Personal Bests (PBs) were the order of the day for three out of the five Sidmouth runners who took part in Sunday s Torbay Half Marathon.

Personal Bests (PBs) were the order of the day for three out of the five Sidmouth runners who took part in Sunday's Torbay Half Marathon, all of them finishing well up in the field of 1,350 runners. Justin Ashby had a brilliant run to finish 37th with PB time of 1.25.24. He looked very relaxed and did not seem to be at all troubled by the hot, sunny conditions.Next in was Tim Mitchell, who brought his PB, down to 1.29.22, finishing in 76th place. Not far behind him came Jessica Watkins, with yet another PB of 1.29.53 and 83rd overall. Before the race, Jessica was focussed on breaking the dreaded 1.30 barrier and was absolutely thrilled to do so. Also it was good to see the true club spirit as Jessica ran a good part of the race with Tim, whose skills in pacing and breathing helped Jessica to achieve her goal. Not only was Jessica pleased to finish with such a great time (breaking her own ladies' club record for the distance), she was the sixth fastest lady and in the prizes for being first in her age category (F20-24).A few minutes behind Tim and Jess, were Mark Keast 1.37 (188th) and Adrian Organ 1.39 (214th) puffing along and finding it hard, in what seemed to be extreme heat, but with still over a thousand runners behind them. Overall, it was a good day for the club, especially to see a few of what could be the next generation of club runners take part in the Fun Run.l On Saturday, at Core Copse, members of Sidmouth Running Club handed in their watches and predicted how long it would take to run either two or four miles. Both courses, carefully planned and laid by John and Cathy Keast, were enjoyed by those who love hills and mud!Congratulations to the two mile winner, Angus Eaton who was only three seconds off his predicted time and to Daisy Caldwell and Lucy West in joint second place. John Podmore was our four mile winner, being just 16 seconds out, whilst in second place was Kit Grierson, who predicted a fast time and so had to run really hard to make it and that made him the quickest man of the day.Two glamorous sisters, Janet Ackford and Christine Nichols, won the fancy dress and Nick Smith, looking even more beautiful, won the junior prize. The 'boobie' prizes went to John Chesters, the Scrivens family and to Tracey Tipton who was over 12 minutes out and wore sandals as part of her fancy dress. Some, including myself, need to work on our 'prediction skills' but well done to the large number of juniors who turned up and all the runners and walkers. You all deserved your sweets and chocolate at the end!l This coming Monday, the club is hosting the Woodland Relays in Harpford Woods. It is a two mile course and teams consist of four runners. If necessary runners can just turn up on the evening and teams will be sorted there. Registration is prompt at 6.45pm in the car park at the Bowd, where food and refreshments will be available afterwards.Sidmouth will be competing against Axe Valley and Honiton and it will be nice if we can at least beat them in quantity, if not in sheer speed. All are welcome.