Trotters tackle Haldon, Honiton, Plymouth and Manchester...

Forest canopies, road races and river crossings were all on the agenda for the Royal Blues this weekend with rewards of PBs and prizes for many.

The Trotters turn-out for the local Haldon Heartbeat race was, once again, tremendous and it was a good day in the office for lots of those taking part.

The Heartbeat is the annual charity off-road race organised by the Haldon Trail Runners. It takes in 8.5miles of scenery around Harcombe Woods, a small part of the expansive 3,500-acre forestry land, with a few short sharp hills that remind the legs this running lark is never that easy.

Club members’ effortless performances returned some outstanding results. Garry Smart, Tim Pratt, Helen Anthony and Jacki Woon landed themselves a shiny bit of the proverbial silverware.

Many more muscled onto the team prize list with Trotters owning the various team category prizes: five of the six winning men’s teams were Trotters and Helen and Jacki were joined by Hannah Walsh and Jo Randall to be named as the winning ladies team. Full details can be found via the race host club’s website.

Results are Garry Smart 52mins second overall and first MV50, Tim Pratt 53mins third overall, Roger ‘Chairman’ Hayes 54.09 fifth, Russ Wheeler 55.39 sixth, Helen Anthony 55.41 (first lady and seventh overall), Martin Randall 59.05 17th, Hannah Walsh 1:00.30 20th, Julian Scanes 1:00.57 21st, Roger ‘Smokes’ Hales 1:02.12 25th, Derek Skinner 1:02.27 (personal best) 26th, Dermot Smyth 1:03.00 (personal best) 30th, Peter Blakesley 1:04.26 (personal best) 37th, Gary Watson 1:05.53 42nd, Tim Theobald 1:06.02 44th, Jo Randall 1:06.28 49th, Jacki Woon 1:07.44 (first FV50) 57th, Keith Anderson 1:09.45 (personal best) 62nd, Phil Perry 1:11.57 70th, Derek Blackford 1:12.11 75th, Kevin Besford 1:16.22 88th, Sharon Bowman 1:18.44 97th, Stuart Moulson 1:20.10 100th, Guy Roberts 1:24.02 111th, Steve Rawlinson 1:24.48 113th, Kim Nichols 1:24.54 114th, Richard Keatley 1:27.42 121st, Kat Zaple 1:33.39 129th. There were 140 finishers.

*Five Trotters completed Manchester’s fast and flat marathon on Sunday 19 April. The route starts and finishes outside Old Trafford stadium and takes a southerly direction through Sale and Altrincham. Allen Taylor brought the blues home in a new personal best in 3:13.19 1,014th place. Peter Kirby was next in 3:47.29 3,228th, David Taylor 3:49.40 3,425th, Adrian Handley in 3:53.50 (a new personal best) and 3,793rd and Craig Hobson’s first marathon earned him a time of 4:30.19 and 6,130th.

*A six-strong band of Trotters travelled to Plymouth for the city’s popular half marathon. Neil Pallant led the small but hardy team home in 1:46.28 751st and was followed by Dave McMorrow 1:49.50 982nd, Mark Walker in a new PB of 2:33.50 3,499th, Donna Walker 1:54.43 1,345th Lisa Godfrey 2:15.52 2,815th and Emma Iles in her first 13.1mile race in 2:22.52 3,145th.

*Graham Penn headed to Honiton for the seven-mile multi-terrain Honiton Hippo on Sunday 19 April. It’s organised by Honiton Running Club and is hilly, muddy and involves negotiating at least six or seven watercourses. Graham finished in 1:28.37 for 159th place out of 264 runners.

*Don’t forget it’s the first Sandygate Loop of 2015 on Friday 24 April. This is a great way to test yourself over a challenging four-mile course as well as a good opportunity to catch up with a few of your Trotter buddies.

The course starts and finishes at the Sandygate Inn, Kingsteignton, and follows quiet country lanes on a circular loop. As usual there will be staggered start times of 6.50pm and 7pm with the view that most people taking part will finish closer together. Remember this is a Championship race so club kit should be worn. Click on the ‘Sandygate Loop’ page on the left-hand side for more info. See you there!

Report by Emma Pearcy

Images kindly supplied by Shaz 'Fizzy wizzy woo' Bowman

Winners: Garry Smart, Tim Pratt, Helen Anthony and Jacki Woon at Haldon Heartbeat.

Winners with wine: Garry and Tim clutch their well-earned booze.