The 15th edition of The Reindeer Run took place on the first Saturday of the month, writes Hamish Spence.
This annual festive event raises funds for Otterton C of E School. There are two events, a fun run of 3k and a race of 10k with both starting and finishing in the village of Otterton and entrants are encouraged to take part dressed in festive attire.
The runs are multi-terrain, rural courses that use lanes, paths, tracks and farmland in and around the lower Otter Valley.
This year, due to the last week’s rainfall, the level of the River Otter is very high. This meant that the route under the road bridge was chest high in water, so for safety reasons the route had to be changed!
Just after the start, the 10k was re-routed towards Ladram Bay and the Coastal Path, back to the sewage works.
Runners were then taken through the lane to meet up with the old route across the muddy fields, up some slippery hills before the road, back to the white Bridge and up the River to the finish line.
In the 10k race, Tim Mitchell was the first Sidmouth Running Club (SRC) member back, coming 13th overall in a time of 47:28.
The next SRC home was Sam Ingram, who had a very loyal fan base in the form of his family cheering him on his way to a fast 33rd place in a time of 54:23.
In 38th place was Catherine Hilton in 55:2, with Simon Hollyer, 49th in a time of 57:47.
Sue Collman and her four legged running partner arrived in 51st position, with the pair’s time being 58:07.
Just shy of a minute later was Chris Day-Kerry, finishing 58th overall in 59:06.
Twins Christine and Karen Farnham enjoyed themselves with Christine, who finished 68th in 1:00:33, taking a last minute victory over Karen, who was 69th in 1:00:39.
Next came Rocker Shepard, 71st, 1:01:09, then it was David Wright, 83rd, 1:02:38 and Sarah Clapham, 86th, 1:03:17.
Next home, in order of appearance, were three helpers of Santa, Jane Hemsworth being the fastest helper, finishing 91st in a speedy 1:04:08 with Helen Palmer, 112th, in a nippy 1:10:43, and then Jo Earlam, who arrived in steady time of 1:10:58, crossing the finish line in 113th spot.
Jodie Hawkins endured the hills, got to grips with the mud and slipped over the line in 1:14:03. Debbie Marriot (Mrs Claus), 144th and Monica Read, 145th, together with Don Cawthera (Mr Claus), 146th, all crossed the line together in good festive spirits with a seasonal time of 1:17:24.
Julia Hadrell was 167th in 1:24:26 with Helen Neighbour, 169th in 1:26:21 and Sue Cunningham was 170th to finish with her time being 1:26:23.
As there was not an official last runner on the day, Terry Bewes very kindly offered to sweep up at the back, shepherding the tail enders and giving words of encouragement all the way back to the finish.
He claimed the 182nd spot, getting around in a time of 1:45:57.
In the 3k Fun Run, Tom Clapham was the first Sidmouth runner home, finishing 25th in a time of 18:15. Zak Raynor, in 25:19, was closely followed by two young ladies showing great teamwork, Rose Ashby, 28:26 and Kara Salter, 28:27. Then, arriving in a time of 30:57, was Meena Agar followed by Sarah Watkins and Paul Williamson, who both arrived in 33 minutes exactly. There were 133 finishers.
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