Trotters take part in races in all weather conditions

A few Trotters travelled over to Lanzarote to take part in one of the race distances on offer.  The marathon is an out-and-back, all along the seafront between Costa Teguise and Puerto del Carmen, whilst the Half marathon is the return leg of the full course.

Pete Hayward and Kim Nichols took part in the Half Marathon and both did very well.  Pete was especially pleased with his performance, and he took the 3^rd place prize in his race age category, with a brilliant time of 1:43:12.  Kim was also pleased to get under the 2hr mark, finishing in 1:55:01.

Turning to the marathon, Ewan Walton knocked about 1 minute off of his time from last year, finishing in 3:17:47, which was 60^th out of 602 competitors.  Meanwhile, Zilpah Walton did the 5K event, finishing in 30:18.

All Trotters enjoyed the event, which had a great, party atmosphere although conditions did get hot towards the end of the race. 

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Five hardy trotters ventured out for the 13^th running of the Cockington Christmas Caper on Saturday 9^th December.  This race is very well supported and is always sold out. The 8+ miles course is raced through the picturesque countryside of Cockington, and this year and started at the pavilions behind the Drum Inn pub.

The route is 90% off road and muddy, with some parts very slippery and with more than a few hills to contend with this is quite a tough race; just the thing the runners need before gorging on mince pies.

The event is very well marshalled and the support you get as you go round reminded the Trotters runners of a club race.

Trotters finishers were Chris Broadbent (29, 1:08:31), Derek Skinner (47, 1:11:56), Gavin Forbes (51, 1:13:25), Kevin Sampson (64, 1:17:17) and Lucy Payne (158, 1:31:45). There were 239 finishers.

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On Saturday 9^th December, Graydon Widdicombe took part in the Enigma Christmas marathon. In very cold conditions, Graydon had to wrap up warm, but was pleased with 3:52:49 (16th out of 53 finishers). The weather worsened overnight on Saturday, meaning that Richard Keatley wasn’t able to compete in Sunday’s event, as the course was covered in snow so the event was cancelled.

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On 3 December 7 members of the Teignbridge Trotters travelled to Exeter to compete in the 3rd race of the Westward Cross Country League series. Under team leader, Wendy Goldthorp, the Trotters are working to increase their presence in the League, and a number of club members are competing in their first ever cross country races.

In the men’s race, Jamie Barnett finished 19th overall (32.13) and 22nd in the Senior Men’s Devon Cross Country Championships happening concurrently. Tim Pratt finished 71st (35.34) in his first cross country race.

In the women’s race, Helen Anthony, Wendy Goldthorp, Sue Tremlett, Eleanor Taylor and Kim Nichols (competing in her first cross country race) represented the Trotters.  A special mention to Helen Anthony, who was the first Trotter across the finish line (22nd, 25.06).  The women’s team is currently placed 26th out of 80 teams overall, and 9th out of 50 teams in the women’s vets rankings.

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