News in Sidmouth

Sidmouth Running Club member Clive Gilbert celebrated his 50th birthday the 'Mighty Green' way on Saturday.

Clive was looking forward to being at the younger end of the 50-54 age group at Exmouth parkrun, rather than being at the top end of the 45-49 age group. Despite the bright and breezy conditions, Clive was delighted to finish in 50th place with a PB.

Heading to Seaton on Saturday afternoon the SRC juniors really enjoyed taking part in the junior Cub and junior Grizzly. Proudly wearing the Mighty Green Hamish Bishop, John Dunsford, Hunter Ingram, Flynn Lancaster, Amalie and Barney Baxter, Ru and Taya Meek ran in the 2k cub for 8-11 year olds with Barney coming 8th. Dominic Hall, Isabel and Louis Galvez competed in the Grizzly and all enjoyed the experience.

All the juniors came away buzzing from the supportive atmosphere.

While the focus for some of the Sidmouth Running Club members is increasing the mileage preparing for the upcoming Grizzly, three Mighty Greens are working hard behind the scenes organising the Club's renowned JP's Exe to Axe race on Sunday 3rd April.

Named in memory of John Perratt, a founder member and long term treasurer of the club, the 22 mile course starts at Foxes Hole car park on Exmouth seafront and follows the SW coast path to finish at Seaton Sailing club. Chipped timing allows runners to set off between 9am and 10.10am.

How many entrants checked their emails on Sunday morning to see if the Four Trigs had been cancelled?

With winds gusting at 48mph and driving rain the weather certainly played its part in making the 20th anniversary fell race memorable especially for the organisers, Marion and Robert Hayman.

Even though dubbed 'The SW's toughest night race', Martin Barnard had a lot of fun on Saturday as he took part in the Wild Night Run on Dartmoor.

Wearing the Mighty Green, Martin encountered rocks, bogs and strong winds as he ran from South Brent up onto the moors twice during the 10 mile route. With 525m of climb he said it was good training for the upcoming 4 Trigs and out of 63 finishers came 19th in 1:35:00. The winning time was 1:23:00 showing what a close run race it was.

When you hear a Sidmouth Running Club member mention the Blackdown Beast you get carried away with tales of pasties, mulled cider, pub stops, picturesque countryside and before you know it you have signed up… then you hear of the many hills, mud, slurry and self-navigation involved!

Twenty-five intrepid Mighty Greens gathered by the club flag on Saturday morning having signed in, down loaded the what3words app and said who they were running with before setting off with 215 runners from a very windy, damp and freezing Dunkeswell Airfield.

With an average pace of 5:25 minute miles, Kirsteen Welch smashed her 10k PB on Sunday at the Speedway 10k, finishing in 33:49 minutes.

The Mighty Green, who travelled up to Beachley, Gloucestershire to compete in the flat and fast 10k, was absolutely buzzing to hear she ran sub 34 minutes, testament that her dedication to training is paying off.

For four Mighty Greens, Saturday night meant leaving the warmth of their homes, grabbing a head torch and heading to Woodbury Common to take part in the Battle of Woodbury Common.

Organised by Sportiva Events, Rachel Barnard ran the 10K course in 1:11:57 while Mark Andow, Charlotte Forrer and Mark Norton ran the half marathon which was 2 laps of the 10k course very successfully. Mark A finished in 14th place in 1:59:20, Charlotte was 4th lady back and first in her age category in 2:09:46 and hot on her heels Mark N finished in 2:12:59.

A coach to Beer, a 10k run, and then back to St John's School for a barbeque and swim might sound like the perfect way to wind up the summer season for Sidmouth Running Club.

It was certainly a day to remember, especially for the 17 runners who were using this run as their virtual 10k Grand Western Canal entry raising money for Clic Sargent.

The drop in temperature did not deter the new recruits joining Sidmouth Running Club's beginners course on Wednesday.

Course leader Terry Bewes soon had them warming up in the sports hall at St John's School ready to take to the streets in their first group run.