Exmouth Harrier Tom Merson sets new best time for Run Exe 5k

Last week saw excellent results for Exmouth Harriers and in particular Tom Merson, writes Cathy Newman.

Tom, who recently ran a 14:31 personal best for 5k in Cheshire, won the Run Exe 5k in 15:10 - the fastest time for the event so far this year - and followed it up with an Exmouth Parkrun record of 15:03.

Tom was an easy winner in both events and surely with a little more competition we will see him break 15 minutes for the Exmouth Parkrun.

His time of 15:03 was the fastest Parkrun in the country on Saturday. Two other Harriers set Exmouth Parkrun personal bests: Tristan Kensal-Spur with 17:57 and M75 John Goss-Custard with 26:17 for his 96th Parkrun.

There was a big club turnout in the Run Exe 5k with Langdon Williams and Jon Garrity following Tom home in 17:38 and 18:45 respectively with other notable performances from Hannah Bown, finishing first F35, Hugh Marsden, finishing first M55, and Aiden Bown finishing second U13.

Hannah took on a completely different challenge on Sunday completing the Race to the Tower double marathon, which follows the Cotswold Way, in 11:06:38 hours. Interestingly, the overall winner was female with Hannah finishing 11th female and 51st overall.

In the Coleton Footacher multi-terrain race, Mike Musgrove took second place and Richard Bishop was 13th.

This 6.3-mile route follows coast path, woodland trails and footpaths on the South Devon coast near Dartmouth.

On Friday, expect a big Exmouth Harriers turnout for Exeter’s major relay fixture, the Run Exe four-times-four km.