So that's 1:17:18 for the first 19M and 1:17:19 for the second.

(RR & AJ)

Sunday & Monday

Sunday 28th February 2010 saw the latest in run series of the Great West "Warm Up" This is a fast 10 kilometre race over a traffic free course around the River Exe and its flood plan in Exeter. Eighty-one runners lined up on a bitterly cold windy morning, which fortunately was without rain. Included in the line-up were three Exmouth Harriers, namely, Dave Stone, Chris Dupain and Les Turner. The runners set off into the wind along the River Exe bank towards Exeter St David before turning and making their way back towards the start line with a following wind. Four laps confronted the runners.

The first runner to cross the finish line was James Denne of the Exeter Harriers in a time of 34 minutes and 092 seconds. For the Exmouth Harriers, Dave Stone finished in overall third place in a time of 35-38. Chris Dupain finished in 9th place in a time of 41-47 with Les Turner completing the trio in 55th place in a time of 56-55. The last runner to finish the race was Vicky Wensley in a time 75-01.

The Ironbridge Runner Puma Winter 3k Series held at the Exeter Arena Running Track was staged on Monday night 1st March 2010. The weather was ideal for racing of the final stage of the series, a cold clear night but no freezing conditions under foot. Five Exmouth Harriers competed in the last race of the series. On the night Jack Bancroft finished first in the Senior Men category in a time of 08 minutes and 55 seconds. For the Exmouth Harriers Andy Johnson finished in a time of 11-16. Andy Kennedy finished in a time of 12-11. Roger Rowe finished in a time of 12-53. Jim Wyatt finished in a time of 14-14 and Les Turner finished in a time of 15-40.

To qualify to win an award each competitior has to complete four of the five races, and for those completing all five races the four best times are used in assessing their overall positioning. The overall series winner was Jack Bancroft of Wells City who raced in the Senior Men's category.

Exmouth Harriers made a good showing in the age category awards, having members with great ability in the older age categories. Andy Johnson took the first place in the male veteran 45 category. Jim Wyatt took the first place in the male veteran 65 category with Les Turner taking the second place award in the same age group. John Perratt won first place in the male veteran over 70 category."

(RW)

The South Georgia Half Marathon

On Sunday morning of 21st February 2010 Hugh Marsden, a senior member of the Exmouth Harriers, was lined up on the start line awaiting the distress flare to explode to start the South Georgia Half Marathon. South Georgia is a small island about 800 miles north of the Antartic Circle and a similar distance east of the Falkland Islands. Hugh is a vetran athlete with 40 years of competitive running but he could never be prepared for what was about to come. Perhaps if he had taken note of the map he would have realised that with about 1.500 feet of ascent over 13 miles, the race was not going to be your average half marathon/fun run.

The race got underway with the usual chit chat associated with the first rush of endorphins. The runners floated along the track to Grytviken but this feeling quickly subsided as the runners ascended the track towards the church and headed towards dreaded football pitch. This is the area of the top bog which masqueraded as the whaling station's "all weather" football pitch. Here a rickety wooden bridge with a tricky 45 degree camber to the left had to be negotiate. The track up to Gull Lake acted as the human separator and it became a two horse race. This soon became a two mule scramble as the two leaders negotiated the scree slope that took them up to the top of Brown Mountain. For those readers who don't know, Brown Mountain is the feature to the south of the base that even the SAS had refused to climb during the recapture of South Georgia from the Argentines.

Unfortunately Hugh took full advantage of the race marshall's infinite generosity at the summit checkpoint and made the mistake of taking that mouthful of South Georgia's finest sparkling mineral water. For that split second of refreshment Hugh was the lone runner, having lost sight of his rival and was faced with a lifeless moonscape of shrapnel sharp scree. The race instruction sheet (that had been so helpfully placed placed on the breakfast table) advised runners to keep right and follow the ridge down. Not being a continental fell runner, Hugh decided to keep to the left and maintain height. That was his first mistake. After about a minute his rival suddenly reappeared below at a 2 o'clock angle some 500 metres ahead and was charging like a hovercraft over the razor sharp scree. This lead was to get even greater as Hugh passed another check point at the lower end of the mountain. The marshall had carefully positioned articles of clothing in key positions to guide competitors off the mountain and down the steep slope. He stood there, almost naked directing runners with the style and efficiency of a sub antarctic traffic warden. During last year's race this position was not marshalled and one unfortunate "non local" runner opted to take the wrong decent and was not seen until 4 hours later. He being an ex military man, he must have appreciated his impromptu battlefield tour of the Operation Paraquat landing site.

Once again Hugh followed his "helpful" breakfast briefing notes and scanned the lower slopes for the remains of the heavily camouflaged Argentine helicopter about a one and a half kilometres in the distance. Eventually he decided it was far safer to look at where gravity was taking him (whilst tobogganing down the slope on his backside) and worry about the helicopter later. Once down, he was on familiar ground and managed to reel in his rival's lead on the way back to the station. Hugh even managed to stay upright on a particularly slippery part of the coast that had caught him out on training runs. Other competitors were not quite as fortunate. The decent into the whaling station was more like a scene in a James Bond movie. A bit like the one where Roger Moore had to escape from the crocodile farm. In place of the crocodiles the South Georgia runners had to dice with death against their very own fur seals (intent on biting ankles off,) enormous elephant seals, swimming pool sized seal wallows, invaisive bitercress, detritus left over from the whaling station and unexploded ordinance.

The second part of the race took the runners along the well commuted trail to Maiviken Hut via the Bore Valley. Yet again Hugh was on familiar ground and managed to close down the gap on his rival all the way to the hut turn round point where another marshall was strategically positioned. Unfortunately the marshall appeared to have "lost the plot" and failed to send the race leader down to Maiviken beach as instructed. On the decent back down the Bore Valley the leader once again appeared to hover over the ground at breakneck speed crossing the finishing line in 1 hr 37 minutes and had comfortably taken 8 minutes of last years unofficial (shortened) record time.

Hugh managed to pull back a few seconds on the track back to base and was delighted to have survived the ordeal in a time of 1hr 39. Hugh took the second place in the race.

A great day was had by all on one of those rare and special South Georgia summer days.

(Our Special Correspondent)

Last weekend's exploits

On Saturday 13th February 2010 Axe Valley Runners hosted the "Nightrun". a mini Grizzly race run at night, a near eight mile course, was raced over country roads and rugged open countryside. The route was mainly off-road with hills, mud and even beach thrown in. The race started at 6.30 pm at the Barrel of Beer Public House in Beer and headed out toward Branscombe where after rounding the village eventually returned to the starting point. Four members of Exmouth Harriers, namely, Mike musgrove, Adam Miller, Jon Croome and Lorraine Croome, took up the challenge and raced the course.

The first runner to reach the finishing line was James Jackson of Dartmmoor Runners in a time of 57 minutes and 53 seconds. Mike Musgrove finished in 8th place in a time 63-22 followed immediately behind in 9th place by Adam Miller in a time of 66-05. Half of the husband and wife due, Jon Croome, finished in 13th place in a time of 67-48 and Lorraine Croome finished in 28th place in a time of 77 minutes. The final runner to complete the course in 98th place in a time of two hours fifteen minutes and three seconds was Nick Edwards of Wells City Harriers.

Meanwhile on Valentines Day, Sunday 14th February 2010, ninety-eight men in the Senior and above categories lined up for the penultimate round in the Brooks Westward Cross Country League at Parke in Bovey Tracey. Included in the line up for the Exmouth Harriers were John Parrett and Bob Woodall.

The course was tough, being three loops covering a total distance of 9.3 kilometres. From the start after an initial circuit of over 500 metres around the flat marsh grass covered field the runners were lead into the first of the three long ascents overlooking the river Bovey. This incline rises over one hundred and fifty metres before at a sharp right angled bend the course descended to the footpath at the side of the river back to the starting loop. Once back at the level area two more loops confront the runners. The weather conditions were ideal on the day with no wind and cool temperatures. Unlike last years event where snow and heavy mud greeted the runners around the whole course, this year the ground underfoot was extremely dry with only three areas of boggy conditions.

From the starting gun John Parrett led the pair of Exmouth Harriers but before the completion of the opening loop Bob Woodall had passed his colleague. Not for long though as once the pair reached the first incline John Parrett showed his leg strength and mounted the ascent, ever increasing his lead over his team mate. For the remainder of the three laps John Parrett continued to open the gap between the pair. At end of the race John Parrett finished in 83rd position in a time of 50 minutes and 14 seconds and Bob Woodall followed behind in 92nd position in a time of 52-10.

The winner of the race, K. Toher of Newquay and Par AC finished in a time of 32-21 and the last runner, M. Lee of Erme Valley Harriers finished in 98th place in time of 65-45.

Exwick Fields, late 1960s

To someone brought up on Western (GWR) Region engines, there has always been something exotic about Southern Region trains (I think it's the amazing valve gear). Here is one such... wonder the reason for the chalked numbers on the boiler(?)... pulling mixed carriages along Exwick fields heading away from Exeter St. Davids Station towards Dawlish. Any guesses as to the class Ray?