Exeter 10k
Last Wednesday evening saw four ORC’s take part in the Run Exe 10K at Exeter. This is a flat 2 lap race on footpaths and cycle tracks around the river Exe and Exeter canal. The runners enjoyed a warm breezy evening.
There was some stiff competition, but Claudine Benstead took top honours once again in the F60 category in a time of 42.49 and Jo Page ran a strong race to finish in 44.40.
Next home was Paul Evison in 49.05 taking 2nd M65 and Victoria Evison made up the quartet crossing the line with a broad smile in 1.04.45.
Tavistock Town Relays
Organised by Tavistock AC, the annual Tavistock Town Relays consist of teams of 4 people running in relay round a 1.1 mile course along the river and back.
It is a notorious lung bursting effort on a twisty undulating path and for some runners, this is one of their favourite events on the race calendar and this year it did not disappoint.
ORC entered an incredible total of 12 teams, 7 junior and 5 senior teams.
The juniors raced first with some great results and although none of our junior teams won their category, they competed fiercely and will learn and progress for the experience. The year 7/8 boys – the ORCJ Panthers did especially well to take the 10th team place, closely followed by the year 5/6 boys – ORCJ Pumas in 13th place.
There were 3 male and 2 female senior teams. The M40 Veterans consisting of Rob Hicks, Andy Vernon, Mike Saywell and Joe Lane scooped 1st place in their class, while three individuals achieved positions in the top 25 overall. These were Chris Turner 14th M, Sarah Marvin 17th F and Claire Grubb 19th F.
There are very few team events like this and the camaraderie and team spirit was exceptionally high. It is open to everyone regardless of how fast or slow they are, and the individual split times give each runner a benchmark time they can aim to improve on.
Heytor Heller
Four ORC’s braved the sun and heat for the 36th Haytor Heller on Saturday. The race starts half-way up Haytor, loops out to Hound Tor and finishes up and over Haytor again.
On her first time running the Haytor Heller, Sophie-May Luxton did very well finishing in 1:06:44 and scooped the 2nd place Ladies Junior prize. Charlie Temperley was the first ORC home in a time of 56:16, followed by Will Seviour at 1:03:49, and Hannah Susorney at 1:19:34.
Mud Crew RAT
On Saturday two ORC’s, Jo Page and Jo-Anne Turner headed to Cornwall to take part in the RAT – Roseland August Trail Race Series – which is a series of challenging coastal runs along the stunning South Cornwall Coastal Path.
The RAT incorporates 4 different routes, the Black Route 32 miles, Red Route 20 miles, White Route 11 miles and The Plague 100K – 64 miles. All routes follow the same part of the coastline, with runners from different routes joining each other at different points along the way. Competitors run through stunning coastal scenery, over undulating paths, through fields, villages, and the surrounding countryside – it is not for the faint hearted!
Jo-Anne tackled the longest run, the Plague which goes from Porthpean to St Antony’s head and back, starting out at 12:05 am. As the day wore on it got incredibly hot and with 9,000 ft of elevation it was exceptionally tough going. After a solid run, unfortunately Jo-Anne was timed out at mile 47 at Caerhays as she was 3 minutes late to the point.
It was a great disappointment that she couldn’t continue with the race, but a brilliant achievement nether the less and she assures us she had a great time!
Jo opted for the White Route which is the shortest distance of just 11 miles. This race started in Gorran Haven and finished in Porthpean. The weather and the views were fantastic, a2nd Jo had a great race, crossing the line in a time of 1:50 giving her 7th place overall and 1st female.
Well done to all the runners for some brilliant achievements.
