Race with a difference

FORTY runners, made up mostly of families, took part in a race with a difference. The competitors were given the choice of either a two mile or a four mile off road route and they had to predict how long the run would take, with the winner being the runner closest to their predicted time. Devices with clocks on were banned. Retired geography teacher John Chesters claimed he would be OK and could get an accurate time from the sun - but he hadn't allowed for mid-summer's day being so misty.Many of the youngsters opted for the shorter two mile course and Kit Grierson was not only first back, but also was the closest to his predicted time with a discrepancy of just eight seconds. Toby Garrick was second with a discrepancy of 11 seconds. He used a different plan to Kit, but equally effective, to run at a more relaxed pace. Tania Marriot and Ellie Ross won the booby prize for being way out with their predicted time - over 30 minutes -but they did do much of the race bare footed so they kept their shoes clean. In the four mile race the adults were less accurate with their predictions and times may have been slower than predicted due to the undulating nature of the course and the fact that some of the paths were overgrown. This race was not without controversy. After the cheering for Debbie Marriott who returned within eight seconds of her predicted time, she admitted that, having transcended the pain of running up Buckton Hill, in a trance-like state she went into auto-pilot and started following the Four Trigs route, taking off about 10 minutes of the proper course. There was a further confession from Phil Welsford who later admitted to following Debbie, but he thought that Debbie knew where she was going. Karen Cann won the prize for being closest to her predicted time with a discrepancy of 1 min 48sec, just one second more accurate than Mark Keast.Full results of the event are on the club website www.sidmouthrunningclub.org.ukl The Monday group, taking advantage of the longer evenings, will be meeting this coming Monday at White Cross at the usual time of 6.45pm. Wednesday as usual at the Sailing Club 7pm. All welcome.