THERE was a great turnout of Okehampton Running Club seniors and juniors on Wednesday, heading to Bridestowe for the Great Links Tor Flyer, the next race in the SW Fell Runners Summer Series.
It began with the juniors, who started from the moor gate and headed towards Gret Nodden.
Brilliant running saw Alistair Taylor and Thomas Spears winning their age categories with Eleanor Taylor, Art Lane and Jake Lane close behind.
The senior race includes one of the most challenging ascents of the series- the route starts with a climb up Great Nodden before dropping down into the valley to cross the river via a ford. From here the challenge is to find a straight line up to Little Links Tor across very undulating, tussocky and at times boggy ground.
After a very sustained incline it gets steeper still as you head onwards to Great Links Tor. With most of the ascent done, the runners are rewarded with a lovely fast track down to Arms Tor before contouring across to Brat Tor.
From there, it’s a fun and very steep flying descent to High Down before the final section back to another ford and a fast track to finish at the campsite behind the Fox & Hounds Pub.
In a strong field, Luke Stannus had a brilliant race finishing first overall in 34:54, knocking two minutes off the course record. He was followed by Tom Poland in 41:06, Joe Lane in 43:04, Charlie Temperley in 44:00, Euan Ripper in 46:42, Ian Ripper in 48:53, Danny Heggs in 50:49, Lou Duffield in 58.46 and Sarah Dean in 1:21 (all times provisional as official results are pending). Luke, Tom, Joe and Charlie also won the men’s team prize so great running from all!
Elsewhere, club coach Robert Richards challenged himself to complete the Devonshire Heartland Way in a west to east direction across the county of Devon using its ancient footpaths, bridleways and some minor roads.
The route intersects and links two more Devonshire paths, namely the Tarka Trail and Two Moors Way, both of which Robert has completed.
Robert had a delayed start allowing for a storm to pass early on Friday morning before leaving Okehampton to follow the trail to its finish north of Exeter in Stoke Canon. The whole 72km adventure took him 11hrs 40mins and has certainly earned a few days of rest.
Jane Richardson set a new club FV75 record for 5km on Saturday morning, finishing in 28:49 at Teignmouth Promenade Parkrun. This brilliant run secured her first out of five in her age category.
Finally, a reminder that the next Okehampton Running Club Couch to 5km programme starts on Tuesday September 10. We look forward to welcoming you at the Hub in Simmons Park at 6.20pm, ready to start at 6.30pm.