Honiton Running Club held the Honiton Hippo on Sunday 26^th September, with the start and finish at Honiton Primary School. Kim & Duncan Knight travelled to East Devon to take part in this very tough and demanding race. The weather was pretty good, and the underfoot conditions were reasonably dry for large stretches of the route, due to the lack of rain recently.

The main Hippo race was just over 7 miles in length, with varying types of terrain to negotiate, including road, woodland trails, rocky paths, styles and fields. The runners first ran downhill to the entrance of Combe Woods which they circled, before joining the road to Combe Raleigh. They then faced the challenging St Cyres Hill, running on road and through woods. A downhill off road stretch followed, heading towards Awliscombe leading into the Land Rover Experience. A quick run around the Land Rover Experience followed, involving several muddy soakings and a dunking into cold water. The runners then came across two Otter river crossings which gave the hippos a chance to clean up! Luckily help was on hand to pull runners out if necessary.

Our wife and husband combo both ran strongly and their times reflected this. Duncan finished in 16^th place while clocking a great time of 01:02:15.

Not to be out done, Kim completed the demanding course in 01:23:00 to take 57^th spot.

There were 102 very tired finishers!

The Jewsons Barnstaple Half & Marathon took place on Sunday 26th September with a 10:00 am start time. This increasingly popular race was organised by North Devon Runners.

Andy Distin and Peter Kirby travelled to the North Devon coast on a bright and sunny morning.

The route took the runners along the Tarka Trail, passing through the villages of Fremington and Yelland, before heading back to the finish following the rivers course back into the centre of Barnstaple.

Peter ran superbly, clocking a great time of 02:04:38 to finish in 211^th position. Peter was rewarded for his performance by winning the MV70 age category prize.

Andy continues to show great improvement as his recent times show. His latest time of 02:21:07 was 6 minutes quicker than his run at Torbay two weeks ago? Andy finished in 297^th position.

There were 369 finishers.

Teignbridge Trotter Chris Andrews travelled north to Nottingham, to take part in The Robin Hood Half Marathon on Saturday 26^th September with a 9:30am start time. The organisers were celebrating the 40^th Anniversary of this hugely popular race.

Unfortunately, the race entry was well down on previous years, but the sun shone for the majority of the single loop race.

The race start was at the Victoria Embankment by the River Trent, a 1.25 mile example of a Victorian flood defence system. The finish line was situated on the Recreation Ground, very close to the race village.

The route was lined with supportive spectators, including live music and entertainment.

Chris was pleased with his finish time of 02:08:05, which placed him 2031^st.

There were 3867 finishers.

Carl Bennett travelled east to Berkshire to take his place at the Windsor Half Marathon.

Billed as one of the most beautiful course in the UK, the start and finish was located on the Long Walk within Windsor Great Park and with Windsor Castle as the backdrop! The course itself was all on roads with some quite challenging hills spread around the route. The scenery is beautiful all on traffic free roads.

Carl wasn’t best prepared for the race having just come off nights, so his time of 01:39:58 is even more impressive. Carl finished 152^nd.

Graydon Widdicombe travelled up to the New Forest on Friday evening in his camper van, to take part in the New Forest Marathon weekend, which comprised of runs for the kids, 5K, 10K, Half and Full Marathon distances, with camping, live music and food available throughout, creating a great atmosphere.

Graydon took part in the marathon on the Saturday morning, which was a multi-terrain event held on a 2-lap course through the heart of the stunning St Giles Estate. On the undulating route there was a blend of surfaces including compact gravel, trail, farm tracks, grass and small areas of tarmac surface, offering great views over the Dorset countryside.

Although trail runs aren’t a favourite of Graydon’s, he enjoyed the weekend and was happy with a time of 3:58:33, placing him 40^th out of the 229 entrants.

Three Trotters made the short trip to take part in the Bradleys Exmouth 10K on Sunday 26^th September. The 4^th running of this very popular flat tarmacked race is always well supported with dozens of spectator’s lining the promenade.

The start was on the seafront at Exmouth, before heading to Orcombe point before looping round a flag pole and heading back along the full length of the seafront. Another turning point was then made before the start of the second lap and onto the finish.

Julian Scanes was particularly pleased with his time as he has never broken the magic 40 minute barrier in competitive action! Julian clocked a superb time of 00:39:34 to finish in 14^th place.

Alexis Marsh is also showing real signs of improvement as she lowered her previous best time for a 10K. Alexis clocked a time of 00:55:11 to finish 27^th out of 120in the ladies race.

Dominique Harcourt has the racing bug, having only just made her racing debut for the Club at the Ladies 10K at Newton Abbott last weekend. Dominique finished in 113th position, posting a great time of 00:54:10.