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Beastly but Fun
The Blackdown Beast, brilliantly organised by Honiton RC, is a ‘fun’ self-navigated run across 10 or 16 miles of the Blackdown hills starting and finishing in Dunkeswell. There is a stop for mulled cider, tea and pasties in Smeatharpe to raise money for MacMillan’s as well as the option to call it a day there and take the minibus taxi back to the start. Otherwise it is another 6 or 7 miles back via Upottery and Luppett. Challenging, hilly and boggy after all the recent rain, a big turnout of AVRs enjoyed the event describing it as perfect Grizzly preparation!
It is self-timed without results but AVR’s Tim Lennon and Patrick Devine-Wright were the first back at the start.
Seaton parkrun – the one with the hot wind stream
The event started in a wickedly cold wind and, then, as predicted by Saturday’s Run Director, AVR’s Tim Sibley a change of wind direction led to a bizarre warm draught welcomed by volunteers and runners alike.
First home was Joel Seward in 17:12, sporting his sparkly new 100 milestone Tee after joining the 100-club last week. Second finisher, and first on age-grade in 79%, was Ryan Snell in 17:45. First female finisher was Debbie Whiston in 21:04 while Carol Austin was second on age-grade in 78% for her 24:59.
There was a PB for Baz Chandra in 26:48 and a special shout-out to Sarah Shepley who finished in 29:48, her first sub-30 since knee surgery following a bike accident in 2020.
Out on the road, Jon Day completed Sharpham Estate parkrun in Totnes and Tony Smith ran Dinton Pastures parkrun near Wokingham.
Dartmoor ‘Delight’
Karen Eyre and Rupert Pady took part in The Pagan Trails half marathon in the toughest of conditions on Dartmoor. The challenging route visits many of the stone circles and pagan sites of north Dartmoor, steeped in ancient history and legends where mythical, mystical Dartmoor meets the lush valleys of the North Teign and Bovey rivers. Rupert was an excellent 27th in 2:30.45 with Karen finishing 78th in 3:04.52 with 140 completing the race in the wet and windy conditions.
Further afield
Three AVRs travelled further afield to take part in races this weekend.
In Helsby, Cheshire Angela Kerr ran the Essar Four Villages Half, the 40th running of this event. She completed the 13.1m in 2:12.16 in strong winds towards the end as Storm Isha arrived in the UK. Angela finished 1080th from nearly 1500 competitors and third F65, and now waits to hear if this will qualify her for the England Masters team.
Over in Essex, Cliff Marriott completed the Benfleet 15, which consisted of 15 multi-terrain miles of hills and mud in windy conditions. The course included parts of the 2012 Olympic mountain biking course as well as Canvey Island sea wall and the undulating Hadleigh Downs. Cliff finished in 2:35.13 and described it as perfect preparation for the Grizzly. He also received lots of love for the Grizzly from fellow runners!
While in the home counties Steve Lewis ran the Farnborough Winter Half Marathon. The popular, fast and flat 13.1m road race around the business and technology parks is said to be the ‘coolest’ half-marathon due to its winter timetable; it wasn’t quite the -5 degrees of last year but the wind from the incoming Storm Isha was challenging.
Steve finished in 1460th place and sixth M70 in 2:06.43 with nearly 2000 completing the event.
Windy Seaton parkrun
It was a battle of Joel Seward and Ritchie Durrant at Seaton parkrun on Saturday with Joel taking first finisher spot in 17:40 just ahead of Ritchie who finished in 17:48. Debbie Whiston was first female in 21:02, also first on age-grade in 76%, with Kerry Board third female in 23:19.
Despite extremely windy conditions Lucy Hanley managed a PB in 32:30 and Andy Goy celebrated his 300th parkrun.
Axmouth welcomes AVR
There was a huge turnout of AVRs supporting the Axmouth Challenge which raises money for the community village hall. With one mile, three mile, five and nine mile options there was a race suitable for most. All races started with a wicked steep uphill before dividing up and circling the gorgeous countryside above the village. The weather was perfect with chilly sunshine and little wind and the recent cold, dry spell had improved the conditions underfoot.
With the nine-mile option forming part of the 2024 club challenge there were a good percentage of AVRs amongst the 116 finishers. Wayne Loveridge of Chard Road Runners and Debbie Whiston of AVR were the winners with Wayne coming home in 54:36 and Debbie in 1:04.55. Second male was Michael Legg of Crewkerne followed by six AVRs headed by Matt Clist in third place in 56:12 and, last year’s winner, Rich Hardy, who once again ran ten miles to the start of the race, in fourth in 57:30.
The five-mile race was won by AVR’s Simon Dimmock in 42:22 with Amy Waterson first female in 46:29. AVR’s Simon Freathy was third, second AVR, in 46:30 with 28 finishers.
Full results are here
The three and one-mile races attracted mainly junior runners.
AVR also provided the timers, back markers for each race, and some marshals. Soup, tea, bacon butties and cakes were served in the village hall for runners, spectators and helpers adding to the lovely community feel to the event. A big thank you to all the organisers for another successful day.
Cornish Ultra
Julia Mallon took part in the Endurance Life North Cornwall Ultra on Saturday taking on 32 challenging miles of the beautiful Cornish coast path. The race started in Polzeath running along the coast path to Treligga and back again. It was very tough with 7,000 feet of elevation but the scenery was stunning. Finishing in 8:11:16 59th place from the 63 that completed it, Julia was also the first V50 female.
Worldwide parkruns for AVR
In Seaton it was very chilly day but still more than 200 ran, walked or jogged parkrun. Luke Reed was first finisher in 17:56 which also placed him third on age grade with 78%. Debbie Whiston was first female in 21:39. Second on age grade with 79% was Carol Austin for her 24:36. There were PBs for Pam Goddard in 29:17 and Shirley Goy in 43:33.
Paul Lloyd took part in Heartlands parkrun in Cornwall while Jon Day went to Teignmouth Promenade parkrun and Ian Smith tackled Northwich parkrun in Cheshire.
Further afield, Diane and Graham Newton took advantage of still being “Down Under” this week to take part in the lovely but rather undulating Risdon Brook parkrun, near Hobart, Tasmania. It was a family affair for them as they were joined by their son, Adam and granddaughter, Saskia. For Graham it was his first run in his new age category and he set a new course record for the M75-79 in 26.09, with Diane coming in 40:30 and third in her hotly contested over 70s age group. Adam and first-timer, Saskia, both finished first in their age categories making it a clean sweep for three generations of Newtons.