Family affair for the Mighty Greens

Grandad and Grandson Duo Complete Exe Estuary Virtual Half Marathon.

As well as setting the lock down challenges, Sidmouth Running Club chairman Terry Bewes has been completing them himself, using them as training towards the Exe Estuary Virtual Half Marathon, which he ran last week.

When Terry entered the race back in March, he had to submit his expected finish time, which, as he had been training for it back then, stood at 2:30:00.

In reality, it wasn’t until the start of the lockdown#2 challenges that saw Terry start training with a six-mile run.

Using the challenges, he planned the flat(ish), circular route, which he would run two loops, This included Harcombe, the Byes, seafront and Bickwell Valley.

With grandson and fellow Mighty Green Kyle Baker joining Terry on the day for the craic, they completed the half marathon in 2:37:00, a result they were very happy with. Kyle, because he had not been training and had ran an extra 2.5 miles to get to the start and back, and Terry because he received another medal for his growing collection.

Terry has an eye for the running bling and has set the next Mighty Green challenge, which is, as a club, to get as many members to enter the Virtual Grand Western Canal 10k Walk and Run for CLIC Sargent and win the team prize.

There is a smashing bit of bling for all who complete the run in December, so it should be a win/win challenge.

SRC Lockdown#2 Challenges Completed

Pick and Mix was the title of week 3’s challenge 2. The runners had to choose three runs from a selection of nine off and on-road routes to complete before midnight on Sunday, November 30.

Nineteen members completed the three-week challenge and qualified for an award, which saw some impressive time-management and dedication to fit in the runs. Kerry Boyle incorporated the school run, Leanne Thomson had to juggle around her shifts, meaning she ran two of the challenges in one day, husbands and dogs were thoroughly exercised and torches had to be used. As Tash Morgan eloquently said: “Thanks Terry for getting me off my bum and getting me out there to enjoying our beautiful valley. I’ve really enjoyed doing the lockdown challenges.”

Ross Walton and Gail Goldsmith Take Gold

There were some outstanding hill climbs in challenge 1 by both gents and ladies, but the most outstanding was Ross Walton, the men’s gold winner, who succeeded in not only reaching the summit of Everest but surpassed it, 30,247 feet climbed over the last three weeks, 22 hours 12 minutes of running, 143.54 mile run at an average pace of 9:21 minute miles. An absolutely fantastic achievement.

Hamish Spence took silver, despite an injury in week 2 with a total of 14,942 feet climbed. He said, “It was a great challenge to take on and I have thoroughly enjoyed the banter and camaraderie amongst other SRC MG’s, thank you Terry for organising.”

In bronze position, having climbed 14,631 feet Shaun Tipton added, “Thank you Mr Bewes for the idea, implementation and encouragement, every minute thoroughly enjoyed. Well, almost!”

Rocker Shepperd, who filled any spare hour in the final week to get out and run some hills climbed 13,211 feet, with Adrian ‘Gripper’ Horne, Allan Kay and Derek Blackburn, reaching towards 10,000 feet. All of them appreciated the motivation and awesome efforts of everyone who took part.

Gail Goldsmith took the gold position for the ladies, having climbed 15,242 feet over the last three weeks. Kerry Salter’s incredible final 9.32 mile run with 2,310 feet of climb saw her firmly in silver position with a total of 9,781 feet climbed. Kerry said: “I am glad not to have to run up Griggs Lane again any time soon,”

Taking bronze position with 7,529 feet climbed, Jenny Kay and Alexa Baker were relieved to have completed the challenge and exceed 1,000 feet on their last run.

Jo Earlam (5,419ft) and Bex McDonald (3,459ft) had also enjoyed completing the hill challenge too.

Chairman Terry Bewes summed up by saying: “To everyone that took part in the Lockdown#2 challenges, I thank you for your support. You all seemed to enjoy it, with a bit of competitiveness going on here and there. It is the involvement of members that make it all worthwhile, thank you for your support.”

Bring on the next challenge!