The Lighthouse Marathon
Some brilliant results were on the cards on Saturday 9th November with ORCs Claire Grubb and Claire Watkins running the Lighthouse Marathon. Claire Watkins described a “cracking route, brilliantly organised and supported.” Dubbed Cornwall’s toughest marathon, the route provides almost 4000ft of elevation. Starting at Pendeen and finishing at Gwithian, Cornish mizzle had made the course very slippery and muddy which neither of the Claires were expecting after the recent dry spell. The first 13 miles were very technical with slippery rocks. Then onto the long, mostly tarmac section around St Ives and Hayle followed by navigating the infamous Dunes of Doom. Claire Watkins said that the conditions were “ideal, nice temperature and no wind!”
Both very strong runners, the women were initially running together. Claire Watkins said there was a lot of sliding around in the mud and “a few tumbles” including Claire sinking into mud thigh-deep! Claire Watkins then ran on ahead, not realising Claire Grubb had taken a nasty tumble at mile ten (Claire Watkins said she felt awful as she hadn’t realised this until she saw her again at the finish). Claire Grubb managed to get back up and carry on, not only completing the course after such a bad knock but finishing 4th lady and knocking 15 minutes off her efforts from last year. Claire Watkins was the third lady finishing. Watch times of 5 hours and 1 minutes for Claire Watkins and 5 hours and 31 minutes for Claire Grubb. Well done, both!
Simmons Park Parkrun
Also on Saturday, Mags Jarvis ran in the third Simmons Park Parkrun. Mags has lived with Parkinson’s for over 12 years; one well-known symptom of the condition, Mags says, is “slowness” so Mags was rightfully delighted to get an age grading of 73.2%, better than her age grading for her Parkrun on a similar course 2 years ago. This is Mags’ first event since August 2023 due to having to strengthen and repair both knees. Congratulations, Mags!
Purpke Gecko at Cardinham Woods
The Purple Gecko welcomed runners to join them under the cover of darkness for a “challenging route among the trees” for their 5 or 10 mile trail run at Cardinham Woods. ORCs Pearl Barnes and Keeley Phillips took part with their four-legged friends as the event welcomed Canicross entries. Keeley described the route as a “tough, hilly race with 1,119 ft of elevation with some slippery rocks and trees to avoid.” Keeley said her dog, Loki, “smashed it, pulling out in front the whole race and steady on the downs so I didn’t go flying.” Keeley said that Loki, despite being small “gives it his all in every race they do”. Keeley added “I’m so proud of my little champion.” Pearl and her pooch finished the 5 mile route in a time of 55 minutes and 7 seconds with Keeley and her dog, Loki, coming in soon after in 1 hour and 2 minutes. Well done runners and dogs!
Drogo Ten
Ian Duffield, Lois Rowlands, Tom Poland, Nick, Molly and Sarah Marvin represented the club at local event the Drogo Ten. Organised by the South West Road Runners, the location of the event begins at Castle Drogo, heading down the driveway and through the woods on Piddledown Common. Runners then descend steeply to Sharp Tor and the main downhill track to the river. The route is complex with many twists and turns. Runners enjoy a much-needed water station at Fingle Bridge before they prepare themselves for the famous Hunters’ Path hill back to Drogo.
Lois chose this run to be her first official ten-mile event, so it was a personal best for her: well done, Lois!
First ORC home was new member Ian Duffield with a time of 1 hour and 17 minutes. Tom Poland was next ORC to finish in 1 hour 27 minutes with George Hancock closely following three minutes later. Mother and daughter Sarah and Molly Marvin finished up in 1 hour and 42 minutes with Nick Marvin rounding up the crew in 2 hours and 20 minutes with Lois Rowlands.
Couch to 5km
This weekend concluded the club’s Couch to 5km with runners, having worked hard over several weeks to build up to the distance, seeing the results of their efforts by reaching the 5km distance. Some runners opted to complete their 5km by taking part in the recently established Simmons Park Parkrun. Congratulations to Alison, Adele Mclean, Debbie Miller and Maxine Morley-Trapnell for completing the 5km distance. This is a wonderful achievement. The crew were supported on the day by club coach Jo Baker-Teixeira.
Also completing the Couch to 5km this weekend were Kirsty Loader, Richard Wright, Daniel Wayne and Deborah Cunningham. Congratulations to all for your hard work and dedication to completing the programme. Runners completing the 5km distance now have the opportunity to move towards the 10km distance with the club’s Couch to 50km programme, supporting runners to continue their progression to potentially achieve a 50km route if they wish.
