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Scorchio at Ottery

Summer finally arrived in Devon this weekend for the Ottery 10k, organised brilliantly by Honiton Running Club.  The road race, run on country lanes surrounding Ottery, starting and finishing at Ottery St Mary Cricket Club attracted a big turn-out of Axe Valley Runners with the race featuring in the Club Championship this year.  This year’s race was started by Olympian and former European Champion, Jo Pavey, who then took part herself in the event before awarding the prizes later.

Taking third spot was AVR’s Matt Clist in an impressive 35:38, also top M40.  Matt Hewer was next AVR in 38:55, fourth M40.

Rupert Pady was first M50 in 43:21 and there was a PB for Adrian Strawbridge in 43.16.

On the female side, Eleanor Wood was first F55 in 48:11.

Almost 300 completed the race, which also features in the InStep Devon series.  Full results will be posted here.

Yeovilton summer series

Eleven AVRs took part in the second of this series of six 5k events held from April to September on the second Wednesday of the month.  Fast, flat and definitely a PB course, the races start and finish at RNAS Yeovilton attracting a high quality field.

First AVR home was Joel Seward in 16:56, tenth place in a competitive field.  Third M40 was Ryan Snell in 17:18 while Angela Kerr was first F65 in 26:41.

Full results

The next event is Wednesday 12 June.

Exeter Marathon

The blistering hot conditions were not conducive to marathon running but David Cull and Lee Moran both took part and, in fact, ended up running 26.7 miles due to a mix-up at the start.  The route took runners around the Exeter riverside, canals and country park.  Finishing fifth overall and first M40 David Cull completed it in 3:06.44, just two months after running Barcelona marathon.  After a solid first 16 miles the heat took its toll and slowed him a little but he was happy to overtake a couple of runners in the last mile.  Lee Moran finished 13th in a very solid 3:20.30, third M45, achieving his target of not needing a ‘loo stop’!

Seaton parkrun

It was a gorgeous sunny day in Seaton for the 240 parkrunners, volunteers and spectators at parkrun.  First finishers were both AVR with Harry McMahon, first male, in 18:08 and Debbie Whiston, first female, in 20:34. These two were also first and second on age-grade with Debbie first on 78% then Harry on 74%.

Shaun Vinnicombe celebrated his 100 milestone and Shirley Goy her 50th parkrun.  There was a shiny PB for Helen Boehm in 35:26.

Away from home, Matt Frost completed Minehead parkrun and Andy West took part in Aylesbury parkrun.

Rob’s Remarkable (East Devon) Round

The East Devon Round, which starts at Blackberry Camp and finishes at Offwell village hall, covers an incredible 100k of glorious East Devon and Dorset including three Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and a tough 10,000 feet of elevation.  On Saturday AVR’s Rob Collier took second place in the race finishing in 13 hours and nine minutes, about half an hour behind the winner, Justin Montague but more than an hour ahead of third place.  Rob had stayed with Justin until the penultimate aid station but Justin then pushed on over the last 17k for the crown.

AVR’s Stephen Grigg also took part, coming in tenth place, completing it in just over 16 hours, having got slightly lost so did an extra two miles.  An AVR team, led by Karen Eyre, staffed a vital aid station in Musbury.  Just 20 of the 30 starters completed the full Round; there were half and quarter rounds also available.

Great Birmingham Run

Carol Austin and Julia Conway travelled to Birmingham to take part in the Great Birmingham 10k, part of the Great Run series.  The undulating route started in Centenary Square, went into the Jewellery Quarter then out towards Edgbaston before circling back to finish in Smithfields, Digbeth.

The event was chosen as an England Masters vs Wales Masters event and Carol had qualified to compete for the England F60 team following her 10k in Brighton last year.  Despite struggling with a knee injury she managed to get round, earn her England vest and enjoy the sights of the city she called home for 33 years, finishing in 52:17, 768th and 14thF60.

Julia Conway finished in 57:02, 1237th, 26th F50.  The race was very well organised with 14,000 taking part in this and the half marathon.

Crediton Crunch 10k

There was a good turnout of AVRs at the Crediton Crunch on Sunday, a multi-terrain run across parkland, footpaths and country lanes with the first half of the race ran on the Devonshire Heartland Way. The race, part of the InStep Devon series, is organised by South West Road Runners.  AVR’s Tim Lenton was fourth in 42:24 and first M50.  Eleanor Wood was first F60 finishing in 53:52 with Dawn Carrah, third F60 in 59:20.  These two along with Fiona Seward meant AVR scooped the F60 team prize as well. Ron Seward was first M70 in 56:05.  A total of 180 completed the race.

Full results here

Seaton parkrun

Conditions were good at Seaton on Saturday and AVR provided a big team of pacers for the parkrun with 331 finishers.  The first three finishers were AVR along with first female with Joel Seward in 17:00; Ritchie Durrant in 17:36; Andrew Snook in 18:03 and Debbie Whiston in 20:03, also first on age grade.

There were a host of AVR PBs including Jase Potter 20:09;  Adrian Strawbridge 20:3: Dan Cohen 21:58; Ann-Louise Childe 29:13; Alison Hayward 29:22; Lucy Hanley 29:23; Helen Boehm 35:40; Shirley Goy 39:12; and Fran Cohen 49:44.

Out on the road, Carol Austin and Lesley Adams were at Cannon Hill parkrun in Birmingham where Carol completed her 80th run at that event; Pam Goddard visited the Eden Project parkrun; Angela Kerr took part in Fulham Palace parkrun and Simon Dimmock ran Portsmouth Lakeside parkrun.

All AVR parkrun results are available here

Marathoners Reunite at parkrun

After the excitement of the London marathon last week it was a quiet weekend on the racing front for AVR.

At Saturday’s Seaton parkrun it was an opportunity for those who had completed the London marathon last Sunday, on the streets of the capital or ‘virtually’ locally, to gather, debrief, celebrate and be congratulated by the parkrun community.

In the parkrun itself there was a great battle for first finisher with Joel Seward, even on tired London legs, just pipping Harry McMahon by three hundredths of a second, 17:16 and 17:19 respectively with Harry also nabbing a PB.

First female finisher, also fresh from the marathon, was Debbie Whiston in 20:25.  First on age-grade in an incredible 91% was Eleanor Wood in 23:17.

Rob Harp in 22:40, Pam Goddard in 28:40, Ann-Louise Childe in 29:18, and Shirley Goy in 39:23 all secured new PBs.

Out on the tourist trail, Jon Day took part in Eastleigh parkrun, Claire Warner did Wilmslow parkrun, Lee Brooker completed Bideford parkrun and David Cull ran Alice Holt parkrun in Waverley, Hampshire.  Kevin Feeney and Sarah Shepley completed Longrun Meadow for their ‘L”, Aileen and Peter Heal took part in Five Arches near Bath while Simon McClennan secured a new PB at Worden in Lancashire.

Golden Cap 10k

The free to enter National Trust 10k is held on the fourth Sunday of each month at Golden Cap.  On Sunday the weather held out with six AVRs taking part in the challenging multi-terrain run.  Tony Smith, Sam Miller, David and Susi Sadler, Sarah Herfet and Jools Elsom all enjoyed the fabulous views from Golden Cap as well as the bluebells around Langdon Woods and the coast path to Stonebarrow.  The Trust10 is all about enjoying the nature and surroundings rather than times and positions. More information is here