A very warm sunny November morning welcomed the competitors to the first edition of the LM Events Sidmouth 10k race, writes Hamish Spence.

Fifty-eight Sidmouth Running Club (SRC) members gathered at Sidford Hall with 270 other runners to participate in this new event. Starting from Sidford Hall, the route followed the path down The Byes all the way to Hillside Road where it headed uphill.

Then, it was back down onto and along the length of the very stoney seafront promenade. The most westerly point of the promenade was the halfway point, the runners would then u-turn here and retrace their steps back to the finish line in Sidford.

With many familiar faces on the start line, Justin Ashby set off quickly staking his claim as a front runner immediately.

He pursued the two other front runners all the way around and it was the last sprint to the finish that decided who came where on the podium.

Antony Hall immediately gave chase to Justin reaching a pace of a 6:04min/mile. However, he soon began to realise that he wasn't going to match the pace the first three were punching out, so he settled into the pace of the chasing pack.

As the race progressed the pack got smaller and eventually left Antony to go it solo. He keep his sights on Justin and the other two leaders.

By the time he reached the turn-a-round point on the seafront the leaders had disappeared. Antony had held a fast pace and kept the pressure up on the leaders for as long as he could.

His effort gained a fourth position over all and the second Mighty Green (MG) to cross the finish line.

Antony had one more very important role and duty to full-fill on the finish line…take a finishing photo of 'significant other', Kat Hall, who crossed the line 10 minutes later

Tim Mitchell smashed a few of his personal bests during this event, three of which were in The Byes and a sprint along the Promenade.

However, he didn't quite beat Shaun Bagwell who saved the sprint for the end and powered over the line.

Naomi Garrick really enjoyed the atmosphere and was happy that recent injuries did not stop her completing the race in under the hour and to take second MG lady across the line.

Christine Farnham managed to leave running buddy and sister Karen Farnham behind on the seafront in a rare unilateral spurt of power which unusually formed a gap of over a minute between them.

Becky McDonald felt enlightening with the sun shining on the Sunday morning, having completed a very sluggish practise attempt at the course two weeks prior in the pouring rain.

She said: "I entered for the club camaraderie and the fun of it, rather than the usual 'in it to win it. However, along came Tim Clay who always keeps a good race pace and suddenly everything changed!"

A terrific tussle between the pair ensued with Becky sprinting clear at the end to finish three seconds ahead of Tim!

For Jenny Bentley it proved a tough race, but she still managed a new 10k PB, finishing in 1:02:58.

Gail Goldsmith took first place in the F70 category and Colin Flood took second place in the M70.

Young Rockey Tristan Chips, who only joined SRC at the start of this year as a beginner exceeded all his own expectations. Tristan has gone from being a non-runner to achieving a10k PB in under a year and he took first place in his age category.

Julia Haddrell enjoyed the first 5k but the second climb nearly finished her off, however not wanting to be be defeated while wearing the MG colours, she carried on and was very relieved to finish. Julia thanks Tim Mitchell for all the 10k training. To celebrate her birthday.

Sarah Browne decided there is no better way than taking part in a 10k race completing the route in just over an hour on the clock.

It was great to see our Alphabet Parkrun collector, David Skinner taking part with Dee Lawrence not far behind him. Then not far behind Dee was Terry Bewes, who was certainly not least, but defiantly last runner and volunteer race sweeper.

Thanks go Dukes for sponsoring the event and also to the 12 SRC members who all did a fantastic job of marshalling all around the course and it was very much noted that the club camaraderie and support was superb. This event had a lot of positive feed back from the competitors with many recommending it as a race they would like to do again.

Sidmouth 10k (SRC results)

The first MG across the line was Justin Ashby, who finished third overall and also took first place in the M40 category.

The other SRC members to finish were: Anthony Hall, fourth overall an d second M40, 40:22; Alex Munroe, 30th, 42:53; Shaun Bagwell, 14th, 45:46; Tim Mitchell, 15th, 45:57; Greg Ward, 33rd, 49:30; Molly Vasanthakumar, 34th and first SRC lady to finish, 49:32; Stuart Coles, 37th, 49:35; David King, 44th, 50:18; Tim Swarbrick, 66th, 52:59; Naomi Garrick, 72nd, 53:18; Rob Edwards, 81st 54:01; Christine Farnham, 84th, 54:03; Sarah Clapham, 94th, 55:03; Becky McDonald, 97th, 55:32; Tim Clay, 99th, 55:35; Karen Farnham, 101st, 55:44; Hugh Jenkins, 102nd, 55, 45; Kat Hall, 104th, 56:01; Sue Coleman, 112th, 56:31; Carolyn Sinclair, 117th, 56:51; Catherine Cruise, 130th, 57:42; Thomas Sinclair, 131st, 57:46; Derek Blackburn, 136th, 57:42; Shaun Tipton, 141st, 58:37; Paula Farrand, 150th, 59:08; Sian Jones153rd, 59:14; Kerry Salter, 157th, 1:00:10; Susan Reeve, 162nd, 1:00:40,;Cheryl Boulton, 163rd, 1:00:50; Jasmine Reeves, 164th, 1:01:01; Sarah Browne, 172nd, 1:01:29; Zsa Zsa Croft, 179th, 1:02:00; Gail Goldsmith, 188th, first F70, 1:02:40; Colin Flood, 189th, second M70, 1:02:49; Jennifer Bentley, 191s; 1:03:00; Jodie Hawkins, 197th, 1:03:10; Helen Palmer, 202nd, 1:03:45; Charles Sinclair, 221st; Nikita Kay,225th; Kyle Baker, 226th; Jennifer Bentley, 230th; Allen Kay, 232nd; Rachael Burrow, 235th; Jason Chipps, 237th; Emma Grainger, 243rd; Christie Ward, 253rd; John Sharples, 254th, 1:09:42; Natasha Morgan, 274th; Tristan Chipps, first U20 category; Helen Wyatt, 294th; David Skinner, 304th; Dee Lawence, 310th; Terry Bewes, last runner across the finish line.