Peter Tavy Plod
On Bank Holiday Monday, there was a great turnout of ORC’s for the 22nd Peter Tavy Plod. Run alongside the village fair, this friendly race has a lovely community atmosphere and a great pub for post-race refreshments, it was one of those delightful quirky traditional Dartmoor days.
Just short of 5 miles, the mixed terrain course follows lanes, bridleways and moorland paths starting with a long approx. 2 mile climb out of Peter Tavy up onto the moor. On such a hot day, the runners were glad of the refreshing breeze on top, however this didn’t last for the rolling, mostly downhill finish where it was like running in an oven!
The first race was for the junior section, Ruari Duffield came first the Junior Mile in a time of 7:58.
For the main race the first ORC home was Claire Watkins who also won the 1st W50 prize in 37:06. Next to finish was Paul Trace in 38:56, then Ian Ripper soon followed finishing in 39:14 and the winner of 1st M60+ prize.
Next to finish was Peter Rossiter in 46:30, closely followed by Lou Duffield in 46:39 and Lu Walsh was 3rd W50 with her time of 47:33. Mags Jarvis came home to finish in 53:53 and she was also 2nd W60+. Claire Sprague crossed the line in 1:06:56 and Janet White finished in 1:12:54. Well done to everyone who took part in the race and thanks to Danny Heggs who was sweeper.
Kilnsey Crag Race
Claire Grubb and her son Rory headed north to the Yorkshire Dales for their bank holiday running at the Kilnsey show Crag Races.
With the spectacle of the fell race up the western side of the dramatic crag being a feature from the very first Kilnsey Show in 1897, the short, sharp, near vertical Kilnsey Crag Race has become the high octane pinnacle of the Yorkshire Dales fell running scene.
Rory took part in the U9’s 600m flat race and came first and was proud to win a rosette.
Claire took part in the adult’s crag race and enjoyed running with her brother and sister. She finished in a time of 14.57 and said ‘it was a great show, and the race was an amazing thing to partake. Watching the juniors racing first and flying down the vertical scree was both exhilarating and nerve racking! ‘
Dartmouth Regatta Road Race
On Saturday Garry Wallace took part in the Dartmouth Regatta Road Race whilst in Dartmouth enjoying the Royal Regatta festivities.
The 4.5 mile road race starts and finishes at the Britannia Royal Naval College. After the hot, dry weather we have had recently Garry ran the race in torrential rain finishing in 47:53. He said it was a great course, with 725ft elevation.
City to Sea
On Sunday ORC’s Joanne Teixeira and Olivia Wheeler had an early start to take part in their first ever marathon, the City to Sea.
They set off from Exeter Quay and battled the wind, rain and occasional sunshine through Exeter, Starcross, Dawlish Warren, Dawlish, Teignmouth and Shaldon.
The first section is mainly flat tarmac with some gravel paths, but from Shaldon the route is hilly trails, so after a quick change of shoes at The Ness they set off on the coast path to Maidencombe and finally Babbacombe. This section was hugely challenging with tough sections and lots of slippery mud. It took the same time to complete this final section as it had to do the first 20 miles!
It was hard going, but they were both delighted to finish and still be talking to one another!
Claire Thompson tackled the new City to Sea 50k which follows the same route as the Marathon but splits off just before mile 26 and heads through Babbacombe, to Wellswood and then down Ilsham Green and then joins the South West Coast Path back to Babbacombe Downs.
Claire said it was a tough course with some lovely views. Lots of slipping and sliding on the muddy coast path and a lot of steps thrown in which were a workout on their own with over 1000m of elevation on the route. Very well done to them all.
