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Excellence in Exmouth
Four AVRs took the short trip to Exmouth for the Bradley’s 10k on Sunday. Starting on the seafront runners headed to Orcombe Point before turning and following the beachfront back to the start point and repeating for a second lap. The flat course, run on hard surfaced footpaths and the lovely sunny spring day meant perfect conditions for the 150 competitors.
Joel Seward came in an excellent third place in 35:49 with Ritchie Durrant hot on his heels just six seconds behind finishing in 35:55 for fourth. Next up was Luke Reed in fifth, first M40, in 37:31.
Lee Brooker was 72nd in a massive lifetime best of 53:53.
There is another running of the race, organised by LM Events, in the autumn.
Mud Glorious mud!
Seaton parkrun
With the cliff falls still affecting West Walk, the three-lap course was used again this weekend. First female finisher was Debbie Whiston in 20:47 with Kerry Board second in 22:56. Eleanor Wood was first on age-grade with 89% for her 23:50 with Ron Seward second on age grade in 79% for his 23:26.
Out on the tourism trail were Dave Hutton and Sue Chambers nabbing their V for the alphabet challenge at Victoria Docks; Ian Smith and John Whittaker took part in Gunnersbury parkrun; Bec Davey ran Dolgellau in Wales; Kevin Feeney and Sarah Shepley completed Stewart parkrun in Middlesborough while Shaun Vinnicombe completed the very picturesque Llanhydrock parkrun in Cornwall.
Sea of Green at Seaton parkrun
Seaton parkrun went green on Saturday as a tribute to AVR, Phil “Evergreen” Bayliss who sadly died last year and who had been very involved in getting the event off the ground in the town. AVRs, past and present, came to run, walk, and volunteer along with members of Phil’s family. Tony Smith spoke prior to the event about Phil, saying how he has tried to ‘Be more Phil’ over the last year and presented Phil’s wife, Vikki with a volunteer hat for his contribution to the event.
It was also fitting that amongst Saturday’s volunteers were some young people doing their DofE award, something Phil had been involved with during his career. One of them, Kira Moran has written a lovely full run report from Saturday – here.
In the event itself, run on a revised route due to recent cliff falls, Matt Clist was third finisher in 17:19 and also third on age-grade in 82%. Eleanor Wood was first on age-grade with 89% for her 23:53. Congratulations to Jo Orsman on reaching her 100th milestone and Jeremy Norcombe on his 200th parkrun to coincide with a ‘big’ birthday. Well done to Lee Brooker and Lucy Hanley on PBs, 26:22 and 30:51, respectively.
Five go wild in Wokingham
Four AVRs, Ryan Snell, Matt Hewer, Terry Emmett and David Cull had an early start on Sunday travelling up to Wokingham in Surry for the half marathon where they were joined by Cliff Marriott who was up there for the weekend.
The route had a slight adjustment due to flooding but was still a fast, flat course ran on rural roads and around the town centre.
First AVR home was Ryan Snell in 1:14.40, 74th and 14th M40 from 2772 finishers. Terry Emmett was hot on his heels finishing with a shiny new PB of 1:15.19, 17th M40 and 84th overall. Also celebrating an excellent PB was Matt Hewer in 1:20.23, returning from a long period out with injury. David Cull finished in 1:23.30, also an impressive PB. Cliff Marriott finished in 1:51.24.
Exeter Trail 10k
Run around the grounds of Escot Park this was always going to be a muddy affair after the recent wet weather. It also included some challenging climbs so perfect Grizzly preparation. Julia Conway came in 53rd in 1:03.06, second F50. Ninety runners completed the race on Saturday in good conditions. In the 5k Canicross event Denise Burgess was seventh, running with her pointer, in 36:44.
Slay the Dragon 10k
Three AVRs popped over the border for this beautiful but challenging 10k which took place around Hinton St George in Somerset on Sunday. Amazingly the promised deluge of rain and wind held off until after the race with runners just having some mizzle to accompany them. Martyn Walker came in 61st in 1:05.47; Kathryn Thompson, 85th in 1:17.45 and Aileen Heal in 87th in 1:22.56.
Bath Two Tunnels HM
Georgie Ryan ran the Bath Two Tunnels Half Marathon organised by Relish Running on Sunday – a race with the longest underground section of any race in the UK! The route, known as “Return Ticket” is a two lap out and back on the Two Tunnels Greenway Path, flat and fast. Georgie finished in 2.14:11 smashing more than six minutes off her previous PB.
Delightful Dalwood
After almost 12 hours of continual rain on top of the already soaked ground the terrain at the Dalwood Three Hills was always going to resemble a mud fest. Add in three, or perhaps, four hills with a total of 1600 feet of elevation as well as river crossings on very swollen rivers and you knew Sunday’s race would be exceptionally challenging. The ten mile race returned for the first time since 2020 following the break due to the Pandemic.
There was a great turn-out of AVRs amongst the 167 competitors in the ten-mile race around the beautiful countryside between Axminster and Honiton. Matt Clist was first AVR home in third place overall in 1:08.24 and Karen Eyre, an excellent fourth female in 1:34.37. Matt Hewer, back after a long injury, was 12th in 1:18.50 with Rob Collier in 15th in 1:19.05.
All results are here
Seville – oranges are not the only fruit!
In sunnier climes, Tim Sibley took part in the Seville marathon, a fast, flat race in the beautiful Spanish city famous for its orange trees. The race was targeted by several British would-be Olympians aiming to get the qualifying time ahead of the first selection taking place today (19 Feb). It was an early start to avoid the heat and the course circled the city providing plenty of shade from the tall buildings and trees so perfect conditions.
Despite allegedly being beaten by a man with a pineapple on his head, Tim finished in a brilliant 3:20.30, a huge personal best for him. He describes the last 5k as tough on the cobbled streets in the old city and big crowds. His pacing on the day was superb with a negative split and finishing 3146th from almost 10,000 finishers.
Phil Sesemann finished in 2:08.10, narrowly inside the Olympic qualifying time and going fourth on the British all-time rankings so can be confident of making the Team GB team.
On Saturday with no parkrun in Spain, Tim and Amie Sibley both ran the Seville Marathon 5k Breakfast Run.
Wombling free
When Liz Slade spotted a womble race T-shirt she knew she wanted to take part in the Wimbledon Common Half-marathon. She and husband, Jeremy, completed the race together, across the trails of Wimbledon Common, which were very muddy after so much rain, in 2:51.30.
Seaton parkrun
It was a misty Saturday morning with drizzle starting just as the parkrun began. First home was Luke Reed in 17:39, also second on age-grade. Carol Austin was third on age-grade with 79% for her 24:58. Shirley Goy got a PB in 40.07.