Author: Peter

What a week for RFRC runners – some incredible performances and some outright event winners!

First off was Ben Timpson way down at the other end of Cornwall in the Godrevy 10k, finishing the beautiful route which includes a decent stretch of beach running in a time of 47:22. Also in action were Sally Tuer and Simon Rowland taking part in the Cromhall Sprint Triathlon in S.Gloucs completing the event in 1h39 and 1h35 respectively.

The distances sky-rocketed from here on in. Taking the next ‘shortest’ race first, super speedy Dean Bennett took part in a one-lapper around a lake. Not just any lake though, it was of course England’s largest, Lake Windermere, which takes a very impressive 47 miles to circumnavigate. Dean grabbed 5th place overall and 1st in his age category in an incredibly quick time of 8h22.

Taking the distance up a notch and bringing it much closer to home, there were two 50-milers to choose from. The Albion Running ‘Westcountry Ultra Flat 50’ starting in Taunton and the ‘Hilly 50’ starting in Minehead. Completing either is an epic achievement, and especially so for the first timers who hadn’t managed a half century before.

For the ‘Flat 50’, which isn’t as flat as it sounds, Nicola Kelly was more than up to the task and had an amazing race to finish as 1st female in 9h34m. She was followed in by Andy Burgess, Georgina Brice, Rich Hill and Scott Weetch.

Over in Minehead the ‘Hilly 50’, which IS at least as hilly as it sounds, was the daunting prospect facing seven club members. A group of six made up of Ali Bisatt, Fintan Murray, James Lewes, Mercedes Thorne, Robin Upton and Sam Wharton stuck together throughout the race and got over the line in 12h25m, having climbed over 8000ft in the process. Ali was actually on his way to work when ‘luckily’ he found he wasn’t needed and so took the opportunity to sign up for the race at the last minute. I think many people would have rather done the day’s work! 100 marathon club member Peter Hall also completed the course, having alternately been baked and then drenched as the weather turned wetter towards the end of the day.

The thing with ultra running is that no matter how far you run there’s always someone who runs further, and this weekend that was Sandra Moffat. Not content with choosing between the Flat or Hilly 50 races, Sandra decided to do them both (!) immediately one after another (!!) by entering the Westcountry Ultra 100 miler, described as ‘one glorious weekend of trail running’, meaning literally the whole weekend. Sandra’s amazing perseverance to complete the event was rewarded with the trophy for 1st female!

Support over both courses was great, with RFRC members manning several of the checkpoints and various club members turning out to cheer the runners on. It was yet another reminder of what a great club this is.

After last weekend’s mass outing, it was a slightly more subdued weekend for RFRC athletes, though not for Sandra Moffat who took herself off to Wales for the HOWUM 30 completing in 7.46, apparently as a bit of gentle warm up for this weekend’s 100 miler!

Getting up and down and dirty was Chris Manley who took part in the Rat Race Dirty Weekend, a 20 miler with 200 added obstacles, finishing in 6.20 and slightly muddy.

James Palmer stormed the Ottery 10K, knocking out a 53.20 PB, beating a time set when he was in his 20s.

It was double bubble weekend Simon Rowland with the Waters Meet 10K on Friday evening, finishing in 59.35 followed by the the Exe Valley Sprint Tri on Dundsy where he clocked 1.32.

Helen Prescott also took part in the Exe Sprint Tri, her 1.34 earning a 3rd AG place.

On Monday Sally Tuer tackled the Berkley 10K and had s good start to the week with a 54.53.

Nick Brazier clocked a cracking 19.52 in the Exeter 5K series.

Our parkrun tourists went to Minehead, Grangemoor, Exmouth, Street, Belberry Down and Penryn Campus. Twenty for headed for Longrun Meadoen where Geri Fagan earned a PB.

Sunday saw an amazing Club turnout of nearly 40 runners take on the North Dorset Villages Marathon in support of Georgina Brice who was making a bid to be the second RFRC runner to join the 100 Marathon Club. Of course, Georgie stormed it and collected her coveted top and medal at a celebration in true RFRC style.

First time marathoners Rachel Nicholls & Darren Purchase enjoyed great runs and there were PBs from Mark Wilson, Ron Foord, Hannah Kirkman, Ann-Marie Crampton, Matthew Paul, Ian Bawler, Emma Perkins, Simon Denson & Emily Vining; plus several members clocked times which qualified them for Good For Age places for the London Marathon … looks like that could be another RFRC takeover Running 65 miles in Devon was Andy Burgess, who completed the East Devon Round in 16.31.

Andy Higham stormed home in 7.25 at the Pembrokeshire Endurancelife Coastal Ultra (name is nearly as long as the 35 mile race)

At the Uplowman 10K Simon Rowland was timed home in 49.05 and Sherri Dingle in 61.51.

Our parkrunners who ventured further afield went to Sandy Water, Blanford, Canterbury and Highbury Fields where all 4 of the Timpson clan ran the 5K.

Keeping it local this weekend, Chris Manley clocked a 2.09 in the Blackdown Hills Trail Half With our other entrant Dee Finch recording a 2.28 finish. Great times for a hilly trail event.

Taking the 10K option at the same event, Wayne Windebank was RFRC first finisher in 50.19; Tanya Herbison’s 60.07 earned her 2nd Female finisher. Helen Prescott (68.00); Tracy Marshall (72.36); Geri Fagan (85.55) completed the line up.

It was a case of to PB or not to PB at the Shakespeare Marathon for Scott Weetch who suffered the slings and arrows of pretty good fortune and finished in 3.53.

At the Sid Valley Half clocked a Andrew Saunders commendable 2.11.

Don MacPhail took part in the Clinic Maer 10K, which is a race not an equine veterinary surgery, finishing in 48.34.

Martin Webb allegedly completed a Tough Mudder. We hope it was tough because he wasn’t nearly muddy enough, I expected more filth from you …

Well done to all our parkrunners, both tourists and Longrun Meadow regulars, with a special mention to recent RFRC recruit (what took you so long) Ade Troake who did his 100th parkrun.

We’ll start off this week’s round up with a massive cheer for Georgina Brice who completed her Phoenix 10 marathons in 10 days challenge on Monday. Collecting 10 multi coloured medals and taking her marathon count to 99, Georgina was accompanied on the 10th run by Rob Murr. It’s going to be a huge Club turnout for her 100th event on the 1st May … and a big RFRC celebration afterwards.

At the Beyond Jurassic Trail Half Sally Tuer fought off the dinosaurs to clock a 2.29 finish.

Not one to take things easy on her holiday, Tracy Marshall entered the Hardman Ireland 10K and earned a souvenir holiday medal in 61mins.

Over at the Westonbirt Half Ray Tutton crossed the line in 1.39.

It was a speedy start to the week for Ben Timpson and Nick Brazier who sped through the Fast Friday 10K in 41.35 and 42.47 respectively.

Hopping over to Yeovil for the Easter Bunny 10K on Monday seemed a great way to work off chocolate overload. First home was Scott Weetch in 44.42. Hannah Kirkman finished in 48.08 with Flo Bridges not far behind in 52.12. Nigel Baker’s 52.47 earned him a 1st AG spot with Sandra Moffat, Paula Bisatt and Karen Chapman sporting bunny ears for a 70.21 finish.

Easter Monday is Marathon day in Boston Lincolnshire too, Helen Louise Phillips completing this fast Half in 2.04.

Quick, actually very quick, shout out to Sam Carden who’s SDW 50 miler in 7.09 the other week broke the Club record for the distance.

Our park runners were out in force, including a lucky pair who were in sunny Australia for their 5K.

Another busy week for the good folk of Running Forever, who were out and about spreading the word about what a great Club this is.Emma Greig finished her epic 300k Northern Traverse after 102 hours of slogging up hill and down dale. Her reward was to dabble her toes in the North Sea and a well earned pint of rehydration. Epic stuff!

It was a fine night for the Fyne Night Run at the weekend with six members taking part in their Channel Events nighttime challenge. Fintan Murray finished in 49.21, followed by James Palmer (62.52); Helen Prescott (65.53); Geri Fagan (85.10); Lisa Windsor (90.39) and Sarah Holloway (93.56).

It was a trip to the seaside for James Lewes and Rosie Benneyworth on Sunday. They clocked 3.32 and 5.35 respectively in the Brighton Marathon. With James’ daughter Tess also taking part.

The interestingly named Dorset Ooser marathon saw Peter Hall finish in 5.49 and Richard Hill in 6.12.

An epic 82 mile challenge for Robin Upton at The Oner where the organisers had decided to combine a 3 day event on the Jurassic Coast into a single 24 hour challenge. Robin clocked in at 22.45 to beat the clock with time to spare.

Down in Cornwall Peta Aspden completed the An Res Hellys 10 in 1.44, hope there was a pasty at the end!

Our parkrunners went to the ends of the earth this week with Dave Loader running in Queensland’s South Bank event. Closer to home, tourists were in Town Moor, Comeston Lakes, Woolacombe Dunes and Clevedon; with a great turnout at Longrun Meadow.

We’re on medal count this week as Georgina Brice will be running 10 marathons in 10 days. Four down so far and we know she’s going get the set.

Taunton Marathon was back this weekend and that meant that the red and white of RFRC was out in force, both as runners and as marshals.

On the Marathon trail were the RFRC Magnificent Seven, led home by first time marathoner Andrew Saunders in 3.09 to take a 2nd age group spot. Dan Talbot (3.41) and Ray Tutton (3.43) were next with Ray taking 3rd AG position. Emma Perkins and Andy Burgess both dipped under the 4 hours with their 3.57 joint effort, with Jo Gavins and Mercedes Thorne also sticking together to finish in 4.16.

Almost 40 Club members tackled the Half distance, with many such as Emma Salter and Sherri Dingle for the first time. There were some great PB runs including Darren Purchase, Chris Manley, Chris Adams and Rachel Nicholls. There were 2nd AG spots for Sally Tuer and John Townend and 3rds for Richard Mackrory and Hannah Kirkman.

Well done all of you, those who had to dig deep to find the strength to finish the distance as well as the gazelles who make it seem so effortless.

Up in Manchester, Emma Kiernan and James Beach were speeding round the city to clock 3.02 and 3.47 respectively for the 26.2 distance.

Down in that London place, it looked like Lisa Windsor, Suzanne Templeman and Sarah Holloway were having great fun at the London Landmarks Half Marathon.

It was a trip along the motorway for Sam Wharton and Mark Wilson this weekend where they both clocked 1.43 for the Reading Half. I await confirmation that this was in the 3 legged race category

On the street of Paris, Oliver Bagnara was passing the Eiffel Tower and collecting his medal in 5.43.

The Buttleigh of my last joke this weekend was Ben Timpson who took part in the 10K event in this village. It’s part of the Somerset Series and Ben crossed the line in just under 46 minutes.

Parkrunners we’re in Minehead, Killerton, Frogmary Green and Durlston Country Park as well as Longrun Meadow.

Finally, we’re all dot watching as Emma Greig is mid way in the Northern Traverse Challenge which is 300km coast to coast event. Still going strong as I type and fuelled by a veritable smorgasbord of cake and goodies we’re waiting to see where Emma partakes of the traditional mid route cream tea.

Where to begin, there’s so many options as we had red and white clad runners all over. Speaking of red, a host of members crossed the Severn in a bid to make the city streets as red as they are on match-day, and some running of course. First home for the club was Andrew Saunders in a super speedy (1.24), next close to one another were Simon Rowland (1.47) and Ron Foord (1.48). The first two Ladies were hot on their heels, Sam Cross (1.53) and Sally Tuer (1.58). A RFRC train of four then flew across the finish line in tight formation, Damon Butler (2.03), Chris Adams (2.05), Ann-Marie Crompton (2.06) and Lee Macklin (2.06). Then last but not least bringing the club’s successful Welsh trip to a close were Malcolm Hutchings (2.22) and Oliver Bagnara (2.40).

Our Ultra athletes were out in force this weekend as well, taking on the “Total Coastal Ultra” this is a race along a section of the Devon-based part of the South West Coastal Path. The first two in were Jonathan Newby and Scott Wheech (8.41). These two were followed by a quartet of members, Chris Gunn, Peter Hall, Arthur Lewis and Andy Higham, all in (9.32) and a great showing of the tight-knit community of the club.

They weren’t the only coastal runners of the weekend however, as on the Somerset Coast Susie James was putting in a super performance at the Weston Super Half marathon (2.05).

Not a race but two of our members completed an extremely gorgeous looking Yorkshire 3 peaks, well done Mark Wilson and Sam Wharton.

Last but not least by any means was our incredible showing at parkrun!We had 20 runners at our lovely local Longrun Meadow, where at least one PB was smashed!While we also had runners at Woodhouse Moor, Hereford, Hastings, Barry Island, Heartlands, Marine Parade, Exmouth and Jelenia Gora in Poland..

This weekend must have been national run a non-standard distance weekend. Of the three main events club members took part in, one was a fifteen miler and the other two were twenty milers.

The first of them on Saturday 19th March was the combined Fission 20 & half marathon from the site of the now disused Berkeley power station in Gloucestershire. Helen Needs raced around the 20-mile route in a fantastic time of 3:01. Taking on the half course were Helen Prescott in a PB time of 2:01 beaten home by Sally Tuer in 2:00. Simon Rowland also scored a very quick PB of 1:42.

On the Sunday Tanya Lewis and Saz Henderson travelled to Cheddar to take on The Big Cheese over 15 hilly off road miles. Racing at this time of year can bring with it some challenging conditions but the weather in Cheddar was Gorge-eous for running and Tanya zoomed around the course faster than cheese down a hill in 2:35 and Saz came in soon after in 3:02.

The third event was the Ashby 20 in Ashby de la Zouch where Lisa and Simon Denson were guaranteed PBs in their first 20-miler. Lisa finishing in 3:09 and Simon in 2:28. The race is known for the hoodie awarded to all finishers, which didn’t disappoint but was outdone by the Jaffa Cake Donuts in the goodie bag!

In parkrun news, many club members regularly volunteer at local and not so local events and to give something back Running Forever stepped up to take on most of the volunteer roles at this week’s parkrun in Longrun Meadow.

Club members also turned out in numbers to run at Longrun Meadow with 20 taking part there plus four at Frogmary Green Farm and one each at Cranbrook and Minehead.

This weekend was a big one for Running Forever when we hosted the Humdinger and Hurtle races in the beautiful Quantock Hills, one of two events we host each year (at least when there isn’t a pandemic underway). The other being the Herepath Half in the equally beautiful and equally hilly Blackdown Hills.

After a gap due to the pandemic, the races returned with a new start and finish location at the Fyne Court National Trust property. The change of location allowed Race Director Sandra Moffat to rework the courses to have even better views than the previous routes, and of course she introduced even more hills which resulted in (largely) positive feedback from the runners… Even so, there were some very rapid finishers for both events!

For the Humdinger, which measures a kilometre over half marathon distance, first home was Michael Sandiford in an incredible time of 1:19:53 followed by Oliver Rant (1:24:14) and Adam Fieldhouse (1:27:12). First female home in a storming time was Gill Pearson in 1:34:47, and then in close order Lisa Hallett (1:54:02) and Hazel Hole (1:55:02) taking second and third spots. Hannah Baker was the sole Running Forever participant finishing in a very respectable 2:02:21.

The Hurtle is the shorter sibling of the Humdinger, a great choice if you want a taste of road racing in the Quantocks but without opting for the Humdinger distance. In a very small field almost half of the runners bagged a trophy. Securing first dibs on the cakes in the café was Robert Mann in 26:34, with James Clapperton next in (34:07). We then had first and second females in a close finish – Amy Chandler securing the win in 35:44 with Zoe Seaton just a few seconds back in 35:56. Terry Prowse (37:01) rounded off the top 3 males and Liz Eele the third female in 44:01.

Numbers were down on previous years, as is the case for many races this year, but we hope to welcome many more runners next year to enjoy what is a fantastic event, especially if you like hills!

In the antithesis of a hilly race, Scott Weetch took on the Winding Paths Canal Canter 50k, completing the ultra distance in 5h35m to secure 10th place. I imagine Scott would have enjoyed an incline or two to mix things up after such an incredible distance along the towpath!

Four RFRCers also raced the very popular Slay the Dragon off road 10k at Hinton St George. There is good club participation every year on what is an attractive course with a nasty hill just before the end – it’s almost as if they planned it!It wasn’t a good day for the dragons with all four committing dracocide in good times. Ron Foord led them home in 52:15 followed closely by Sam Cross in 54:35. Sally Tuer and Helen Prescott both conquering the dragon and the final hill to finish in 1:00:15 and 1:01:01 respectively.

Club parkrunners took on eight different venues this week in a variety of locations including Longrun Meadow, Bournemouth, Killerton, Burnham, Crosby, Exmouth Frogmary Green Farm and Jersey Farm (in St Albans of course).