Apart from the Wednesday and Monday training nights a lot of the Sidmouth Running Club members like to do something at the weekend, writes John Perratt.

Naomi Garrick on the other hand has always been one to take it to extremes and she had a pretty busy weekend last week.

On the Saturday afternoon we were up at the Observatory for a social type Hash that she had organised. Ben Chesters had laid a nice little 5k route and, before the start, he explained the intricacies of the sport to all those who had not done one before. Naomi was in charge of the kids and they were soon off calling out to the slower runners as they came across the various marks on the paths including many dead ends that brought them all rushing back. The Otter Valley Hash run regular events every Thursday throughout the year and it is easy to see why they are so popular. A good time was had by all.

Sunday morning saw Naomi take on the Farway 10k. She was a little dismayed on arrival to discover that it was all on road but having packed her off road shoes there was nothing to do but grin and bear it. There is a monster hill summed up in the full title of the race, ‘Over the Hill and Farway’, but that was successfully negotiated and she enjoyed the run back down to Farway School passing through the village of Northleigh on the way. After that there was time for a quick bite to eat and then it was off to the Byes for the Sidmouth Infants’ Mile race. They needed someone to lead the way for the 130 plus youngsters taking part and who better than Naomi in the Fairy outfit in which she ran the London Marathon this year? There were other fancy costumes that gave the Byes a very colourful atmosphere, some Mums and Dads joined in and a few of the youngsters showed a good turn of speed. Naomi’s son, Jacob, in particular turned in a very impressive performance leaving Fairy Mother way behind and finishing well ahead of anyone else. The School PFTA are to be congratulated for putting on such a good event and they well deserved the support on the day.

There was also a pleasant surprise going through the results of the Torbay Half Marathon which attracted over 1500 runners last weekend. Amongst them was our own Fiona Cummins who has always excelled at this distance. We haven’t seen her for some time but it was good to see that she has lost none of her pace and finished in the top third of the field in a time of 1.49.32.