Four Mighty Greens, including junior Sidmouth Running Club star Amelia Womersley-Westlake took part in the Haldon Winter Series. Organised by Purple Gecko Events it is a timed, no pressure trail run around the beautiful Haldon Forest.
Amelia ran the 5k route with her dad/junior coach, Grahame, and was delighted to find out she was 1st junior female, finishing in 46.51, which included a hill sprint finish.
MG’s Scott Chown, Clare Luke and Donna Womersley-Westlake found they had run 1145ft of elevation over the 10k route, not quite the flat route they thought it was going to be. Scott finished in 1:15:37, and with Amelia running back up the final hill alongside them, Clare finished in 1:21:37 and Donna 1:38:08. They were all appreciative of the weighty medal received.
The 4 Trigs, organised by Marion and Robert Hayman, the local event is now in its 22nd year and supports the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY). The aim is to visit each of the four Triangulation Pillars around the Sid Valley with runners choosing their own routes, but they must visit each Trig Point in order taking in the five checkpoints (approx. 17 miles).
Jo Pavey MBE and sponsor Nigel Winchester (Ian Winchesters and Sons) sent the 104 entrants, including 24 Mighty Greens, on their way across the seafront towards High Peak under perfect weather conditions. Amelia Frankpitt, Debbie and Don Cawthera ran 2 trigs, Carol Hounsell, Sarah Watkins, Cathy Miller, Helen Palmer and Stuart Moul ran 3 trigs and 16 took on all 4.
Finishing in joint 17th position Martin Barnard and David Chipping were the first SRC males to return in 2:56:13, with MG Richard Summerhayes close behind in 3:02:38, 19th. Louise Dalton was the first SRC female to finish in 4:09:30, 58th place with MG Amanda Stokes seconds behind in 4:09:43.
For Mighty Green Kerry Salter it wasn’t the 3740 feet of elevation that proved problematic, it was opening the variety of gates along the route; there were plenty of them and it certainly kept her running buddies Kathy Jordan and Alexa Baker amused!
The runners appreciated the marshals and water stations along the way and it was great to see MG Derek Blackburn, not long back from his travels, in Sidbury cheering everyone on and taking photos.
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