Lairig Ghuru
Last week new member Emma Brock took part in the Lairig Ghuru. This race takes you through the spectacular Cairngorms and follows a 43km trail rising to 835m between two of highest peaks in Britain. It runs between the police stations of Braemar and Aviemore.
Emma said it was far too hot, and it had some endless climbs, but it was a fantastic course and the views and the friendliness of the other runners more than made up for it.
In lockdown she met a few other runners on zoom, and they have stayed in touch ever since. This event meant she was able to meet up with them, one of whom for the first time in person.
RunExe 5k
On Tuesday evening there was another good showing of ORC’s at the fourth event in the series of six for the RunExe 5k Summer Series at Exwick.
First home for the club was Chris Turner in 17.17 closely followed by Rob Kelly in 17.38 and second in his age category, then Andrew Vernon in 19.49 also second in his age category. Claudine Benstead was next in 20.43 first in her category, then Paul Evison 24.00 also second in his age category and Jackie Dawes in 26.31 third in her age category.
The Otter Rail and River Run 10k
The Otter Rail and River Run took place on Saturday in Tipton Saint John. The 10km race saw runners complete an undulating route alongside the River Otter, through Harpford woods, along the old Sidmouth railway line, and back towards Tipton.
Pearl Barnes described it as a lovely route, but very narrow and rutted, with quite a bit of waiting to get through gates and narrow areas. She said it was a lovely area, and competitors got treated to a bottle of Otter Ale at the end! She finished in a time of 1:05:49.
Summer Sunset Half
On Saturday evening 7 ORC’s headed to Cornwall to take part in the Summer Sunset Half in support of Cornwall Air Ambulance.
The race starts out from Perranporth beach, and runners go out and back to the Bowgie Inn at Crantock, enjoying this stunning part of coast path into the sunset, although sadly this year there was no sunset to be seen!
It is a really lovely event with a mixture of beach, dune and coast path running. The nearly two mile run along the beach into a headwind back to the finish saw all runners having to dig deep as the soft sand sapped any remaining energy. Sarah said it was great to run with so many ORC’s and to get to cheer the front runners on as they passed each other on the out and back course.
First home was Ian Duffield in 1:47:56 in 8th overall and second in his age category, he was followed by Jo Page in 1:57:55, second lady, then Matt Grint in 2:14:27, Mo and Sarah Marvin in 2:22:04/06, Sarah was second in her age category, Eddie Bragg in 2:23:11 and Mary Roberts in 2:35:21, third in her age category.
They enjoy it so much that lots of the participants camped there together after the event!
Cosdon Hill Race
On Sunday Okehampton Running Club hosted the Cosdon Hill Race, part of the Summer Series of fell races. This traditional race has been going for many years on the day of the Belstone Summer Fair.
Runners take their own line from Belstone Village to the beacon on top of Cosdon Hill (which can be seen from the start) then race back to Belstone to finish on the green.
In keeping with the traditions and skills required of British fell racing, self-navigation is required by all runners – there are NO course markers for this race of approx 3.1 miles which has a climb of around 300m over rough open terrain.
Low cloud over Cosdon Hill made for some tricky route finding this year. It’s not easy to find a line with no discernible path at the best of times, even harder when you can’t see the top you’re aiming for!
The gorse and bracken were very overgrown too making for a scratchy way through lower down. Otherwise, it was lovely cool running conditions, and the rain held off.
It was a great turnout of 14 ORC’s including some running it for the first time and record entries with the race being oversubscribed.
A new course record was set of 27:51 with Luke Stannus the first ORC home in second place in a time of 29:12, he was followed by Aiden Spinney in 33:23, Joe Lane 34:22, Rob Hicks 34:52, Ian Duffield running his second race this weekend in 36:41, Arthur Hicks 38:47 and Stan Hicks 39:15. They were followed by Claire Warkins, third lady overall in 40:20, Daniel Heggs 42:10, Lou Duffield 50:39, Lorna Cricklow 1:01:47, Olivia Wheeleker and Joanne Teixeira in 1:10:02/03.
Fantastic running by the ORC’s in a variety of events and distances again this week.
