Running in the local park is something that has been done for decades, but the new fun and easy going thing to do now is Parkrun, writes Hamish Spence.

Many Sidmouth Running Club members have taken up this short and sociable running activity on Saturday mornings.

You just obtain your barcode from the website and turn up at a venue.

With a choice of hundreds of Parkruns around the UK to participate in, just scan your card and run.

In January 2016, David Skinner took part in his first Parkrun at the age of 68.

He has now completed his 73rd. More would have been completed had it not been for the odd injury.

He is now collecting venues in a quest to form as many letters of the alphabet as possible.

So far he has bagged A, B, C, D, E, F, H and K for Killerton which is David’s home Parkrun.

Also now completed are N, O, P, S,T and W and, on the first weekend of August, David ran at the Montacute Park Run and ‘Y’ for Yeovil was added to the collected list, with a modest time of 31:41.

There is a long journey to Scotland on the cards for David to add the letter ‘I’, something he will do when he completes the Inverness Parkrun, and there’s also one to do nearer home to complete the letter ‘M’ with a regular Parkrun at Minehead in Somerset.

? Six members of the Sidmouth Running Club attended the Bridport 10k and Half Marathon.

Four took part in the 10k and two took on the challenge of the Half Marathon.

Both races started with the famous ‘Broadchurch’ cliff at West Bay in the background, and headed up to the second highest hill on the south coast of England, a full 157 metres to the top of Thorncombe Beacon (the half marathon runners then head down to Seatown), back through Downhouse Farm, Eype to West Bay.

The 10k is one loop and the half-marathon is two loops.

In the 10k race, the first Sidmouth runner across the finish line was Deb Marriott in 46th place overall with a time of 01:11:22, which also earned her a first place finish in age category.

Next home, and with the same time, was Don Cawthera in 47th place, followed not long after, coming in at 58th, by Helen Palmer with a time of 01:15:49. In 61st place was Jennifer Bentley 01:16:18.

The two ladies competing in the Half Marathon teamed up together and braved out the wet and windy weather. Jo Earlam found it impossible to keep her hat on with the wind bowing it off several times.

Also with the rain, her glasses couldn’t be kept dry enough to see through!

Officially, Jo was the first Sidmouth runner across the finish line. However, the times for both Jo Earlam and Jane Hemsworth are same at 2:53:43.

? According to Sidmouth Running Club member Rob Edwards, the antidote to a Parkrun is the Exe 5k race.

In early August, Rob was on the start line with 137 other runners at Exwick Playing Fields in Exeter for the latest of the Exe 5k runs.

Competing alongside some seriously fast runners, Rob did well to come 99th position overall.

He also finished third in the M65 plus age group with his time being a most respectable 24 minutes and 21 seconds.