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Speedsters in Somerset
A group of AVRs popped up to Yeovilton on Wednesday evening for the third of the summer series of 5ks. Run on flat roads these races are great for securing personal bests. First AVR home, and fifth overall, was Jack Broom in 15:42 with Rich Hardy in 16th and fourth M40 in 16:39. Adrian Strawbridge dipped under 20 for the first time finishing in 19:59 while James Ashurst came in in 22:30. Hats off to Suzi Blackett who was 21stfemale in a PB of 23:30.
Who is off to Dalwood Fayre?
Organised by Honiton Running Club the Dalwood Fayre 10k was back after a few years away. The 10k route starts and finishes at the Tuckers Arms in Dalwood running into the beautiful Blackdown Hills on a challenging route taking in some 1000 feet of ascent over tricky terrain. Just 46 took part with most describing the downhill finish as the highlight!
AVR’s Matt Clist took the win in 40.24 with Eleanor Wood, second female in 55.50 and Rich Hardy, followed his cracking run at Yeovilton with third place in 42.38.
Jason Potter was seventh in 52.24 with Paul Johns hot on his heels in 52.46. Ron Seward was 16th in 57.37 and first M65; Andrew Hartnell was 18th in 58.01; Margaret Pearce 20th in 58.17; Caroline French 25th 1:01.20; Kevin Feeney 34th 1:07.29; Rebecca Eastburn 38th 1:11.44 and Carly Lowe 45th 1:32.31.
Blackdown beauty
More of a beast than a beauty this year after a week of rain making the course exceptionally boggy in places. The run is a social self-navigated one over the Blackdown hills; with 10 or 18 mile routes available, it also includes an optional pub stop and cream tea. Mandy Harris and Angela Kerr joined the field for the tough 18 mile (ish) run with 2500 feet of elevation which they described as making the Grizzly look like a walk in the park. They were rewarded with some great views as well as the cream tea!
Ex- ceptional effort by the Exe
Cath Brenton completed only her second ever half marathon on Sunday at the Exe Estuary. Following personal tragedy she hasn’t been able to train over the last few months but decided, with the support of two friends to tackle it. The route was a mix of beach, trail, cliff tops and hills and, with the support of two friends, she completed it in 3:12.43. The time wasn’t important: the fact that she is back out running and feeling the benefits – she says, “I am so happy to have achieved it and now I feel I am ready to return to my running.” AVR look forward to welcoming you back, Cath.
AVR’s, Georgie Ryan also completed the half marathon in 2:52.01.
Seaton parkrun
The strong winds on Saturday meant it was definitely not a PB day. Ryan Snell came in third finisher in 18:56 with Debbie Whiston first female, despite starting slightly late, in 22:09. Susi Sadler completed her 200thvolunteering stint at Seaton which is an incredible innings. Anyone can help and there is always a need for more volunteers especially during the holiday season so please contact seaton@parkrun.com if you can help.
AVR also supports two junior parkrun events in Axminster, Stop Line Way junior, and in Lyme, Cobb Gate junior. These take place on a Sunday morning at 9am and with it being just 2k your volunteering role is usually over and done by 9.30/45. Contact stoplinewayjuniors@parkrun.com or cobbgatejuniors@parkrun.com if you can help or to find out more.
Killerton Duathlon
A few AVRs headed up to Killerton on Sunday for a “Run-Bike-Run” duathlon event. The first run, 5k, was very muddy with some downhill. The cycle ride was flat but very windy followed by a second hard 3k run. Emilie Brook took second female and first F40 with Andrew Snook in third place, second M40. Haydn Boehm, Darrell Farley, Dan Clist and James Hawker also took part, the latter two in their first ever multi-sport event. Full results here
Potter by the Otter
The popular Otter Rail and River 10k on Saturday attracted a big turn-out of AVRs. The race follows the Otter river from Tipton St John down to Harpford then through the woods and back along the old railway line. More than 200 completed the 10k with Eleanor Wood taking first F65 finishing in 50.54. Special mention to Sarah Shepley who completed her first 10k since a serious knee injury. All finishers received a bottle of Otter ale and the race was well organised by Sidmouth Running Club. Full results here
Tree..mendous
Diane Newton entered Relish Running’s Westonbirt half marathon last weekend. Westonbirt is the national arboretum and is home to 2,500 species of trees, including many rare ones from around the world. More than 400 took part in the undulating two-lap course which wound around the various areas dedicated to different species. In her first half-marathon of the year Diane took the F70+ category prize finishing in 2:57:28.
Seaton parkrun
The first finishers this week were both AVRs with Ryan Snell in 17:51 and Emilie Brock in 20:48. Second finisher was Richard Hardy in 18:05 with Luke Reed third in 18:08 after a great tussle between the three of them before Ryan pulled away.
There was also a good haul of PBs for AVR this week from Gareth Walker 22:48, Jeremy Norcombe 22:57, Laura Kerr 23:40, Craig Tiley 24:08 and Dave Hutton 24:20. Laura was particularly pleased as she both smashed her Seaton parkrun PB but also secured an overall parkrun PB beating her Eastbourne time.
First on age grade percentage was AVR Ron Seward in 22:27 for 80.55% while Elaine Chesterman celebrated her 50th parkrun milestone. The parkrunners, volunteers and spectators were entertained on Saturday by a fabulous performance from the local Sunshine Samba.
Further afield Bec Davey secured her D at Dinton Pastures parkrun, Adele Girdwood ran Penrose parkrun, Amie and Tim Sibley, also in Cornwall, completed Trelissick while David and Susi Sadler took on Penrhyn parkrun in Wales.
AVRs shine at the Ham to Lyme Ultra
With an elevation of 3316 feet and more than 30 miles of multi-terrain running up hills, down dale, across fields and along the riverside this race is a challenge for anyone but it is becoming increasingly popular amongst AVRs with some 24 taking part last Saturday. It starts up in Somerset in Ham Hill Country Park and winds its way through the stunning scenery of the Liberty Trail, Wayford Woods and Lamberts Castle to finish on the seafront in beautiful Lyme Regis.
AVR scooped second, third and fourth places with some tremendous times. Rich Hardy came in second place in an incredible 4 hours 15 minutes with Rob Collier, third in 4 hours 25 minutes, pushing last year’s winner, Matt Clist into fourth. Kerry Board, competing in her first ultra, finished in an excellent 5 hours 40 minutes as fifth female finisher. Special mention to Louise Rawlins, who only began running during lockdown in 2020, joined AVR a year later and on Saturday completed an ultra and even managed her usual trademark cartwheel on the Cobb!
It was a hot day and mostly self-navigated so all finishers were well deserving of the beautiful ammonite medal. Full results here Huge congratulations to everyone who completed it and to Albion Running for organising the race so well.
Charmouth Challenge
Despite the previous day’s rain, it was dry underfoot but very muggy for the Charmouth Challenge on Saturday. This 8-mile multi-terrain hilly race included an ascent of Golden Cap, the highest point on the South Coast of England at 191 metres.
There was a good turnout of AVRs amongst the 150 finishers with Andrew Snook coming in fifth place, second M40 in 56:06. Ron Seward steamed in yet again achieving first in M70+ finishing in 1:22:30. Ann Coston, a new member of AVR, was second in the F50+ category at 1:27:41. Other AVRs to complete the Challenge were Patrick Rosello, Darrell Farley, Diana Burn and Adele Girdwood.
Full results can be found here
Wednesday down at the Abbey
On a lovely sunny but cool Wednesday evening, 31 AVRs took part in this beautiful 10k off road race which starts and finishes at Forde Abbey and includes a couple of river crossings. Kerry Board was second female in an impressive 54:18 and first F40. Adrian Strawbridge was fifth overall in 51:41 and took first M40 while Eleanor Wood was first F55 in 58:12, 42nd overall. Unfortunately, a few front runners including Max Richardson took a slight wrong turning meaning completing almost 7 miles and missing a top ten finish.
Full results can be found here
Down by the Riverside
Matt Frost took part in the Exeter Community Trust 10k river run on Friday starting and finishing at Exeter Quay. He finished in eighth in 38:28.
Seaton parkrun
Ryan Snell was third finisher in 18:06 while Debbie Whiston was 1st female in 19:44 and also second overall on age grade in 80.49%. PBs were gained by Gareth Walker 22:54, Zoe Trewick 27:45 and Ann-Louise Gridley 31:24. More than 200 took part with many AVRs amongst the volunteers. The team are always on the look-out for more volunteers especially during the busy holiday period when many tourists come to run and some of the regular helpers are away so if you would like to start Saturday morning with lots fun for a worthwhile cause please email seaton@parkrun.com for more information.
On their travels again, Carolyn Nation picked up a U and another country by completing Uppsala parkrun in Sweden while Carol Austin returned for a fourth visit to Haga parkrun in Stockholm. Aileen and Peter Heal went to Bushy parkrun, where they were amongst the more than 1300 finishers including many octogenarians as the home of parkrun celebrated its huge age diversity.