Bude was the destination for six ORCs on Wednesday evening for the Bude Rats organised Lifeboat Run, writes Jacqueline Shields.

This popular local 10k race raises important funds for the RNLI Lifeboats, their volunteer crews and lifeguards. In its 14th year the race saw 394 competitors taking part running around Bude’s cycleway, canal towpath and off-road footpaths.

On this very hot evening Luke Stannus, who is going from strength to strength, performed incredibly well to come home in fourth place in a time of 37:37.

Next home was the second female, and first in her category, Jo Page in 46:17. Jo was ecstatic with her position, she found herself in a sprint to the finish to try and catch the second-place lady, and she managed to overtake her just before the line!

Following them came Chris Fulford-Brown in 1:06:56, Vicky Bond 1:09:47, Kathryn Volkelt-Igoe 1:12:14, Michelle Luddington 1:12:32 and Anne Brett in 1:13:16; excellent running in the conditions.

Three ORCs were back at Bude on Saturday for the Tsunami.

OuterEdge Events organise three extremely challenging endurance trail races along the SW Coast Path, with massive ascents and descents, known to be some of the toughest routes in the South West. The races all finish on the lawns at the castle in Bude.

Wild and isolated with no towns and villages along the route, the well-stocked checkpoints with smiley support staff are a very welcome sight for the runners!

The 37.5-mile ultra starts at 7am from Westward Ho!, the marathon at 9am from Clovelly harbour and the 16-miler at 10.45am from Hartland Quay, with all three races passing through the toughest most vertiginous section from Hartland Quay.

The very warm and humid conditions on the day added an extra challenge for the runners. Claire Watkins ran the 16 and was amazed and very pleased to finish first female and fourth overall in a time of 3:03:38.

For the first time representing ORC, Eddie Kingdom had a great race running in the Marathon. He finished eighth overall in a fantastic time of 5:40:09. Gill Spinney tackled the Ultra and finished 27th in a time of 11:01:12.

Impressive running by all in incredibly tough races. Claire summed it up by saying, ‘massive kudos to those doing the marathon and ultra - I was properly done after 16 miles, couldn’t have taken many more steps!’

In a weekend full of marathons Lucy Gooding headed to Dorset to take part in the Giants Head at Sydling St Nicholas on Saturday.

This marathon route is a very challenging hilly but beautiful course going through the Sydling and Cerne valleys, running around and under the famous Cerne Giant. It is certainly not for the faint hearted. It’s a tough race, with some steep climbs and sharp descents which are rewarded with the most amazing views.

Finishing in a time of 6:39:00 Lucy summed it up, ‘it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. The heat was unbelievable!’

Also on Saturday Angus Farrelly headed to Wales to take part in the TEC Black Mountains long marathon at Felindre in the Brecons.