FOUR members of Okehampton Runnning Club took part in the Treggy 7 Road Race on Sunday, September 4. This undulating course is part of the Cornish Grand Prix Series. This meant a very competitive race with teams from Hayle, Newquay, Falmouth, Truro and St Austell, among others.

It was a very warm day with excellent running conditions. First home for ORC was Andrew Vallance in a PB of 45.13, very closely followed by Richard Davies in 45.15. Andrew Vernon followed in 49.44, claiming third V50. The sole lady representative was Claire Watkins who is to be congratulated on setting a new club Vet F45 record of 54.26.

The following Tuesday evening saw five ORC members take part in the sixth and final round of the Run Exe 5K Summer Series. As regular readers of this column will know, this event is a two-lap course beside the flood relief channel and along the footpaths which surround Exwick playing fields. First home was Andrew Vernon 19.16, 2nd V50, Claudine Benstead was next in 20.11 1st V60 then Sophie Luxton finishing her season with a fine 21.34 1st FU17. Paul Evison followed in 22.48 3rd V65 and Victoria Evison gained a PB of 30.10 to round off a successful evening.

The overall series rankings, in which Okehampton are well placed again this year, have been announced. In order to figure in the final rankings runners have to complete four of the six races. A yellow jersey is awarded for category winners, red jersey for second and green jersey for third. ORC took four category prizes. Claudine Benstead and Sophie Luxton won their age group, Andrew Vernon was second and Paul Evison third in their respective age groups.

Okehampton Running Club has its very own Summer Series comprising four fell races. The final one of the season is the Sourton Tor Fell Race. The race is a short and sharp traditional fell race and this year it was tackled by four junior and 12 senior ORCs under threatening skies. In the event the rain held off and the senior male course record was broken by just under a minute, Tom Perry returning to Bearslake where the race had started just 17 minutes and 52 seconds earlier. The home club runners had a great showing, with Arthur Lane (11.01) taking the U11 boys spot, Paul Crease (20.59) being the first V50 male to finish and Claire Watkins coming in as third lady (25.44).

The juniors performed really well with Eleanor Taylor (12.03), Alistair Taylor (12.32) and Kieran Spinney (20.46). In the senior race, Chris Turner (20.15) was first ORC to return followed by Paul Crease, Joe Lane (21.57), Tom Polland (22.29), Aiden Spinney (24.35), Daniel Heggs (25.24), Claire Watkins, Will Serviour (26.54), Katherine Hails (28.46), Christine Fritsch (30.43) and Lucy Gooding (41.40).

On behalf of the club the race director would like to thank the volunteers and especially the Bearslake Inn for hosting and Andrew Horn for the use of his field for parking.

There was some excellent running on Saturday from Daniella Tansley and Ian Ripper, who took on the ‘Dartmoor in a day’ challenge. This is a self navigation event across the moor with two checkpoints/aid stations on the way. The weather was warm and there was little breeze.

Ian took on the full 50km from Okehampton to Ivybridge and finished in a provisional time of 6hrs56 (17th overall and 15th male) just inside his target time of sevebn hours. Daniella did the 30km option from Postbridge to Ivybridge, her longest run to date, finishing in 4hrs18 (10th overall and sixth lady).

Having nearly 60,000 runners the Great North Run is the world’s biggest half marathon. This year the weather was kind and the sun came out for the second half of the race. Jo Page, who was the sole ORC racing, reports that she enjoyed the race from start to finish due to the crowds and atmosphere. She finished 2248th in 1hr 37.07 her fastest time in 18 months.

Another fixture held on Sunday was the Bude Pirate Run organised by the Bude Rats. The race is billed as eightish miles and covers trails, fields, woods and the North Cornwall Coast Path. Claire Watkins represented the club and gained second Vet 45 crossing the line in 1hr14.