Graydon Widdicombe travelled over to Northern Ireland on the ferry to take part in the Belfast Marathon on 1^st May, which was to celebrate his 100th marathon.

Graydon entered this race last year and planned it for his 100th, but it wasn’t without its stresses getting to the start line, what with the P&O situation over the last few months, and also the ferry that Graydon was travelling on had a technical fault 2 days before he was due to travel, from Cairnryan in Scotland! Thankfully through thick and thin, Graydon arrived in time to complete this impressive milestone.

As for the race itself, Belfast was an interesting course. Due to the political agendas within the city, there were placards posted on lampposts lining the streets promoting various political parties. The route also passed a lot of the infamous murals as well, so may not necessarily be described as a scenic course, but Graydon was pleased to have completed the race.

Graydon clocked a time of 03:48:00, which wasn’t one of his quickest, but it was all about notching the big 100. The landmark seems to have been a long time coming, what with the pandemic etc causing races to cancel. Therefore, Graydon is very pleased to have finally reach the impressive landmark.

On Sunday 1st May, The Dorset Doddlers staged The North Dorset Village Marathon and Relays.

Four Teignbridge Trotters made the trip to Devon’s neighbouring county to take part in the 7^th round of the Club Championship.

The race start was held at Sturminster Newton High School, and the picturesque route led the runners along country lanes through the villages of Hinton St-Mary, Marnhull, Stalbridge, Todber, Stour Row, Margaret Marsh, West Orchard, Farrington, Child Okeford and Hammon. The weather conditions during the duration of the race was drizzly with a cool breeze.

Julian Scanes led the quartet home, clocking a terrific time of 02:56:38 to finish in 19^th place. Jules shaved 6 seconds off his previous best time, set in sunny Malaga on a flatter course? He also finished 2^nd in the MV50 age category.

Rachel Steele prepared hard for the event and she reaped the rewards. Rachel smashed her previous best marathon time by 01:41 secs, clocking a great time of 03:45:08 to finish in 108^th place.

Sarah Pike produced a remarkable performance and surprised herself, due to the lack of mileage leading up to the event? Sarah finished just behind Rachel in 109^th position, posting a superb time of 03:45:38.

Bon Rymel also put in a very encouraging run, while using the race in preparation for the Dartmoor Discovery. Bon smashed his previous best time by a massive 21 minutes while clocking a time of 04:07:34. Bon finished 144^th. There were 259 finishers.

On Saturday 30^th April, Neil Pallant and Gavin Forbes woke up at the crack of dawn to travel east of the county to compete in the East Devon Round Half. The 5:30 am start time was located at Offwell on the outskirts of Honiton. The 35 mile trail run took the 24 starters towards Axminster, before dropping down to Lyme Regis and along to Seaton via the South West Coast Path. With 5000 feet to climb, the route headed back to Colyford, with the finish situated at Blackbury camp, 4 miles from the start. A mini bus transported the competitors back to the start where pizza, cake, tea/coffee and more importantly free beer! The weather conditions were just about perfect, with blue skies and a light cool wind.

The event was a true test of endurance, but the views and scenery helped take away the pain! The checkpoints were fully stocked and the marshals were so helpful and supportive. Family and friends were able to follow the lad’s progress with a GPS tracker. Neil would highly recommend this event to anyone fancying an Ultra, as the organisation from the registration through to the bus ride home went like clockwork.

A tree would be planted along the route for the total number of competitors running the three distances available.

Neil and Gavin finished in 14^th place, clocking an approximate time of 9 hours 14 minutes. Looking forward to your next venture!