Jamie Barnett and Tim Pratt take the win at the Dartmoor Vale Marathon and Half Marathon

Teignbridge Trotters dominated at the Dartmoor Vale races that were held on Sunday 29^th October.

This week’s report cannot possibly start without firstly mentioning Jamie Barnett, who won the marathon event in a fabulous time of 2:40:47.  This was Jamie’s first ever attempt at the marathon, and he smashed the junior Trotter marathon record in the process. Jamie ran a lot of the race by himself, finishing nearly 15-minutes ahead of the second place competitor.

Jamie said “Although it could change as I gain fitness, my goal currently is low 2:20's at London in April, so the idea of running the marathon at Dartmoor Vale was to get a feel for the 26.2 mile distance, whilst running at a faster pace than my usual steady long runs”. Jamie was getting fatigued towards the end of the race, but he's looking ahead to London and seeing what he can do after 6-months more of hard training.

There were some other great performances at the marathon, with a PB for Kris Ward. He took 2 minutes off of his previous best, crossing the line in 3:28:19. Unfortunately, Kris picked up an injury in the race, so fingers crossed he’ll back running again soon. Also, it was Rob Cooper’s first ever marathon, and he managed a great time 3:52:45.

Full Trotter results for the marathon are:

Jamie Barnett (1, 2:40:47), Kris Ward (22, 3:28:19), Stephen Barker (3:52:16), Robert Cooper (41, 3:52:45), Allen Taylor (43, 3:52:45), Graydon Widdicombe (48, 3:57:08), Paul Sharples Snr (52, 3:59:07), Nathan Elphick (61, 4:11:25), Lucy Evans (64, 4:11:41, 2^nd FV40+) and Richard Keatley (83, 4:33:17). There were 114 finishers.

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Turning to the Half Marathon, this year it was part of the club’s championship, so it saw a good turn out of Trotters. The Half Marathon is one lap of the undulating route, and again there were some great performances.

Completing a double-header of event winners for the club, Tim Pratt won it in cracking time of 1:17:56, with Ewan Walton taking 3^rd in 1:24:59. This was a 2min4sec PB for Tim, which is a great improvement on a challenging course. Tim mentioned that Trotter legend, Garry Smart (holder of multiple club records), has been advising him a lot over the last year or so, and that he couldn’t have done it without Garry’s advice.

Additionally, there was a PB for Julian Scanes, who also won his age M45+ age category, with a time of 1:30:30, so he’s hoping to go under 1:30 at a flatter event soon. Also, it was Kim Knight’s first attempt at a Half Marathon and she finished in a great time of 1:54:47.

Full Trotter results for the Half were:

Tim Pratt (1, 1:17:56), Ewan Wolton (3, 1:24:59), Garry Smart (5, 1:25:59, 2^nd M50+), Julian Scanes (9, 1:30:30), Tracy Elphick (22, 1:34:53, 1^st F45+), Duncan Knight (24, 1:35:08), Roger Hayes (30, 1:38:44), Garrie Edwards (32, 1:39:04), Ian Porter (36, 1:40:55), Jacki Woon (39, 1:41:17, 1^st F50+), Nigel Barnett (44, 1:42:22), Joshua Taylor (50, 1:43:16), Emma Boobyer (51, 1:43:39), Peter Blakesley (57, 1:44:51), Sarah Pike (61, 1:46:03, 1^st F40+), Neil Rutley (65, 1:47:51), Kim Knight (94, 1:54:57, Eleanor Taylor (133, 2:02:37), Ruth Johnson (142, 2:05:37), Graeme Baker (153, 2:06:52), Claire Mills (156, 2:09:13), Scott Stephens (181, 2:19:54) and Tina Caunter (187, 2:25:25). There were 209 finishers.

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Also at the event, there was a 10K race and 15-year-old Toby Hooper came 7^th, which was his first 10K race. He managed a great time of 39:39, and came first in his Junior Male category. It was a debut performance for Simon Baker and also Sharon Still, so well done to them for donning the club colours. Emma Foreman is enjoying her continued “purple patch”, claiming another PB with a great 55:25.

Full Trotter results for the 10K were:

Toby Hooper (7, 39:38), Simon Baker (9, 39:37), James Saunders (18, 42:40, 1^st M55+), Melanie Dunn (23, 43:41, 2^nd Senior Female), Craig Churchill (26, 44:23), Kate Lenthall (47, 47:39), Sarah Burningham (54, 48:21), Michael Jones (79, 50:57), Mark Wotton (91, 53:37), Emma Ray (93, 53:51), Jennie Roberts (95, 54:09), Tina Hearne (101, 54:52), Lucy Payne (105, 55:10), Emma Foreman (110, 55:25), Alison Jackson (119, 56:43), Victoria Ratcliffe (131, 59:08), Andy Distin (133, 59:26), Sharon Still (159, 1:02:38), Louise Stokes (190, 1:11:00), Melanie Saunders (200, 1:15:20). There were 205 finishers.

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Away from Dartmoor Vale, the Donovan duo of Jim and Emma zipped up the motorway to the small village of Thurlbear, which hosts the Herepath half race.

Organised by Taunton Running Forever Club together with the local primary school, this 14ish mile multi terrain race generally follows the Staple Fitzpaine Herepath Trail in the Blackdown Hills and commands fabulous views. It has around 1300ft of ascent and a very long bog to run through.

Both had races at polar opposites of the scale illustrating just how individual running can be. Continuing his rich vein of form, Jim smashed his course best clocking 2:06, seven minutes off his previous time, and tackled the big ascents and descents with ease, picking competitors off as he went. Emma, meanwhile, found it tough going mentally and had to dig deep to coax her brain out of cowering in the face of the physical challenge and channel it into rallying through the last couple miles. Digging deep, Emma was relieved to clock 2:25.48. There were 200 entrants and all finishers got an engraved champagne flute.

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Richard Keatley travelled up to Surrey for the “I’ll be back Marathon”, which was at Nonsuch Park on Friday. It was 8-laps of an undulating route with lovely scenery and the weather was nice and warm for the whole day. Richard took it really easy, finishing in 6:15:31, saving himself a bit for Dartmoor Vale Marathon on Sunday.

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