IN another busy weekend of racing Okehampton runners were to be found dotted all over the country taking part in different races.

It was 9pm last Friday night that Robert Richards started his race, the North Coast 100k, following the coast path from Barnstaple to Minehead. With more than 10,000ft of elevation this was always going to be a tough challenge but Robert stuck to it despite the fatigue completing in 23 hours 25 minutes.

Jo Bradford chose Chester for her autumn marathon where heavy rainfall had led to a change of start point and route, the racecourse being too waterlogged to use.

Jo had only run her first marathon in the spring and knocked a minute off her time there to finish in 3.49.10, setting a new club age category record.

At the Cardiff Half Marathon there were three ORCs taking part. Despite not feeling well, Hayden Bond was the first home for the club finishing in a great time of 1.24.40. Liam Keen, running his first race for some time, finished in 2.20.54 and Rachael Hayden completed in 2.14.38.

In near perfect conditions two ORCs were among 3,000 runners who set off in the Plymouth 10k where new member Dave Bates recorded a new personal best of 43.43, going under 44 mins for the first time. Katie Sherjan knocked three minutes off her PB, coming home in 1hr 8mins.

It was the first fixture of the Westward League Cross Country Series on Sunday, held at the Plymouth venue. There were a good number of ladies representing the club with several newcomers to the series. There were new faces in the junior teams too with Ollie King, Aiden and Kiera Spinney and Quincy Mathews all taking part for the first time.

Okehampton’s Mike Westland took a step into the unknown when he took on his first marathon at the age of 62. Running the Bournemouth marathon in what turned out to be warm conditions, he recorded a great time of 4.07.47 to set a new club age group record.