Devon Bell Challenge
Two club members had an active New Year’s Eve, taking part in trail runs to finish
the year on a high.
Pearl Barnes, well-known for her love of a good 10km, tackled the Running Events Devon Bell Challenge 10km. The course consisted of two laps along the scenic cycle path from Exmouth to Budleigh, but the conditions were far from easy with temperatures dropping to minus three degrees.
Pearl described the day as “gorgeous weather but legs felt like treacle,” highlighting the challenge of running in icy conditions. Despite this, she delivered an outstanding performance, completing the slightly over-distance course in 58 minutes and 21 seconds, her second-fastest 10km time to date. A brilliant achievement to round off the year!
Final Countdown
Lucy Gooding headed to Sidmouth for the Final Countdown 10km, an event she had
enjoyed last year and was keen to repeat. Starting on Sidmouth seafront, the route
climbs the South West Coast Path before looping inland around Mutters Moor and
nearby woodland trails, finishing with a descent into Connaught Gardens.
Lucy described the event as “the perfect way to end the year,” praising the stunning views, friendly marshals, and challenging trail terrain. She completed the course in 1 hour and 16 minutes.
Brown Willy
New Year’s Day saw a group of ORC’s take on the famous Brown Willy run from
Jamaica Inn to Brown Willy and back, raising funds for East Cornwall Search and
Rescue. Braving freezing temperatures (and a few lingering hangovers!) were Lou
and Ian Duffield, Jo-Anne and Phil Turner, Andrew Thorne, Rob Hicks, Robert
Richards, Claire Watkins, Jo Page, Paul Crease, and Sophie Casavieille. A great
turnout for a worthy cause!
Mags’ Run the Month Challenge
On Saturday 3rd January, Mags Jarvis completed her 25th Parkrun as part of her
Run the Month Marathon Edition challenge in aid of Prostate Cancer UK.
Conditions weren’t ideal for PBs, but Mags was thrilled to finish 1st in the W70-74
category and 5th overall on age grading, adding 3.2 miles to her marathon
challenge.
Sir Walter Raleigh Round
Saturday also saw the return of the Sir Walter Raleigh Round half marathon at
Budleigh Salterton, described by Ian Ripper as “the poshest race HQ in Devon.”
Despite icy patches, the team enjoyed glorious views.
Ian finished first ORC in 2:00:47, followed by Pearl Barnes in 2:37:00, and Peter Roissetter, battling a bad cold, in 2:48:00. Ian even beat his 2024 time by three seconds!
South West Inter-County Cross-Country Championships
Jo Page represented Devon at RNAS Merryfield, helping the team secure 4th place
with 126 points in this competitive and scenic event.
Ring Road Challenge
Finally, Ian Duffield and Deane Andrews took on an epic bet-turned-challenge: 10
laps of the ring road, totaling 65 miles (just over 100km).
Ian explained: “back in mid-October, Deane Andrew put out a call on a group chat to
see if anyone wanted to join him for four laps of the ring road up on Dartmoor by the
army camp on a Sunday morning at 4.30am. Not realising it at the time, I was the
only one silly enough to answer the call. So, on the 19th October at 4.30am in the wind
and rain, we set off. With the weather getting progressively worse as we went, one of
us suggested doing ten laps through the night. It’s not clear who planted the seed,
but it grew.
So on the 2nd of January, the idea became a reality and sixteen people
and one dog ran various sections with Deane and I completing the full ten laps
totaling 105km (65 miles) in just over 17 hours.
Starting in beautiful sunshine for the first few laps before it disappeared. The following seven laps were in the glow of a very nearly full wolf moon making it feel like day time. Over these nine laps the following people ran with us: Lou Duffield, Ruairí Duffield (longest run to date), Ian Ripper, Paul Trace (2nd longest run to date), Claire Thompson, Joe Lane, Nick Marvin & Hugo, Jake Rowe (longest run to date), Tom Andrew, Charlie Neilson, Ryan Davies, Robert Richards, Emma Brock and Charlie Temperley.
A real team effort really helping us along. The final lap was just down to Ian and Deane, a slow and cold lap starting in the moon light before the sky went black as they approached Okement Hill and the snow came in hard for about half an hour. This was the darkest moment mentally and literally as they plodded on one foot in front of the other. Then for the final 20 minutes or so the sun started to rise and the newly white hills became visible and the end was in sight instantly picking up their spirits. 10 laps done.”
Well done, Ian and Deane and all that supported. The support demonstrates the friendly, supportive and encouraging nature of Okehampton Running Club. We look forward to your next challenge!
