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Podium clean sweep for men at Exe to Axe
It was a 1-2-3 for AVR men at the Exe to the Axe on Sunday. Matt Clist took the win finishing in an amazing 3:05.26; Tim Lenton, second finisher just a minute behind in 3:06.27 with James Green third, springing along the seafront, to finish in 3:15.09. Although a lovely sunny day the recent heavy rain made it a very muddy and tough course throughout the 22 miles of the South West Coast Path from the Exe in Exmouth to the Axe in Seaton.
Emilie Brock was first AVR woman home in an excellent fifth female place and first F40 in 3:52.07. Eleanor Wood came home in 4:04.28 and first F60.
Vicki Wraight and Stephen Grigg decided 22 miles wasn’t quite enough so ran the full marathon option with an additional loop around Otterton to make up the extra four miles. Stephen Grigg was a brilliant fifth in the marathon, 2nd M40, in 4:38.22 with Vicki, 26th finisher in 5:56.58. Just 39 completed the marathon distance event.
Other AVRs amongst the 119 who completed the gruelling 22-mile event were Richard Jackson, 24th in 4:03.24; Jason Potter, 50th in 4:26.04; James Hawker, 71st in 4:50.59; Henry Smith, 72nd in 4:52.21; Jeremy Slade, 78th in 4:56.56 and Dan Clist, 79th in 4:57.02.
Kevin Feeney and Ron Seward ran it as a relay coming in sixth from 13 teams with Kevin completing Exmouth to Sidmouth where Ron took over to run the second leg through to Seaton with a combined finish time of 4:33.20.
Powering on at Powderham Castle
Four AVRs travelled to Powderham Castle on Saturday for the second edition of the 10-mile Power Run set within the beautiful private estate. The multi terrain course provides a mix of fields, trails, woodland paths and short tarmac sections. The runners experience a tough climb in the first mile but are rewarded with a great view at the top. The two-lap race starts and finishes in the castle’s courtyard and takes in the estate’s gems, such as the Deer Park, Belvedere Tower, American Gardens and The Old Plantation. The recent wet weather made the course very muddy and this was reflected in the slower times although, thankfully, the heavy rain forecast for the race itself did not materialise.
First AVR home, fourth woman finisher and first F45 was Kerry Board in an excellent 1:25.36. Andy West finished in 47th place 1:33.58, second M65. Next AVR was Suzi Blackett who finished in 67th place in 1:38.40 with Sarah Herfet dipping under the two hours to finish in 1:59.55 taking third F55.
The race was well organised by City Runs and was in support of the Force Cancer Charity.
Revelling in Reading
Marathon training is clearly benefiting Haydn Boehm who smashed out a personal best for the half-marathon in Reading on Sunday. His 1:32.00 represented a huge six minute PB. Next stop London!
Capital Gains
Already in the capital, Susan Wall completed the London Landmarks Half Marathon in 2:26.36 smashing more than seven minutes from her previous best over this distance.
Paris in the Springtime
David Cull travelled over to France to join the thousands running the Schneider Electric Marathon de Paris. His time of 3:40.46 placed him 14646 out of more than 50,000 finishers. David is recovering from a long spell of injury and paced a friend in Paris so was very pleased to come away with a solid run.
Pacing successes at Seaton parkrun
It was pacing week at Seaton parkrun with Lee Moran celebrating reaching his 50th milestone with a perfectly paced 23:58 helping a couple of runners to their sub-24 time. Max Richardson was thankful for an early football cancellation this week to secure a big PB finishing in 19:39.
AVR hits the airwaves
On Sunday afternoon Carol Austin was interviewed on Lyme Bay Radio’s Sports Spectrum show to discuss AVR and getting into running. The show is repeated ‘as live’ on Monday at 6pm. Listen here
Team AVR take the win in Meldon
Four AVRs took part in South-West Fell Runners’ Meldon Skyline fell race on Saturday which was a 12.5k hilly route across part of Dartmoor with more than 600 feet of climb. A steep start straight up to Yes Tor before a skip across to Fordinsland ledge and a long technical descent to Homerton Hill meant no let-up for the runners. There were a few navigational options in the valley before another summit to the Tor where the footing improved for a fast finish.
First home for AVR was Tim Lenton who was seventh overall and first M40 in 1:00.23 with James Green hot on his heels finishing in 1:00.35, eighth and second M40. Patrick Devine-Wright was 15th and second M50 in 1:07.06 with Rik Tumber just behind him in 16th overall in 1:07.15.
The four AVRs together secured the team prize for their efforts beating Okehampton RC on their home turf! There were 66 finishers in the event which is also a selection event for Devon at the Inter-Counties.
Totally Coastal
There was a 10k, half-marathon and a 50k ultra on offer at Winding Paths’ Total Coastal races held on Saturday.
In the 50k, which started in Kingswear with the finish in Shaldon, Patrick Rosello completed it in an amazing 6:35.33 placing him a brilliant ninth with more than 100 finishers. All the more fantastic given a staggering 6000 feet of elevation.
Bec Davey and Carolyn Nation ran the half-marathon which started in Preston Green, near Paignton then took runners along with the south-west coast path through to the same finish in Shaldon. Multi-terrain with 2778 feet of elevation and, with Bec using it as a comeback from injury and illness, it was very much a case of running together with grit, determination and the beautiful scenery getting them to the end.
Yeovil Half
Four AVRs tackled the Yeovil Half Marathon on Sunday. The town centre start and finish made for a great atmosphere with lots of support throughout the 13.1 miles. The new route even went past the front doors of Montecute House, although it was challenging with over 800ft of climb, with more than 1000 runners completing the race and taking home a lovely wooden medal for their efforts.
First AVR back was Duncan Staddon in an excellent sixth place in 1:17:53, first M40. Matt Hewer was sixth in the M40 category, 32nd overall in 1:25:13. Angela Kerr romped home in 2:10:19, fourth in the F60-69 category and 522nd overall just before Mandy Harris, 602nd, who finished in 2:16:42.
Feighan Fury – remembering Mike
This new race has been created by SWRR (South West Road Runners) in memory of a much-loved member of their club, Mike Feighan who sadly died in 2021. Five-time winner of the Grizzly, Mike was well-known in the Devon running community having also been behind the creation of the Exeter Riverside parkrun.
Sunday’s 10 mile multi-terrain trail race took place across the hills, fields and rivers of mid-Devon. Five AVRs joined the first edition of this race which had more than 200 finishers.
Incredibly Tim Lenton and Patrick Devine-Wright ran again fresh from their success the previous day at the Meldon event. First home for AVR was Tim Lenton, who had clearly recovered well, to take fourth overall and third M40 in 1:14.36. Patrick Devine-Wright was tenth overall and nabbed the first M50 prize in 1:19.53. A fantastic weekend’s work for these two!
Other AVRs were Cory Schultze (96th in 1:41.22), Jeremy Slade (114th in 1:47.26) and Darrell Farley (127th in 1:51.47).
Milestones for AVRs at Seaton parkrun
More than 200 completed Seaton parkrun on Saturday in windy conditions with Innes Fitzgerald, fresh from a string of cross-country victories, coming in as first finisher in 16:57, just the second time Seaton has had a female first finisher.
Liz Slade celebrated her 50th milestone running with a group of fellow AVRs while Angela Kerr reached her 100th volunteer milestone as Run Director on Saturday. Congratulations to both members of the Seaton parkrun core team. The core team, along with a fantastic group of volunteers, ensure the event can take place every Saturday. To help out please email: seaton@parkrun.com – there are plenty of different roles available every week.
On the parkrun tourism trail, Tony Smith and Sam Miller completed Haldon Forest, Gill and Jon Day ran Teignmouth Promenade and Carol Austin enjoyed the sights and smells of Frogmary Green Farm! Ron Seaward travelled to Aberysthwyth and smashed out an 80.6% age grade for his 22:26. Nice one Ron! Also in Wales, Ellie Dominey was first female finisher at Haverford West in 20:56. All the AVRs at parkrun can be found here
Greece is the word!
Richard Jackson ran the Greek Tagetus Challenge on Sunday finishing in 71st. The race was some 37KM over a highly technical terrain with a challenging 2154m of altitude difference. Despite the tough conditions 180 completed the race which passed through the gorge of Viros which, apart from its natural beauty, stands out because of its historical importance as along it passed the ancient Royal Road that connected ancient Sparta with the port of Kardamyli.
Weymouth wanderings
It was an early start for the six AVRs who popped over the border to Dorset to take part in the Weymouth Half Marathon on Sunday with an 8am race start. The 13.1 mile course took the runners through the heart of Weymouth with stunning views of the Jurassic coastline on the mostly flat course.
Eleanor Wood, Ron Seward and Diana Burn came away with age category victory trophies for their excellent runs. Eleanor was first F65, 177th overall, in 1:41.00 while Ron won first M70 for his 1:45.07, 254th finisher. Diana was second F65 finishing in 2:13.08.
First AVR home and in a brilliant personal best was Tim Sibley in 1:32.28, 87th overall and fourth M50, setting him up nicely for his forthcoming Boston marathon.
Adele Girdwood finished in 1:52.55 with Cath Brenton coming home in 2:20.09 in her first ever half-marathon.
The eighth edition of the race took place in glorious spring sunshine although windy on the seafront with more than 1200 runners completing the course.
Sunny Seaton parkrun
It was back to the normal course for parkrun in Seaton on Saturday and the lovely sunny morning drew 207 parkrunners. Second female finisher was Ellie Dominey in 21:02 while third male was James Green in 18:07, who was also third on age grade with 76%.
In the excellent conditions, Ben Tucker celebrated his 50th parkrun with a PB of 20.38. Katharine Moran also nabbed a PB for her 26.49.
Further afield Rupert Pudy visited Exmouth finishing in a speedy 20:50 (73%) with Karen Eyre also enjoying the fast flat course finishing in 22:04 (76%). Meanwhile David and Susi Sadler enjoyed the muddy, hilly and very scenic Haldon Forest parkrun.
All the AVR parkrun results can be found here