Wednesday night saw Claudine Benstead and Jo Page take on the Run Exe Five-Mile, writes Paul Evison.

The course runs along Exmouth Seafront and is a pancake flat route. This very quick pair of ladies finished within eight seconds of each other, both winning their age categories.

Claudine had a superb run having only recently returned to competitive running after a long bout of illness. Jo touched down in 33 minutes and 41 seconds which is a new female veteran 35 club record and Claudine was only just behind in 33 minutes 49, taking the title for firsr female veteran 60.

On Saturday, one Okehampton Running Club member headed to Mothecombe for the sixth running of Race the Light.

With the weather dry and completely still, the trails the driest and the tides the lowest the organisers had seen, the runners did not get quite as wet and muddy as anticipated.

Starting late afternoon with the tide coming in, it is a race against both the light and the tide.

From the slipway at the bottom of the hill, the runners head out across the hard-packed, uneven sand of the Erme Estuary and through the river to hit the undulating muddy trails that meander through the privately owned Fleet Estate. There was also one sneaky rope climb up a steep bank.

After the return river crossing, a steep final climb takes the runners up to the finish.

Claire Watkins completed the 8.5 miles in a watchtime of 1:12:27 – official results are still pending.

With a well-marked course and lots of friendly, encouraging marshals, it is a highly recommended race if you enjoy trail running.