Down by the Riverside
The very popular Otter River and Rail 10k race meanders along the River Otter and old railway line providing beautiful views across the Otter Valley. Starting and finishing in Tipton St John it is relatively flat using public footpaths and rights of way which can be muddy especially this year! Thankfully the rain held off during most of the run with runners enjoying the sunshine on Saturday morning.
There was a huge turnout of AVRs amongst the 230 competitors. The winners were Colin Densham of South West Road Runners in 38:41 and Ellie Dominey in 42:37. First AVR home was Simon Dimmock in 44.40, especially impressive as he had already run Seaton parkrun earlier in the morning!
AVR’s Eleanor Wood won the F65 category prize finishing in 39th in 49:19.
A special mention must go to Nicky Lincoln and Becky Wills who finished their first ever 10k following their recent graduation from the club’s “Couch to 5K” programme.
Full results are here
Yeovilton 5k
On Wednesday evening, nine AVRs made the journey to the fourth in the series of six 5k races in Yeovilton looking for points for the club challenge as well as a good opportunity for a fast 5k on this flat course.
Eleanor Wood was first F65 in a brilliant 22:54 with Angela Kerr second F65 in 27:09. Dawn Carrah took third spot in F55 in 24:48. Karen Eyre and Kerry Board were fourth and fifth F45 in 21:21 and 21:30 respectively.
On the men’s side, Rich Hardy was third M40, 16th overall in 16:49. Rupert Pady finished fifth M50 in 20:06 just pipping Simon McClellan who was sixth M50 in a PB of 20:24. Other AVRs were Adrian Strawbridge in 19:47 just a second off his PB and James Ashforth finishing in 21:02.
The next event is on Wednesday 14th August.
Seaton parkrun and beyond
Conditions were perfect at Seaton on Saturday morning with 233 finishers at parkrun. Harry McMahon was second finisher in 18:38 celebrating his 100th milestone. Simon McClellan in 20:32; James Hawker in 22:32; Mark Parsons in 25:25; and Shirley Goy in 35:50 all achieved shiny new PBs. Alison Hayward, a stalwart member of the parkrun core team, also celebrated her 100th parkrun.
Further afield, Pam Goddard and Cliff Marriott completed Chippenham Playing Fields parkrun in Monmouth; Gill and Jon Day ran Sharpham Fields parkrun near Cheddar; David and Paula Cooke enjoyed the “curly wurly” course at Somerdale parkrun; and Dave Hutton and Sue Chambers did Bolberry Down parkrun near Salcombe.
