Oh My Obelisk and Stoke Stampede feature in the first racing weekend of the year

A group of Trotters crossed the border into Somerset to start 2018 with a 10k.

The Stoke Stampede 10k is an undulating 6.2m race centred around the pretty village of Stoke St. Gregory.

The race has interesting beginnings, having started as a fun pram race between the two pubs in the village, and has grown into a must run 10K race in the South West race calendar. It acts as a fundraiser for the playing field and for many years was held between Christmas and New Year. More recently it's been on the first Sunday after New Years Day and is seen as an ideal start of the running calendar. The 450 places sold out in quick time no doubt boosted by the absence of the pancake flat First Chance 10k.

Stoke Stampede benefits from being run in a figure of eight pattern on very quiet country roads and with a couple ups and downs is the ideal testing ground for experienced athletes yet achievable for the novice runner. It also has chip timing.

Helen Anthony continues her road to recovery clocking 40.39 for 12th overall and runner up in her age category. Louise Gentry was 34th in 44.01 and her husband Richard followed close behind with 44.17. Ryan Anthony was 116th in 50.21 and Emma Donovan clocked 51.49 for 137th place. Sharon Sharples posted a time of 1:03.36 for 285th and Kirsty Bowman finished in 1:04.51 running in support of her friend Cat who did a great job for her first 10k. There were 383 finishers who all got a nice shiny medal for their efforts.

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Several Trotters took part in the Oh My Obelisk, organised by Dawlish Coasters. This year, the Coasters had two race distances on offer (a 9-miler and a Half Marathon), and in bitterly cold conditions Trotters ran well over both distances.

For the Half Marathon there 127 finishers and results were Tim Pratt (3, 1:29:18), Roger Hayes (20, 1:46:21), Alan Boone (35, 1:50:46), Mandy Wheeler (45, 1:54:26), Josh Taylor (51, 1:58:31), Gavin Forbes (53, 1:58:51), Melanie Dunn (53, 1:59:32), Paul Sharples (67, 2:02:50), Kevin Sampson (70, 2:04:58), Nigel Barnett (78, 2:07:50), Peter Blakesley (81, 2:09:04), Neil Pallant (83, 2:11:23), Jim Donovan (88, 2:14:59), Kate Williamson (92, 2:18:07) and Kathyrn Steemson (99, 2:21:11).

For the 9-miler, there were 69 finishers and results were Craig Churchill (8, 1:14:57), Christian Robinson (10, 1:15:39), Jacki Woon (18, 1:21:33), Steve Barker (20, 1:22:34), Sarah Pike (22, 1:22:56) and Mark Wotton (40, 1:35:14).

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The race report for January Jaunt will be included next week.