Killerton Half Marathon and Cream Tea Caper test Trotters stamina.

Graydon Widdicombe kicked off this weeks racing when he travelled to Yeovil on Wednesday 12th September for race six of the 5K Yeovil Summer Race Series, excellently organised by Yeovil Town Running Club.

This was the final race of the series, so there was a large turn out of runners (216 entrants) although Graydon was the sole representative from the Trotters. Although this is a long way to travel for a 5K, Graydon had been hoping to finally break 20-mins on an official course, so this was the last opportunity this summer to have a go.
This is known as a fast course, as it’s flat with no tight corners, so therefore it attracts runners who are looking to set new PBs. Weather conditions on the day were cool with no wind, so perfect for some fast times. The first two finishers were wheelchair athletes,the winners time being 14:09!!
Graydon paced his race fairly evenly and was delighted to finally go sub-20 after a couple of years of trying, finishing with an official time of 19:40 to finish in 83rd position.

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On Sunday 16th September the Killerton half marathon took place,which was a club championship race. A tough trail race took the runners around the National Trust working farm estate just 6 miles from Exeter. The estate has a huge network of 70 miles of footpaths,trails and public rights of way giving far reaching views across to Dartmoor, Haldon and the Exe Valley. The weather was quite humid for the field as they set out. Just over 2000 feet in elevation gain proved a huge test. The overall winner was Simon Minton (Exmouth Harriers) in a great time of 1:27:10. 

The first Trotter home was Gary Smart finishing in 5th place in a time of 1:34:44. He also scooped the MV 50-59 category award. The other Trotters positions and times: Martin Randall (20, 1:46:44), Duncan Knight (29, 1:49:24), Christian Robinson (31, 1:51:05), Derek Skinner (45, 1:59:17), Sarah Pike (50, 2:00:34), Kevin Sampson (55, 2:03:12), Peter Blakesley (59, 2:04:43), Kim Knight (61, 2:06:25), Bob Small (68, 2:10:28), Sharon Still (132, 3:18:20). Bob Small also won the MV 60+ category which was a fine effort. There were 132 finishers.

Gavin Parrott & Neil Skinner entered the 10k race also run at Killerton. Gavin finished 24th in a time of 53:45 & Neil crossed the line in 28th position with a respectable time of 54:03. There were 327 entrants.

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Jollys Running held their first event,The Cream Tea Caper, over both days this weekend. Tracey, an experienced and valued member of the Trotters for a number of years & Brian Lewis have worked tirelessly to make sure that this event was a success. Judging from the positive feed back from many of the participants this indeed was the case!! The lovely atmosphere, great organisation, and the marshalling of the race were fantastic. All the goodies for each runner also went down well including the cream teas and the unique medal. The racing took place at the Riverside Valley Park in Exeter. Starting in the grounds of the Double Locks pub, the runners had to run as many loops as they could and wanted around a 3.3 miles long loop, within a 6 hour cut off point.The race started at 10:00 a.m,and as long as the runner had started a fresh lap before 16:00 they could complete one more loop.

Below are the times for each Trotter including the number of laps completed. 8 laps equalled a Marathon run.

Saturday 15th

Daryll Hall: 4 laps 2:13
Emma Ray: 4 laps 2:35
Paul Sharples: 8 laps 4:26
Sharon Sharples: 4 Laps 3:13
Louise Stokes: 3 Laps 2:27
Graydon Widdicombe: 8 Laps 4:45
Sue Tremlett: 4 laps 2:35

Sunday 16th

Darren Petch: 4 Laps 2:52

Winner of the Cream Tea Caper on the Sunday was Kris Ward running 13 Laps in 6:30. On lap 11, Kris was 5 minutes behind the leader, but as both runners started their 13th and final lap they were neck and neck which made for an exciting finish to the race.