Trotters truimphant in Eden....................

Last Sunday 2nd October, a quartet of trotters ran the “Churston Flyer”. Ran at Churston Grammar school it took the 91 runners through Galmpton and Churston with the weather being very warm. Stephen Barker brought them home in 31.41 and 9th place, John Caunter was next in 39.04 and39th,Tina Caunter following her husband in 43.13 and 64th and 1st vet 50 lady and Sarah Seymour was 83rd in 48.48.

The following day, Monday 3rd, saw the first round of the “Brooks Winter 3k series” ran on the athletics track at Exeter Arena. Race D had John Caunter running 13.14 and 5th out of 17 while race E had Tina Caunter doing 14.32 and 7th and Eleanor Taylor 15.32 in 8th out of 11 runners. They had all completed races the previous day.

This weekend on Sunday 9th October, the trotters were spread far and wide and most found themselves in deepest Cornwall. The main event was “The Eden Project Half and full marathon”. Eighteen trotters did the event which is very tough and hilly with a good sprinkling of off-road thrown in.There were plenty of “underfoot” difficulties to contend with including disused railway lines! The times were as follows in the Marathon of which 314 completed.- Chairman Roger Hayes: 22nd place - 03:24:15 Roger 'Smokes' Hales: 92nd place- 03:55:14
Phil 'The Power' Perry: 168 place - 04:20:43 Sally Ingledew: 249 place - 04:49:04

Fourteen Trotters took part in the half-marathon, including two husband and wife teams. It was run over half of the full marathon course, but it wasn't any less tough, as had to be tackled at a faster pace.

With his legs still tired after the Teign Valley Toddle last week, Tarquin still managed to run a strong race, leading and setting the pace for much of the first half, before being beaten into third place in the final few miles completing in 1.22.50.

Nick Stevens(1.29.32-15th) and Ian Langler(1.30.22-16th) continued their recent racing battles, with Nick coming out on top on this occasions. Nick is a self-proclaimed longer-distance runner, so enjoyed this course.

Tarquin, Nick, Ian and Steve Barker(1.32.04-23rd) also secured the first Male team prize for the Trotters, which is a fine achievement, considered the strong local opposition in a field of nearly 1000 runners. Each of the four received a lovely bottle of red wine. Gary Clark did 44th - 01:35:35,Allen Taylor a brand new member did 1.41.55 and 91st.Ben Epps was 103rd in 1.43.14

Despite a strong run by the five Trottettes, they narrowly missed out on a team prize. However, this is more due to the stronger field this year, as all completed the course in under 2 hours. Helen Anthony ran a storming time 1.50.21 and 180th.The other trotter times were Jon Martin: 253rd - 01:54:37 Jacki Woon: 310th - 01:57:34
Lorna Martin: 319th - 01:58:14 Becky George: 332nd - 01:58:46 (Welcome return to racing!) Caroline Clark: 339th - 01:58:58 Keith Anderson: 718th - 02:19:38 (first half-marathon!) 946 runners completed the race and were rewarded with not only a t shirt but pint of beer and a pasty !!(thanks Tarquin for the info)

The other “Cornish “event was the Redruth Cross country.This was the first race of the ” Brooks Westward League Cross Country” of the winter season. Each lap is run around the pitches of Redruth School. This means that it's a mixture of running around the flat edge of the fields or ascending or descending the steep  slopes between the fields.
In the 3 lap, 4.9km ladies race, Julie crocker led home the Trottetes -61st overall. Then came Marsha Garrard closely followed by Eleanor Taylor.Hot on her heels was Lucy Payne in postions 64,65 and 66.
The men's race was 5 laps totalling 8km. Lance Mason stormed home in the men's race - the M50 was a brilliant 40th overall.
Next Trotter was John Crocker in position 81, followed by Wilf Taylor in 86. M70 Graeme Baker completed the team in 108th position - having lapped some of the slower runners. (thanks Eleanor for the info & photo)

On Sunday lone trottette, Michelle Willocks- Watts competed in the “Chester Marathon”. It’s the second time the event has taken place and entrants have increased from 1000 in 2010 to over 4000 this year. The first 4 miles were run through the historic city centre and passed through the town's Roman walls 4 times, after which the race headed out into the quite countryside on closed roads. 8 miles were run in North Wales before turning back into England. The weather was warm and luckily the rain held off but the wind was quite strong in places. The undulating course had a couple of hills at 18 and 24 miles before turning along the River Dee and back into the race course for a grandstand finish.
She finished in 4h13 and 1332 out of around 4000+ runners.(thanks michelle for the info & photo)

Mark Wotton and Graham Penn flew the flag for the Trotters at the  " Henley-on-Thames Half Marathon" . A well organised Rotary event, being run for the 29th time, is multi terrain, taking in footpaths along the edge of the River Thames and contains a solitary (quite formidable) hill near the village of Fawley. Conditions were humid but a brisk wind helped in the open sections. Mark had a good result: 1:48:31 and 360th in a field of 1054 finishers, with Graham completing in 1.56.13 and 558th place(thanks Inky for the info)

Also on Sunday Stuart Moulson and Gary Caunter ran the "Autumn Trail" 8 mile off road race from Newnham Park in Plympton.Stuart was 59th in 69.41 and Gary posted 77.41 and 94th.

Report written and compiled by Sharon(Fizz)Bowman
PHOTOS-TOP-The Eden Project runners(Thanks Sally) MIDDLE-The Redruth x country gang BOTTOM-Michelle before the Chester Marathon.