Rolling Stones

On the 13th the infamous Race to the Stones took place from Lewknor in Oxfordshire to Avebury. The trail ultra marathon follows Britain's oldest path the Ridgeway, on an ultramarathon through the stunning Chiltern Hills and North Wessex Downs. It was an early start with drizzle before it got to a perfect temperature for our intrepid Trotters who set off in an early wave. As the day progressed they got some broken sunshine and humidity.

In the words of Rachel Steele "The run comprised of grassy tracks, hard chalky bits, woodland paths, tracks through huge fields, one known as the field of dreams apparently! And a touch of tarmac which felt dreamy underfoot! The pitstops were wonderful fresh fruit, bars, gels, sandwiches you name it they had it, we were really well looked after. Mandy and I teamed up from marathon point after Russ Wheeler took a fall (he finished at 50k distance). Ryan Anthony had to pull out at 49 miles.
The scenery was stunning views to die for or twist your ankle for, though thankfully that didn't happen to either of us! And what started off as a polite 'shall we run now?' (after walking points) soon turned into 'shall we run now?' Into 'no I never want to run again!' Responses!! Our feet ached, our hips ached, everything ached but we smiled, chatted away, grimaced and soldiered on. The last 10k was tough going, we could see the finish camp in the distance like a mirage. The descent down from the ridgeway was timely due to deep, hard ruts and by this time with well over 50 miles in the legs we were tired and getting stiff. Still we managed it and managed to stay upright too which was a bonus. The last 2k wasn't great as you no longer run through the stones to finish but instead run along to a traffic cone, go around the cone and then run back on yourself, through a field to a final stretch to finish. Maybe it should renamed to Race to the Cone?

We crossed the line together, holding hands and fell into the arms of our wonderful husbands. Helen was stood waiting to greet us too and then we bumped into Andy. It was a wonderful day out running, a huge adventure for me. It was never about time, it was about ticking off an ambition and wondering if I was strong enough both mentally and physically to do it, which I'm pleased to say I was. Anyway like the saying goes what happens on ultras stays on ultras so I'm not telling you all the gory bits, that's for me and Mandy to laugh about!! 13 hrs 33min and 52 seconds including all stoppages.

First trotter home after 100Km was Helen Anthony in an impressive 11:31:42, 13th lady & 3rd in age category, followed by Andy Gillson 12:17:16. Helen said, “A tough but beautiful trail run following the ridgeway with the last 20 miles particularly tough, but first 100km race for me, Mandy & Rachel” A brilliant effort by everyone.

The Otter River & Rail is a scenic off-road 10K race that takes place near Sidmouth on the village playing field in Tipton St John, Participants get to enjoy the delights of the Otter Valley and experience the great atmosphere (and puddles) along the way! 

The undulating route heads downstream alongside the River Otter, through woods, old railway line, fields. Our finishers included Gavin Parrott 36th 49:00 Derek Skinner 43rd 49:59, Rod Payne 120th 61:04, Lucy Payne 151st 65:35, Susanna Westgate 163rd 67:35, Mark Wotton 183rd 70:01, Ed Hounsell 184th 70:13

Skinner said “Great challenging local 10k for everyone. You had to get your legs pumping hard towards the last 3k. Quite muddy in places with a slight bit of rain falling towards the end of the race. And the finishing beer went down nicely. The Payne’s confirmed they highly rate the race, love the scenery but the first 3k are congested.

Darin Dodd fancied the Lundy Island Half Marathon Race as something just a bit different. "An early start on the dock in Ilfracombe and then a 2-hour boat trip to Lundy. A beautiful, unspoilt island. The course consisted of 2 different loops as the island is only 3 miles long! Challenging terrain at times but fortunately it was dry underfoot. 

Most runners I spoke with said they found it far harder than they expected. Only 4 were sub 2 hours." Darin was 74th out of 225, and was delighted with a top 3rd finish.

With local fair season in full swing Roger Easterbrook took part in the low key but enjoyable Ugborough 5K. The start was packed with children aged 9,10,11 as per the photo and fancy dress was an option.

Roger had to work hard for 2nd place, overtaking spiderman at 4k, but 1st place went to RAF impersonator aged 18 (Charlie Milward) simply too good for his boiler suit disguise.