There was a fantastic turnout for this year’s Otterton Reindeer Run with no fewer than 25 Sidmouth Running Club (SRC) members in attendance, writes Hamish Spence.
Festive spirits were in full flow in Otterton on the first Saturday of December and - just to be clear - in the form of attire and not drink!"
Some competitors were dressed in fancy dress and amongst the 'outfits' on display were a gingerbread man, reindeer or runners with Santa hats or deer antlers.
The weather was kind to the runners on the day, giving them a mild and dry day with no wind.
The ground was not too wet, so not much slipping around going on under foot either, making it possible for some great time keeping.
The first of the Mighty Green (MG) contingent to cross the finish line was Alex Munro, who was 15th overall in a time of 49:08.
Next home was John Keast in 53:57 and he was followed by Kyle Baker, 54:20, Ellen Keast, 54:26, and Catherine Hilton, 56:37.
Christine and Karen Farnham as usual headed off together with Christine pulling away, leaving Karen behind.
This lasted until halfway round when Karen caught her sister back up and then overtook.
Karen stayed ahead for the rest of the run and crossed the line just one second infront of her sibling at 1:02:05.
The next MG home was Sarah Clapham, finishing in a time of 1:03:01 and then came David Wright, 1:04:55, Cathy Keast 1:06:37, Derek Blackburn, 1:08:09, Susan Reeves, 1:09:12, Jon Bull, 1:11:16 and Nikita Kay, 1:12:37.
Bert Dykema took part with his sister Frederiek and they ran the whole route together, finishing in a time of 1:13:43.
Next home were Helen Palmer, 1:28:09, Julia Haddrell, 1:25:44 and Lesley Miszewska, 1:26:16.
Helen Neighbour crossed the finish line with a time of 1:28:04 with Sue Cunningham following just two seconds later.
Gingerbread man, aka Ronnie Masters, finished in a time of 1:28:27 and Caroline Ball enjoyed the run, finishing in 1:29:08, beating Alexa Baker, who finished in 1:29:24.
Terry Bewes found himself playing cat-and-mouse with Ronnie Masters [Gingerbread man].
The pair ran their own 'race within a race' with Terry finally being over taken for the fourth time just before the end coming in at 1:30:02.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here