24 trotters complete Erme Valley Relays...........................

Erme Valley Relays

On Friday evening club captains Daryl ‘Tarquin’ Milford and Sharon ‘Fizz’ Bowman took 3 teams each to Filham near Ivybridge for 9th running of the Erme Valley Relays. The race is based at Ivybridge Rugby Club and this year the event, run over the usual 4 legs of 2.5 miles of tough undulating road, attracted a total of 64 teams. There was a great spirit throughout the Trotter teams and amongst the runners there were some outstanding performances.

The men’s ‘A’ team was led off by our highly talented young hope Adam Caunter (13.37) mixing it with the big boys and handing over to Ian Langler in a lofty 5th position. Ian (14.41) and Simon Boobyer (14.37) both ran solid intermediate stages before handing over to captain ‘Tarqs’ (13.45) who brought the team home a creditable 8th overall in 56.40.

The ‘B’ team consisted of three of our newer members and one of the ‘old-firm’. Steve Barker (15.26) led the team off and handed on to Nick Stevens (14.39), whose time must make the captain sit up and take note. Next was Gary Clark (15.41) and finally the battle hardened warrior Rog ‘Smokes’ Hales (16.53) giving the team a 21st place finish in 62.39.

On the night the MV50 team of Mike Eveleigh (15.12), Kevin Besford (20.31), Wilf Taylor (17.11) and Gary Watson (17.02) were accredited with the team prize for their age group. Unfortunately on recount they have been relegated to second which, although disappointing is still a notable achievement in such good company. Leading the team away ‘Evo’ seems ageless, Kevin continues to enjoy a good year of running, Wilf seems to be getting better and ‘Watsa’ ran himself into a heap to secure 40th place in 69.56.

Not far behind was our Senior Ladies team, packed full of talent and promise of things to come. Louise Bailey (16.39) was our fastest lady on the night, followed by all-rounder Sarah Schutte (18.18) and race regular Caroline Clark (19.16) who both consolidated the team’s position before handing on to Emma Sidebotham (16.50) sprinting home to record 44th place in 71.03.

The first of our 2 FV35 teams was led off by Marsha Garrard (19.46) whose solid run put Katrina Duigan (20.24) well in the mix. This inspired Captain ‘Fizz’ Bowman (19.12) and with the momentum building Jackie Woon ran a storming 17.57 anchor leg to record 53rd place in 77.19.

Our second FV35 team was led away by the ‘baby’ of the quartet Mary Goulden (19.44) before handing over to the first of three golden oldies Jo Billyard (22.09). Jo is a racing novice but is highly motivated and she was delighted with her run. She handed over to Eleanor Taylor (20.50) as ever reassuringly running a controlled leg to set up Lucy Payne (20.58) to run the hills hard and bring the team home 60th in 83.41. Everyone agreed that it was a great evening of running and the event provides a rare chance for our members to come together as a team.

written by Rod Payne

PHOTOS from Fizz-TOP -time for a quick photo before the off MIDDLE -louise sprints to the finishBOTTOM-Sarah gets a strong start