Oh my!
Starting and finishing in Dawlish, the Oh my Obelisk half marathon takes the trails up to the Mamhead Obelisk with c1700 feet of elevation. AVR’s Tim Lenton, Eleanor Wood, Jeremy Slade and Henry Smith took part on Sunday. With so much rain it proved to be quite the mud bath so perfect Grizzly training!
Tim Lenton finished in an excellent seventh place in 1:35.41 also scooping first M45. Eleanor Wood was next AVR home in 2:02.59, an excellent ninth female and first F65. In 112th was Jeremy Slade in 2:25.21 with Henry Smith just behind him in 119th in 2:28.04. The race, organised by Dawlish Coasters, had 159 finishers with a further 86 running a 9-mile option.
250 up for Seaton parkrun
It may have been another wet, windy and wild Saturday but it didn’t stop the celebrations for the 250th parkrun event in Seaton. Since the launch event in November 2016 more than 10,000 different people have completed the 5k free, timed run with more than 500 different volunteers helping. With just a handful of cancellations as well as the “pause’ due to the pandemic, the event has averaged 189 finishers each week with many more volunteers and spectators all ensuring a wonderful atmosphere on the Esplanade every Saturday and contributing to Seaton’s friendly welcome.
At Saturday’s event, AVR Luke Reed was first finisher in 19:41 with Kerry Board, second female in 23:23. Chris Rathbone was third finisher and third on age-grade with his 20:02. There were milestone celebrations for Adele Girdwood and Bethany Laycock reaching their 100th parkrun and Matt Frost who hit the 25-mark. Finally there was a brilliant PB despite the challenging wind for Helen Boehm.
Don’t forget parkrun is only possible because of the wonderful volunteers and you can help at parkrun by emailing seaton@parkrun.com . It is a great way to stay involved if you’re injured or unable to run.
Bumper turnout for Winter Series
With the rainy day turning into a cold but dry, still evening an amazing 36 AVRs took part in the 5k Winter Series which uses the Esplanade and double Axmouth bridge route. It takes place once a month from October to March with an award for the most improved over the six months. In the running with just two months left are Sue Chambers and Matt Orsman, both with two-minute improvements. Results to date: https://www.axevalleyrunners.org.uk/winter-5k-series/
