AVR dominated the podiums at the Templer-10, a multi-terrain ten mile race around Stover Country Park.  Torrential rain in the hour prior to the race made the conditions tricky as the mostly flat route took in river paths, fields and finished in the school sports field.

In the men’s race it was a clean sweep for AVR with Terry Emmett the overall winner in a brilliant 1:00.40.  He also scooped first M40.  Hot on his heels in second overall, and second M40, was Matt Clist in 1:01.07.  Joel Seward completed the hat-trick with third in 1:02.02 (and first Senior Man).

Ellie Dominey was second female and first F35 in 1:12.36.  Eleanor Wood was eighth female and first F65 in 1:19.20.  Tenth overall was Richard Hardy in 1:04.13 chased home by Matt Orsman in 1:04.56, 12^th and first M45.  Rob Collier was 16^th and took the M50 crown in 1:08.40 just behind Matt Frost, 15^th in 1:08.12.  Completing the AVR roll of honour was Ron Seward, second M70 in 1:27.26 with Steve Lewis 105^th finisher, fourth M70, in 1:34.24.

Not content with ten individual prizes, AVR also nabbed first place for the men’s A team of Terry Emmett, Matt Clist, Joel Seward and Richard Hardy; and third for the B team of Matt Orsman, Matt Frost, Rob Collier and Ron Seward.   The event was very well organised by Teignbridge Trotters with 177 runners completing the race.

Big AVR turnout in Sidmouth

There was a good turnout of AVRs at the Sidmouth 10k on Sunday which started and finished in Sidford, taking in the beautiful Byes, and then a stinger of a Salcombe Hill loop before heading back on the flat.  The weather was wet, windy and wild for the 265 runners.

Simon Freathy was first AVR home in 32^nd place in 46:29 followed by Laura Kerr in 50.01, ninth woman. Lyndsey Freathy 107^th, 55:14; Adele Girdwood 118^th, 55:52; Cliff Marriott 134^th, 57:32; Viv Blumfield 211^th, in a PB of 1:08.18; Sarah Whelan 223^rd, 1:10.03; Kate Slater 231^st, 1:10.54; Aileen Heal 234^th, 1:12.00; Dave Whelan 263^rd, 1:27.20 and Kate Patay 265^th, 1:30.11 were the other AVR finishers.  The race was organised by Sidmouth RC.

Diane’s delight at Bideford 10

Diane Newton travelled to North Devon to take part in the Bideford 10, a ten-mile race along the Tarka Trail with superb views of the Taw and Torridge Estuary.  It was a wet and windy morning but luckily the clouds cleared just in time for the start from Bideford Town Centre. The race attracted some 500 runners and was won by Olympian steeplechaser Phil Norman in 49:58. Diane was very pleased to finish in 2:05:3, winning a nice trophy for third F70.

Stormy Exmouth

The start of the winter series of 5 mile races in Exmouth on Wednesday evening could not have faced more challenging conditions. The brutal wind and rain was so horrific the organisers halved the distance to 2.5 miles (1 lap).  Matt Frost managed eighth place in 14:56.

Devon Duathlon Double

Luke Reed was second overall and first M40 in the sprint version of this Sportiva event, held in East Budleigh, with Haydn Boehm 18^th overall and second M40 in the standard length event consisting of a run, bike, run.

Milestones at parkrun

At Seaton parkrun Carolyn Nation celebrated her 100^th and Katharine Moran her 50^th event.  Both now qualify for their milestone T-shirts.  Kerry Board was third female, sporting her 100 milestone T shirt achieved last week! AVRs Keith Agland, Haydn Boehm, Carol Austin and Katharine Moran also helped with pacing duties this week which was exceptionally challenging in the stormy conditions.

England Masters Qualification

Carol Austin has been selected to represent England at the Chester Half-Marathon next May following her result at the Bath half-marathon last month.  She will be the fifth AVR to achieve this recognition.

Sugar Loaf

Further afield, Richard Hale was among the 101 finishers at the Winter Sugar Loaf Fell Race in the Black Mountains of South Wales. The six-mile hilly route included a cold wind and mist at the 596m summit and was a mix of slippery grass and muddy stoney tracks. Richard finished 90th and second M70 in 1:14:32.

After Saturday’s thunderstorms there were a number a puddles to negotiate during the Weymouth 10. The course consisted of an outward run along the promenade followed by two toughs loops around the hills of Bowleaze.  Runners then retraced their steps along the seafront, albeit into a tortuous headwind

Ron Seward finished 62^nd in 1:23:40 coming away with the MV70 trophy.

In his first event as an AVR, Darrell Farley, finished in 1:26.33 (72^nd).  A total of 154 runners took part in the event, organised by Egdon Harriers.

Turkey triumph

Ragnhild Richards ran the Kas half marathon in Turkey, a stunning and hilly road race around the marina and out on the peninsula.  She was pleased with her time, 2:16.30 which was a 16 second improvement on three years ago and secured her first F60+, although she confesses she was the only F60+!

Celebrations at parkrun

 Bob Carter celebrated his 50^th parkrun at Seaton on Saturday along with his 50^thvolunteering stint.  Niall McNeice completed his 100^th parkrun after being struck with an injury a few months ago while on 99.  On Saturday he ran with wife, Natalie, who is also on the comeback trail after a couple of serious leg injuries.

Steve Lewis nabbed a PB in 25:37 while first finisher was AVR’s Richard Hardy in 17:09.

Tough conditions for the off roaders

Richard Hale was one of 30 finishers in the 7-mile Ponty Plod race in South Wales, a multi terrain race with the usual steep hills, wet, muddy and stony tracks and gullies to navigate. He finished 12^th  overall taking first 1^st MV70 spot in 1:20:35.

Even further north, James Green tackled the Buttermere Shepherds Meet, a 5k ‘out/up and back’ with 2000ft of climb that summits Robinson from Gatesgarth farm at the head of the Buttermere valley. The weather was torrential and blustery.

Here he describes the experience: “The 20-minute flog to the summit was straight forward enough. There was a short jog at the start and a painfully slow jog for the final 150 yds to the summit but the rest was rarely more than a hike with intermittent clasping at bracken with my hands to maintain the momentum. I started nearer the back in a field of about 80 runners. Once into the proper climbing I grew in confidence to finally arrive in fifth spot at the top. With the preservation of my limbs for next week’s OMM in mind, a ‘conservative approach’ to the descent saw me drop back to 13th. I can most definitely recommend the thrill of an event like this. The descent was bonkers, even at my conservative pace and left me with a crooked grin despite falling several times in the gorse. I’ll be back for another one!”  Best of luck in the big one next week James.

It was a quiet week for races internationally, nationally and locally.  Over in Chicago Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya narrowly missed breaking the world record but ran the second fastest marathon in history finishing in 2:14.18.

In the national road relays, Exeter Harriers came from behind to take the Girls U17 title thanks to a blistering final leg from Seaton’s upcoming star, Innes Fitzgerald.

Run Bournemouth

Closer to home, two AVRs hopped over the border into Dorset to take part in the Bournemouth half-marathon on a sunny, unseasonably hot Sunday. Diane Newton and Cliff Marriott joined nearly 2,400 runners at the start line in the city.  The route follows five miles along the cliff path from Hengistbury Head before heading down to the promenade, and out and back along Bournemouth and Boscombe piers with a challenging headwind.

Cliff was pleased with his 1:50.07, 559^th, and can now be seen proudly sporting a purple and orange finishers T-shirt!

Diane wasn’t in good form, but was typically determined and pleased to actually finish, in 2:56:54, 5th F70.

Dolphins join the parkrun fun

At Seaton parkrun on Saturday, Kerry Board was third female finisher in a PB of 21:50.  Eleanor Wood was first on age-grade in a mega 91.62% for her 22.28.  Ron Seward celebrated his 100^th parkrun with third place on age-grade, 78.58% in 22:43.   Those who were enjoying the sunshine after parkrun on Saturday were rewarded as a pod of dolphins swam across the Bay.

The Stopline Way junior parkrun in Axminster on Sunday took place in lovely sunshine with 18 finishers.  Any AVRs with children aged 4 to 14 may be interested in taking them along or volunteering to help.  Visit www.parkrun.org.uk/stoplineway-juniors to register or for more information.

Despite a string of injuries hampering her preparation, Vicki Wraight was pleased to finish the BMW Berlin marathon on Sunday, one of the Marathon majors.  She completed the 26.2 miles in 4:41:26 to finish 7073^rdout of more than 23000 finishers.  As Vicki says “It’s not every day you can say you competed in the race where a new world record was set!”  Kenyan, Eliud Kipchoge took an amazing 30 seconds of his own world record to finish in an incredible 2:01:09.

Trails and trains in Wales

Carolyn Nation (Kaz) thoroughly enjoyed her run in the Trailffest half marathon in Porthmadog in Wales finishing 147^th in 3:27.08 on a stunning but extremely tough course.  All runners start up the mountain at 710 feet, arriving by a scenic steam train which certainly attracted Kaz, who has been waiting three years to take part after several Covid postponements.  It may finish by the sea but runners face many very steep, challenging climbs along the way, described by Kaz, as “Grizzly-esque”.

Jurassic jaunt

Closer to home, Sarah Herfet also took to the hills in the Jurassic 10k, her first proper race for months.

It was a gruelling course spanning the undulating yet magnificent Jurassic coastline with the beautiful sunlight bouncing off a glistening sea.  Sarah was delighted with her 1:17:37 time and ninth female to finish, especially given this included an extra half-mile loop after a wrong turn!

A hat-trick of PBs on the roads of the south-west

On Sunday Tim Sibley travelled to Barnstaple to take part in the Barnstaple Half Marathon organised by North Devon Road Runners.  The fast, flat course takes runners out and back along the Tarka Trail with a loop around Fremmington.

Tim was pleased to finish in a PB in 1:34:12, 33^rd from 225. He was seventh V50.

Laura Kerr and Fiona Pyle warmed up for next week’s London marathon at the Bradley’s 10k in Exmouth on Sunday morning. Laura was an excellent twelfth female coming in in a huge PB of 49:13. Fiona also secured a PB finishing in 1:00.46.

Weekend parkrun events

On another glorious Saturday for parkrun, Joel Seward was first finisher in Seaton in a PB of 16:36 with Richard Hardy coming in third, in 16:46, his first sub-17 finish.

A special mention  for the inaugural junior parkrun in Axminster.  The Stopline Way junior parkrun began on Sunday with 18 parkrunners, aged 4 to 14 taking part.  Sarah Shepley, the new Event Director, has worked tirelessly to raise the funds to enable this to start, including a generous donation from The Grizzly.  Many AVRs were amongst the volunteers this week and if any members would like to help in future weeks please email: stoplinewayjuniors@parkrun.com

Matt Frost competed at Sunday’s Great North Run, a half-marathon starting in Newcastle and finishing along the seafront in South Shields.  Matt finished in an excellent 1:23.20, 450^th, a huge personal best which bodes well for the upcoming London marathon.  The ever-popular Great North Run again attracted more than 50,000 runners.

Golden Cap-tens

Andrew Snook was a brilliant second in the Cap-ten, Bridport Runners’ ten mile race over beautiful Golden Cap, Thorncombe Beacon and Stonebarrow.  He finished the hilly trail run in 1:24.22, just three seconds behind the winner, Adam Kidson from Exeter Harriers. Eleanor Wood was the only other AVR in the race which included a 675m climb and she was a superb fourth woman (first F60) in an incredible 1:50.27.

Alpine success

Richard Jackson completed the Ultra Marathon Wildstrubel 50, part of the UTMB world series in Crans-Montana through the northern Alps of Switzerland.

The race runs from Adelboden at the heart of the Bern canton through to Crans-Montana in the Valais canton.  It runs in the famous Via Alpina through the well-tended alpine pastures of the Bernese Oberland to Lenk, followed by a magnificent but demanding 1400m+ climb to the Rawil Pass (2,427m).

The last downhill sections are along the Lake Tzeuzier to reach the vertiginous and splendid Bisse du Ro.  Richard completed the race in 8hr 33 min finishing 65^th in the 45-49 age category.

Seward storms to success in the Run Exe Series

Last Tuesday Matt Frost and Ron Seward took part in the final race of the Run Exe 5km series.  The six-event series of 5k races has taken place during the last six months with the fastest four counting for each runner.  This week Matt was taking it steady prior to the Great North Run whilst Ron was struggling following injury.  Matt clocked 18:30 on the night finishing 14^th but for the series he was an excellent fourth.  Ron finished the final event in 24:21 and brilliantly secured first place for the M70 category.

Another parkrun PB for Joel

Joel Seward improved his parkrun personal best to 16:42 at Saturday’s Seaton parkrun where he was first finisher.  The event held a minute’s silence to remember Her Majesty The Queen prior to the run.  Congratulations to Alan Morbey who reached the 50-milestone.