Trotters take on Torbay Half, along with some tough offroad races

A large group of Trotters took part in the ever-popular Torbay Half Marathon, organised by Torbay AC.  The closed road event was held in reasonable running conditions on the 2-lap course, with temperatures dropping over the last few days. However, the temperature did raise slightly through the race and there was a bit of a head wind on the return leg.

There were some great personal performances from Trotters.  Maggie Butt ran as a guide runner for Sofie Haidon, who is visually impaired and autistic, and can see shapes but not details.  Maggie met Sofie just three weeks ago, after connecting with her following a request on facebook by fellow guide runner, Jennie Roberts.  Maggie has done only one warm up event since meeting Sofie, which was the 10K at Mount Edgecombe where Maggie helped Sofie to a PB.  At Torbay Half, Sofie did suffer a bit from the heat and a few niggles, but Maggie helped her around with a time of 3:14:23.  Very well done to Maggie and Sofie!

The event was a milestone for some other Trotters.  It was the first Half Marathon for Sarah Charnley, Billy Edwards, Louise Stokes and Emma Ray.  It was the first Half in a Trotters vest for Scot Wiggins, Kate Williamson and Sarah Pike. It was also the first ever race as a Trotter for Jason Lewis, whilst Andy Distin got a 10 minute PB and Kathryn Steemson got a course best of 6-minutes. 

Josh Taylor ran his first ever Half Marathon and was second Male Under 20, having only turned 17 in May; he would have been one of the youngest runners in the race today.  Finally, Jamie Barnett broke his own junior Club Record with an amazing 1:18:04.

Trotter results were:

Jamie Barnett (15, 1:18:04, for 1^st Male Under 20), Tim Pratt (27, 1:20:49, for 2^nd in M20-24), Roger Easterbrook (40, 1:24:47), Ewan Walton (44, 1:25:42), Josh Taylor (138, 1:37:23, for 2^nd Male Under 20), Garrie Edwards (1:38:00), Melanie Dunn (199, 1:41:39), Jason Lewis (203, 1:41:15), Nigel Barnett (210, 1:42:13), Derek Skinner (238, 1:44:16), Sarah Pike (266, 1:44:56), Gary Watson (276, 1:45:32), Craig Churchill (286, 1:46:17), Craig Hobson (296, 1:45:35), Peter Blakesley (325, 1:47:47), Louise Gentry (332, 1:48:20), Christian Robinson (337, 1:47:20), Graydon Widdicombe (352, 1:48:54), Neil Pallant (438, 1:52:34), Billy Edwards (495, 1:54:12), Paul Sharples Snr (497, 1:54:15), Paul Sharples Jnr (513, 1:53:33), David Bowen (501, 1:53:53), Kathryn Steemson (523, 1:54:59), Kate Williamson (660, 1:59:32), Victoria Ratcliffe (744, 2:03:07), Scott Stephens (843, 2:06:54), Emma Ray (956, 2:1:41), Kevin Besford (1036, 2:16:39), Richard Stephenson (1100, 2:19:09), Andy Distin (1128, 2:20:41), Sarah Charnley (2:20), Darren Petch (1375, 2:36:03), Suzie Mills (2:39:32), Louise Stokes (1461, 2:46:42) and Magaret Butt (1555, 3:14:23). There were 1563 finishers. 

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Sally Ingledew, Lance Mason and Tracey Jolly travelled to Sydling St.Nicholas to take part in a White Star Running event in West Dorset on Saturday 24^th June.

It was Sally’s fifth Giants Head marathon and Lance Mason’s fourth. As Sally has done all five races that have been held, she got a certificate and a free race entry!

Sally and Lance ran together in almost perfect running weather, although humidity was high but a few drizzly bits cooled them down. They finished in 5:36:46.

This is WSR’s flagship event, with Andy Palmer being the Race Director. The whole team put on a fantastic event, with some seriously big hills thrown in.

The race starts in the village Sydling St. Nicholas passing Cerne Giant imprinted into the landscape. Sally and Lance always look forward to 'The love station' at around 20 miles, which serves vodka shots, ale and cider plus lots of savory food and cakes!

Another incentive to finish is the ice cream van where you can buy an enormous ice cream cone for £3.50!

Giants Head marathon is a very tough event that has an almost cult following these days, and fills up really quickly. It’s a friendly and sociable event with a generous cut off time, and there were around 430 finishers I think.

On the same event, Tracey took part in the Sydling Hill Race 10K (approx.). Tracey’s time was 1:09:59 and she came 29th out of 160 for second in her F40-44 age category.

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Jim and Emma Donovan, and Sara Collman travelled to Woolacombe for the North Devon AONB marathon and half marathon on Sunday 24 June.

The race starts and finishes in Woolacombe and, as its name suggests, takes in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

The elevation profile of the course is such that it's run under the Fell Runners Association rules of running. Woolacombe Bay is the epicentre with runners charting a figure of eight route taking in some of the area's best beaches and coastal paths. The half finishes back where it started with those doing the full marathon having to dig deep mentally to race past the start line and out along Morte Point through to Lee Bay and back on countryside trails. This really is a race of two halfs with the second 13.1miles containing tougher ascents and descents.

Competitors had everything thrown at them including the weather. The day started with strong northwesterly winds and rain and, despite forecasts to the contrary, the sun appeared and blazed down leaving the runners with nowhere to hide and many caught by surprise. At this point, the brilliantly manned water stations, positioned every two miles, were a welcome relief and groaning under the weight of water, juice, jelly babies, fruit and sponges.

Emma ran a consistent race with even splits to dip under 2.5hours in 2:29.31.

In his first marathon in 10 years seasoned off-road runner Jim ran a steady race to clock 5hours.  Sara ran the Half in about 2.5 hours, and also raised over £700 for charity. The charity is called Viva and provides girls in poverty in Africa with education.

All finishers were given a medal and free cream tea.

All agreed it was visually stunning, physically challenging and beautifully organised. The well-supported event raises funds for North Devon Hospice, which provides care and support for people with cancer and life-limiting diseases.

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Lucy Evans and Tracey Jolly did the Dartmoor Summer Solstice Fell Race near Princetown Dartmoor on Wednesday 14^th June. Organised by Tamar Trail Runners it was a 5.3 mile challenging course out from Merrivale to White Tor and back via Staple Tors and Roos Tor, and the course had 1509ft of elevation.

Lucy finished in 1:02:37 and Tracey did 1:06:05.

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3 Trotters did "Anne's Run" on Saturday night at Haldon Forest Park. Mandy Wheeler managed 7th place in 42:40, Russ Wheeler 8th place 42.41 and Jennie Roberts 15th place 48.40.

40 runners turned up to this tribute run on a warm sunny evening, for what was a 'challenging' 5-mile trail run around the forest park..

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