Running Events Devon staged their Pie and Pasty Challenge on the 18^th and 19^th March.

The route followed the old disused railway near Exmouth and each out and back lap was 5.3k.

Six Trotters ran various distances from 6.5 miles up to the marathon distance.

On Saturday, Roger Hayes, Sharon/Paul Sharples and Sue Tremlett took advantage of the perfect weather to add yet another marathon to their already impressive numbers.

Roger led the Trotters home while finishing in 6^th place, clocking a highly respectable time of 03:48:21.

Sharon and Paul have been training hard since their last marathon outing three weeks ago. Their efforts paid dividends as they posted a time eight minutes quicker! The couple completed the challenge in a time of 04:46:52 to finish 12^th & 13^th respectively.

Sue Tremlett completed her 43^rd marathon! Sue prefers the trails but stuck to the task and fully deserved her pasty! Sue posted a time of 04:54:29 to finish 14^th. There were 22 finishers.

In the Challenge event, Eleanor Taylor and Christian Robinson ran various distances. Eleanor ran 2 laps which amounted to 6.58 miles in a time of 01:03:23. Christian completed 6 laps which equated to 19.72 miles in an impressive time of 02:58:23.

On the Sunday, Paul Sharples went and did it all over again without his wife who was on baby watch! Paul didn’t have Sharon to push him and his time reflected that!! His time was a wee bit slower than his Saturday time, but by only two minutes (04:48:56). 

On Wednesday 15^th March, Runexe hosted the latest instalment of their 5 mile series. A flat 2 lap course on Exmouth seafront promenade provided the ideal opportunity for some speedwork.

Bob Small was the Clubs sole representative as he battles back from two serious setbacks including hip replacement surgery. Bob has just returned from some warm weather training in Oz and wanted to test out his fitness in race conditions.

Bob was amongst 60 starters on a cold, windy and wet evening. Bob performed well to produce a time of 00:44:20 with an age grading of 71%. Bob was encouraged with his time and feels happy with where his fitness levels lie at this present time.

Derek Skinner travelled to Italy to take his place at the Rome Marathon on Sunday 19^th March.

Rome is an eternal and unique city, full of charm and surprises. The Rome Marathon took the runners past the most incredible sights, following the steps of Roman gladiators as well as those of hundreds of thousands of marathoners in the past 25 years. And even though the Rome Marathon was first started in 1995, it has very ancient roots. Indeed, Dorando Pietri crossed its finish line on April 2, 1906.

Derek amongst thousands of other runners passed the famous Maratona Di Roma on antique cobblestones, passing by the Colosseum, along the Fori Imperiali, up to the Vatican and through St. Peters Square as Pope Francis might be taking the Sunday Morning Mass.

Del added another marathon to his impressive haul, clocking a time 04:26:21. Although mainly flat there were a couple of lumps amounting to 450 feet of elevation. Weather conditions were partly cloudy with a temperature of 66 degrees farenheit.